And now I’ll give you my blessing…
but first – first, I ask you this favor:
before the bishop blesses his people,
I ask that you pray to the Lord that he might bless me:
the prayer of the people, seeking God’s blessing for their bishop.
In silence, please pray over me….
How did you react when you heard the announcement? What did you think when you first saw him or heard him or read about him? What do you like about him? Do you think he will be a good Pope?
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He looks like a kindly man.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan describes him: “He comes across as shy and reserved. He is more conversational, doesn’t have a big, booming voice. But he has confidence and poise, that is also blended with sincerity, simplicity and humility.”
I bet he makes easy company at lunch, except that he probably always wants to pay.
I’d go to confession to him without any hesitation or fear whatsoever, except that he’d probably ask me if I would hear his confession, too, and I’d freak out.
Lord,
make Pope Francis
an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let him sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that he may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that he receives;
it is in pardoning that he is pardoned;
and it is in dying that he is born to eternal life.
Amen
With Open Doors 