3rd Sunday of Easter

05-04-2025Pastor's CornerFr. Bob Deehan

It’s interesting to hear people of different faiths, as well as Catholics, talking about the election of a new pope. Certainly, it seems to have captured people’s imagination, and the news media is captivated by the traditions surrounding the election. There are all kinds of speculation about who the new pope will be and what he will be like. Trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit who has been with our Church since Pentecost, we can have great hope that he will be what our Church needs in this present time.

Unlike ordinary elections of civil leaders, we believe that grace will be working in a special way through human instruments, the cardinal- electors in the conclave.

Our Church is like a living organism, unchangeable in its foundational elements, yet subject to change and movement in many other ways, led by the Holy Spirit. “Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world.” (Mt. 28:20). Hallmarks of our Church are the enduring and universal nature of this institution, “the bark of Peter,” which has weathered many storms over the years, still, passing on the one true faith and the ministry of Christ, and carrying the treasures of our sacramental life – all over the world. We are the only church which can identify a primacy of leadership and oneness of faith represented by the office of its leader, the pope, whose origin stems directly from the Apostle, Peter, who was given the authority and leadership of the Church by Jesus Christ, Himself. “I for my part declare to you (Peter), you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build my church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you declare loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt. 16:18-19.) The unity of faith, life and mission of our Church is directly tied to the leadership of the pope in union with the bishops throughout the world.3

We’re a Church with a 2000 year old history with beliefs and traditions which stem from Christ, the Apostles and their successors. It’s no wonder people of all walks of life are fascinated by what’s taking place in Rome right now and its impact on the future. Despite criticism by some for being “out of touch,” many more people, even those of other faiths, find in our Church a bulwark of faith and moral teaching, which provides a beacon of unchanging truth in an age of relativism and insecurity. In our prayer for the cardinal-electors, may we include a prayer of gratitude for the gift of our Church, which continues to pass on from generation to generation the saving mysteries and treasures of our faith upon which we depend.

God bless you!