Almost
all
of us have an interest in the process now underway to select the
new Pope,
the new Roman Pontiff. Furthermore, we and all Catholics have a
spiritual
responsibility to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in
this selection
process. All of us will be affected by the selection. We pray
that the new Pope
will be a holy person, able to lead and guide us closer to Jesus
Christ, who
alone is our salvation.
But
I
would also like to express a reservation. The constant and
rather frenetic
media coverage of this event could easily lead us to overstress
the direct
importance to us of this election. After all, it is in our home
parish that our
faith life is mostly lived out. To a very great degree, like
politics, all
religion is local. While
the election of
a new Pope does matter, the day-to-day impact on each of us
pales in comparison
to what happens, or fails to happen, right here in our local
parish community.
This is where we pray, worship, learn, work together, and
by-and-large this is
where we meet the Risen Christ. That far exceeds in importance
for us what
happens at the conclave in Rome.
So
I
encourage you not be distracted by the media hype. The Body of
Christ we
meet, that we belong to, is right here in our local parish
community.
God
bless!
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