Join Me in Prayer during the Papal Conclave

Join me in prayer as the Papal Conclave is in session this very minute.  I believe at 2:30 EST we will be able to see the results of the first vote come from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney in the form of either black smoke, indicating that the Cardinals have not agreed upon electing a pope, and will need to continue the conclave, or white smoke, indicating that they’ve successfully chosen our next Holy Father.

There are 115 Cardinals and they’ve got to come to a 2/3rd’s vote in order to elect the pope, so I’m guessing they’ll not be sending up the white smoke today.  I’ve got no idea how soon or long it will take, but I’ll throw out a wild guess that we will hear “HABEMUS PAPAM” (latin for “We have a pope!”) Friday afternoon.

I vaguely remember the events surrounding the Papal Conclave resulting in the election of Benedict XVI’s Papacy.  I was still in college and ensconced in my tiny 2 person dormitory with no television and a mild disinterest in the whole matter. So, this time we have cable and DVR so there’s no way I’m missing it!

Something I am so excited about is the whole Catholic culture to which I am so very proud to belong! I grew up, watching movies which involved cultures with rich histories and traditions, reading stories of people who lived steeped in their heritage, joyously living out their religious culture.  I secretly longed to have been born into, say an Italian family, or a Greek family, or even a Spanish family, who all seem full of life, love and rich in their faith with their fun sayings, language, food etc.

Yet over the years, I have realized I AM LIVING IN THE CATHOLIC CULTURE!  It is mine to fully embrace, if I want it!  The music, the food, the art, the language, the traditions (which are all part of the Italian, Spanish and even Greek cultures!) belong to me!   If I want to submerge my family, I only have to teach it, we only have to live it!  It matters not that my blood is not 100% Italian or Greek or Spanish or whatever nationality I might admire, I already have that richness I crave!  How absolutely wasteful I’ve been of it until recently!  I was baptized into this beautiful, living Church of God and it’s taken my whole life to toss out searching for empty fulfillments, and to embrace Catholicism.

So while BennyXVI leaving the Papal seat has (and is still) been a discomfort to me, the Papal Conclave is such an exciting thing to be able to witness for me -through renewed eyes- for the first real time.

If you don’t have cable, you can watch EWTN online.  They have the most in depth coverage, in contrast to all other news stations which liken the election of a new pope to the presidential, political election.
The Catholic Register in Canada informs, ““This is a prayer from the beginning to end. It’s not about how to count your hanging chads,” ”  This via Patheos.com