Friday, May 25, 2007

The Crying Room

Acts 25:13-21
Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20
John 21:15-19

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” - John 21:17

I was deeply moved and saddened when Pope John Paul II died. After he passed away, I felt orphaned. We did not simply lose a leader, we had lost a spiritual father. As we waited for white smoke to come out of the Sistine Chapel, we also learned about the richness of tradition and history surrounding the election of a new Pope. One of the things that struck me the most was the news that when a cardinal is elected as supreme Pontiff by his peers, he is first asked if he accepts the responsibility (to the very end, the leap of faith is every person’s choice to make!). If he does, he walks his way to a room called the Crying Room - the Room of Tears - and there, he is fitted with his vestments before he is presented to the waiting world. I bet any man who walks in there, realizing the overwhelming task before him, would be moved to tears! Habenus Papam! We have a Pope! Shortly after, a formal inauguration takes place, with the choir chanting, “Tu es Petrus,” the words Jesus spoke to Peter when He asked Peter to feed his sheep and called him the Rock upon which he would build His church.

Friends, let us pray for our Holy Father, as the strives to do the task of feeding us, his sheep. Coltics C.

Reflection: How has Jesus called you to love Him today?

Lord, we pray for our Holy Father. Strengthen him as he carries Your burden here on earth.

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzim pray for us.

No comments: