May These Words From Our New Pope Give Us Light and Hope!
A momentary power outage woke me up during the night. It was already past one in the morning in the Philippines, and when I checked my phone, I found out that a white smoke had just come out of the Sistine Chapel!
I wasn’t able to find out what caused the power outage, but I was grateful that it woke me up. Because of that, our family was able to see and listen to our new pope. Habemus Papam! We now have Pope Leo XIV.
I felt grateful upon seeing him. I saw his smile and his gesture of peace. God has chosen him to lead his people and to invite all the world to come back home to the Church.
Here are some of his words that made a lasting impression upon me:
1. “God loves us, all of us, evil will not prevail.”
We need to hear these words. During a time filled with so many problems and perplexities, we need to be reminded that God is still there, that He loves us, and that at the end of it all, no matter how dark it seems to be, evil will not prevail.
2. “Without fear, united, hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we will go forward.”
It is time to move forward in unity. No longer could we afford to be divided into factions while the whole world falls into darkness. The Church must be united in hope, faith and love.
3. “We have to look together how to be a missionary Church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love.”
Even as we defend our faith, we must never forget reaching out to one another and to the world. We need to listen so that we can understand where the other is coming from. Only by listening can we begin to have true compassion.
Walking Together in Christ
God has given us a new shepherd to lead us and guide us towards walking the uncertain path into an unknown future. We will face many threats, setbacks and challenges along the way, but may we never be dismayed. Sometimes, even what we see as misfortunes can be blessings in disguise.
Just like the power outage that woke me up to receive the good news of our new pope, may God help us to see the blessings behind our struggles. Let us never lose heart. Let us instead keep on walking, knowing that with God, we are never alone.
“To walk is an art...To walk is the art of looking at the horizon, thinking about where I want to go but also enduring the fatigue. And many times, the walk is difficult, it is not easy… There is darkness… even days of failure… one falls… But always think this: do not be afraid of failure. Do not be afraid of falling. In the art of walking, what is important is not avoiding the fall but not remaining fallen. Get up quickly, continue on, and go…” - Pope Francis
Yes, evil is finite, but God’s love is overcoming and everlasting!