A Prayer for Pope Francis

     The following is one of the Collect Prayers for the votive Mass for the Pope.

O God,

shepherd and ruler of all the faithful,

look favorably upon your servant Francis,

whom you have set at the head of your Church

as her shepherd;

grant, we pray, that by word and example

he may be of service to those over whom he presides

so that, together with the flock entrusted to his care,

he may come to everlasting life.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen

 

 

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     It seems that all eyes have been focused upon Rome for a long time (I read where there were at least 5,000 press credentialed by the Vatican for the Conclave).  And it seems like we are already "old friends" with Pope Francis.  But it has only been two days since the white smoke.  In small ways he is keeping the "handlers" on their toes.  In little ways he is expressing himself in refreshingly different ways.  He is showing us a man who has found comfort in simplicity of life and in the hands on ministry of God's people and to God's people in need.  And yet he steps into a role that will pull him into the less than simple, into a ministry that demands his attention to matters of State and concerns of the Universal Church.

My prayer and fervent wish is that he be able to maintain his balance, and show us what it is to be Church.  Whether in a poor slum or in an ancient palace, whether with ordinary people or with heads of State, in his private and in his public prayer, he may be Christ to us all.