Growing up, I knew of Pope John Paul II from the news but it was not until I become a Catholic in 2008 that I truly appreciated him as Pope. With Pope Benedict XVI, I was starting to discover my Catholic faith but I did not really pay attention to what he was doing until I entered Diaconal Formation and started reading his writings. However, I thought it was pretty cool that the La Sang Sisters were able to get us a Papal Blessing for our marriage. It was towards the end of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy, as I was discerning God's call to me to the Diaconate, that I started to pay more attention to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
In a way, I guess you can say that Pope Francis shaped the formation that I received to become a deacon, because we focused a lot of healing, evangelization, and what it means to love our neighbor and be merciful as God is merciful. Pope Francis also challenged me to go to the peripheries to help those on the fringes of society, something that I strive to do in diaconal ministry with some challenge when it comes to certain aspects. It was hard to watch Pope Francis struggle with his health towards the end of his life but it was also inspirational. He always preached how the elderly members of our families (our grandparents, etc.) have so much wisdom, knowledge, and love to share with their families, and Pope Francis was an example of that to the end for all of us.
Theresa and I were in Corpus Christi for the Knights of Columbus State Council Convention and we set our alarm clock to wake up at 2:30 A.M. CST to watch the funeral Mass of Pope Francis. It was a moving and beautiful ceremony, yet still captured the simplicity of how Pope Francis lived his life that shared his papacy. For us in the Diocese of Austin, it was strange not to be able to hear the name of the Pope or the Bishop of Austin in the Eucharistic Prayer. And so, as we mourned the death of Pope Francis, the Universal Church was also preparing for Conclave, which started on May 7, 2025, to elect the next Successor of Saint Peter, the Vicar o Christ, the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, and the Bishop of Rome.
This was the third Conclave in my lifetime but the first one that I really paid attention to and, with livestreaming available, it make Conclave accessible for all of us on our devices. It was actually quite fun to watch the coverage of Conclave even if it was just watching a live image of the chimney on the Sistine Chapel, waiting for the white smoke. I dare say, "Watching the chimney live is like watching grass grow but much more exciting. . ." Ha!
Then, on May 8, 2025, we had white smoke! It was so funny. . . one of my co-workers poked her head into my office to let me know that we have "white smoke" because she received notification on her phone. You got to love technology! As Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, emerged from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, I teared up. Not because he is the first American Pope but because we are no longer sede vacante. A dear friend of mine, who faithfully attends 6:30 A.M. Mass with me at Saint Mary Cathedral, talked about how weird it was not to have a Pope and how all is right with the world again now that we have a Pope. #HabemusPapam!
[From Vatican News: Here is the official record confirming that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost accepted the election canonically making him Supreme Pontiff and the name he has chosen. The document was drawn up by the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, Monsignor Diego Giovanni Ravelli, acting as notary. Written in Latin, the name Leo XIV appears in red.]
The first words of Pope Leo XIV were "Peace be with you" (see link below for the text of his first speech). I particularly love this part of his speech:
God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! All of us are in God’s hands. So, let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another other! We are followers of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs him as the bridge that can lead us to God and his love. Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace. Thank you, Pope Francis!
Then, this morning, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass with the Cardinals who took part in Conclave. Below are excerpts from Pope Leo XIV's first homily that moved me:
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God: the one Savior who alone reveals the face of the Father.
In him, God, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the lively mind of a young person, and in the mature features of a man (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22), finally appearing to his disciples after the Resurrection with his glorious body. He thus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities. . .
In a particular way, God has called me by your election to succeed the Prince of the Apostles, and has entrusted this treasure to me so that, with his help, I may be its faithful administrator (cf. 1 Cor 4:2) for the sake of the entire mystical Body of the Church. He has done so in order that she may be ever more fully a city set on a hill (cf. Rev 21:10), an ark of salvation sailing through the waters of history and a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world. . .
Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.
These are contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society. . .
Today, too, there are many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman. This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism.
This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Savior. Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16).
It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a Church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the Good News to all (cf. Lumen Gentium, 1).
I say this first of all to myself, as the Successor of Peter, as I begin my mission as Bishop of Rome and, according to the well-known expression of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, am called to preside in charity over the universal Church (cf. Letter to the Romans, Prologue). Saint Ignatius, who was led in chains to this city, the place of his impending sacrifice, wrote to the Christians there: “Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world no longer sees my body” (Letter to the Romans, IV, 1). Ignatius was speaking about being devoured by wild beasts in the arena – and so it happened – but his words apply more generally to an indispensable commitment for all those in the Church who exercise a ministry of authority. It is to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified (cf. Jn 3:30), to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.
I am looking forward to what God has in store for the papacy of Pope Leo XIV. I found it interesting, but not surprising, how people have already started to comment and speculate on what kind of a Pope Leo XIV will be. God will always give the Church and the world the Pope that we need. Come Holy Spirit! For our part, I believe all we need to do is pray, pray, pray for our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. In the immortal words of Pope Francis: "Pray for me. I am praying for you."
Links:
Great pictures of Pope Leo XIV with Saint John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis. The Spirit of Father has prepared Pope Leo XIV for this moment in time to lead the Catholic Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Official portrait of Pope Leo XIV (Vatican News, 5/16/2025)
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