A Beauty Ever Ancient, Ever New

Sitting today and watching the Cardinals process from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine, listening to them sing the Litany of the Saints, hearing the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, listening to the Cardinals take the oath together and then watching them do it individually, finally seeing the doors closed as they begin this holy and astonishingly important process today was all so surreal. It was moving. Most of all, I think, it was a powerful image of exactly what it is we say we believe when we profess faith in the creed.

This ceremony, so ancient and yet ever-new, like our faith, is not done because the Church is stuck somewhere in the past, but it is done because She is guiding us forward with the steady hand of truth and love. Our creed professes a faith laid out in the 4th Century which did not stay there but has lived on and guided the Church and Her people ever since, and will continue to until the end of time.

When the Cardinals say these timeless prayers, when the door to the Sistine Chapel is locked from the media, it is not because they can't figure out how to integrate into 2013, but because the Church and Her leaders know that what is happening here is not simply an election in 2013 but a timeless action of God's Bride on Earth, the Church.

And so we wait. We are not scared, we are not worried. We don't doubt the presence of the Holy Spirit or the wisdom of the Cardinals. We know they are men, but that they are guided by the One who leads and guards the Church every day. Knowing this, we are assured that when we see white smoke and hear those amazing words "Habemus Papam" we will move forward in the Grace of God and the Church will continue to live and thrive under the leadership of the new "Servant of the Servants of God."

Until then, we simply pray, trusting in God's providence and His care. Here is the prayer they prayed today, let us pray with them.

Deus, qui, pastor aeternus, gregem tuum assidua custodia  gubernas, eum immense tua pietate concedes Ecclesiae pastorem, qui tibi sanctitate placeat, et vigili nobis sollicitudine prosit. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.Amen

O God, eternal shepherd, Who govern your flock with unfailing care, Grant in your boundless fatherly love a pastor for your Church who will please you by his holiness and to us show watchful care. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and  ever.Amen.