Habemus Papam!

WE HAVE A POPE! Welcome Papa Frankie!  Get ready for lots of ALL CAPS and exclamation points! I don’t know about the rest of you but I had one of the most emotionally charged days of my life yesterday! It was honestly a little bit ridiculous, but something I will never be embarrassed of.

Picture of Pope Francis via Toledo Blade 

            Initially when Papa Bene announced his resignation I was shocked and heartbroken, but that fear melted away quickly to reveal an excitement I had never felt before.  What an incredible blessing to be able to see a conclave take place and understand the significance of such an event!   I adopted my cardinal to pray for during the conclave (Go Andre of Paris!) and I was ready to hunker down and pray for weeks.  Little did I know it would only take two days. 

            I had signed up on Popealert.com so I knew I would be receiving a text as soon as white smoke appeared.  I was napping due to a cancelled class yesterday and was awoken at 2:08 pm by that fateful text, followed immediately by a text from my Dad containing the same information.  I was in disbelief, already?  I went to the internet and couldn't find anything confirming the white smoke so I got nervous, like it didn't really happen.  I took to Twitter and Facebook and my friends and the twittersphere confirmed, WE HAD A POPE!  I was ecstatic; I jumped out of bed and danced around my room singing.  Then I panicked, where I was going to watch the new pope emerge!  I threw on some non-pj's and literally ran across campus to the CSC.

Pope Party at Frob's House!

            I arrived at the Catholic Student Center out of breath but overjoyed.  I found a group of about 20 packed into our chaplain’s living room crowded around the TV, waiting.  Every few minutes a new excited and panting student would burst through the door praying they made it in time to watch the Pope emerge. 

            Then, it happened, the new pope was announced; a Jesuit from Argentina who took the name Francis.  ALL FIRSTS! The room erupted with cheers and hugs, we ran out into the courtyard and rang our bell and jumped up and down for at least 15 minutes straight.  Then we began researching our new pope to make “Popesters” to hang around the center, the more we learned the more we loved.  I went to the convenience shop on campus skipping and shouting for joy, did I get weird looks? Yes.  Did I care? Absolutely not!

            Brothers and Sisters, that excitement is what we need to carry into everyday of our lives as Catholics.  This experience helped to remind me of why I love being Catholic.  I love being Catholic because it is the way to true joy.  I reflected on the events of the day later that evening and I realized that I had watched the same events as the entire world; I had celebrated with Catholics around the world, in unison.  We are the Global Church. We are part of something bigger.  God has created us for more than just ourselves, and what a blessing!  Let us take that unity that was felt yesterday and under the guidance of our new pope and ultimately the Holy Spirit add fervor and joy to our lives and show the rest of the world what they are missing! VIVE EL PAPA!

How do you feel about Papa Frankie? What do you want to know about him? Any suggestions for future posts? Comments? Questions? Drop me a line in the comments below!