Welcoming Pope Francis

I can see God's Providence at work. In fact, there's not a moment in history that God isn't guiding the Church of Christ. From Vatican II to the painful post-conciliary period of dissents, desertions, and confusions that had rocked the boat of St. Peter, to the "40-year period" (round number) of JPII and BXVI in which the true spirit of Vatican II and its teachings were vigorously exhorted, defended, and solidified, God has always been present in His Church as He promised:

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age (Mt. 28:20).

With the election of Pope Francis, a simple and holy man who chose St. Francis’ name to represent the spirit and outlook of his pontificate, I can see a new period of purification, both spiritually and administratively. The new pontificate of Pope Francis will take the Church right back to the very core of her being: a new level of holiness, simplicity, austerity, and poverty; to the simple and humble spirit of the Beatitudes.

Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, mournful, meek, hungry for justice, merciful, pure at heart, peaceful, and persecuted for the sake of righteousness (cf. Mt. 5:1-10).

At a personal and individual level, this is also where we need to be and want to be.

At this important juncture of the history of the Church, let's pray hard for her, and do so in and through Our Lady, the Mother of the Church, who was also there praying with all the Apostles and disciples at the crucial moment when the Church was about to be inaugurated.