Like most Catholics, I was enthralled by the election of our new pope. I was in Chicago for a seminar when white smoke was reported from the Vatican. We had roughly fifty priests gathered in front of a large screen to await the news. With prayers, with chatter, with singing, and with great excitement we waited to see who would appear on the balcony at St. Peter’s. And then, the totally unexpected… an American pope. We offer our prayers for our new shepherd, Pope Leo XIV.
I can’t help but compare the election of the pope with the election of a US president. In our nation, candidates campaign for at least a year. They must promote themselves, bragging about their records and their qualities while pointing to the weaknesses of their opponents and blaming the opposing party for all that is wrong in the country. The last campaign cost over 5 billion dollars. The country was plastered with campaign signs and TV ads, while stadiums were filled with screaming people and the nation entered a frenzy. Contrast that with the 133 cardinals who locked themselves in a chapel to rationally talk about the needs of the Church and then to quietly pray together, to call on the Spirit’s guidance, and then to vote. I am not suggesting that this kind of system would work for a nation such as ours, but it does make me proud of our Church.
The school year ends this week! Students will be dismissed at 12:30 on Tuesday the 20th and the 8th grade graduation will take place after a 7 p.m. Mass. [Please note that we won’t have a 6:30 p.m. Mass on Tuesday.] Once the students are gone, construction should fly on the school windows. The project needs to be done by the end of the summer.
As was announced at Mass last weekend, Fr. James will be leaving us in June. Fr. James is a Benedictine monk, and after 18 years at St. Charles his abbot has asked him to return to the monastery in India. The monastery is sending us another priest whom we expect to arrive in June. Fr. James will be greatly missed.
Next weekend is an important weekend in our parish. Noah Isch and Sam Martinez will both be ordained deacons on Saturday morning, May 24 at 11:00 in the Fort Wayne Cathedral. Please join us for this inspiring liturgy. Then, on Sunday, both will preach here at St. Charles. Deacon Sam will preach at the 9:00 Mass and Deacon Noah at the 11:00 Mass. (You may want to come and hear both!) We will have a reception in the Hession Center after both of the Sunday Masses.
