The pope has a wonderful and joyful mission: to proclaim Christ to the world! But the head we await will be crowned with thorns in a variety of ways. Soberly, then, we can recite the prayer designated as a collect in Masses ‘For the Pope to Be Elected’ — and it is wonderful that we pray for him personally before we have the least idea of who he is:

God, as eternal Pastor you govern your flock with assiduous protection: grant your Church in your boundless kindness that pastor who will [best] please you by his holiness and be of [most] benefit to us through unsleeping solicitude.

Friends, this is from a superb interview from a Bishop that I always turn to for sage advice and profound insight when the news cycle and gossip chain are full of “experts” and their endless commentary.

Read the entire interview here. You can find the online version of this interview here.  And live in peace during these next few days.