“I’ll pray.” What better response could we find for any challenge or difficulty? St. Paul tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), remaining like the widow petitioning the judge until he heard her request. God is our loving Father, and he wants to hear our prayers, so how much more should we storm heaven with all our needs? But, we must make sure to seek God before any of the help he gives, for he is the one thing necessary that gives meaning to everything else.
That’s important to remember in moments of uncertainty and anxiety. Prayers keep us steady even as the boat rocks, such as our current moment in the Church, when we lack a pilot to keep us sailing smoothly. God will provide, but he wants us to take up our own role of participating and supporting through prayer, coming to trust in his action and to rely on his help.
There are three main reasons to pray before, during, and after the Conclave.
1. Pray for guidance for the Cardinals
We can presume so much on God’s help that we don’t pray enough for him to guide us. In calling the apostles, God established the Church’s hierarchy, giving bishops, as successors of the apostles, authority to govern the Church, teach, and confer the sacraments. Cardinals, however, are not of divine institution, and the first Papal Conclave occurred only in 1276. This is important because God didn’t tell us that he would miraculously choose a Pope for us. The Church has had to develop the means of choosing the Pope in an efficient and orderly way, making sure that politics do not interfere and that the Church does not go too long without a chief shepherd.
This history is important because it reminds us that we need to be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It isn’t automatic, and Cardinals certainly have made bad choices throughout history. Popes are not automatically saints, and many have abused their office. If they pray, and we pray for them as well, the Holy Spirit can guide the Cardinal’s choice, giving us a Pope after God’s own heart. We shouldn’t take that gift for granted. This is why we must ask our heavenly Father to give us a good leader in his mercy and love.
2. Pray for blessings on the one chosen
The Pope has the most difficult job in the world. He bears the burden not only of his own 1.4 billion-member flock, but also of the world’s problems, which he seeks to address on behalf of Christ. Modern technology enables him to stand in the spotlight like never before, with all of his words and actions instantly scrutinized. He makes innumerable decisions on behalf of the Church, none less important than providing bishops for the dioceses throughout the world.
We can support the Pope and the Church throughout the world with our prayer. We are members of one Body in Christ, and all the members affect one another. Prayer and sacrifice will strengthen the life of all; sin and lukewarmness weaken it. The more we live a holy life of prayer, penance, and service, the more we participate in the Church’s mission and can support our leaders in their important work overseeing the whole.
3. Keeping yourself in the right disposition
Finally, our prayer for the Cardinals and the new Pope also helps us to remain confident and unafraid in the face of the trials facing the Church. There will always be internal division and outward persecution to test us, becoming a means of purification. Without prayer, we will sink into the water, like Peter did himself when he took his gaze off Christ. This is why John Paul II told us immediately after his own election, “Be not afraid!” We can focus so much on the problems that we lose sight of what God is doing and how he is working for our holiness in the midst of all these problems.
Jesus asks us to trust in him, putting our confidence not in particular men but in his grace that he offers us through them. Prayer keeps us focused on what is most important and enables us to remain unshaken even when things don’t go the way we think they should. It keeps us humble, reminding us that our own problems are enough for us, that we must bring God’s Kingdom to our own little corner of the world.
To fulfill all of these aims, we can pray the Veni Creator Spiritus that the Cardinals will chant as they enter the Sistine Chapel to start the Conclave:
Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest, and in our souls take up Thy rest;
Veni Creator Spiritus
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.O comforter, to Thee we cry, O heavenly gift of God Most High, O fount of life and fire of love, and sweet anointing from above.
Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known; Thou, finger of God’s hand we own; Thou, promise of the Father, Thou Who dost the tongue with power imbue.
Kindle our sense from above, and make our hearts o’erflow with love; with patience firm and virtue high the weakness of our flesh supply.
Far from us drive the foe we dread, and grant us Thy peace instead; so shall we not, with Thee for guide, turn from the path of life aside.
Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow the Father and the Son to know; and Thee, through endless times confessed, of both the eternal Spirit blest.
Now to the Father and the Son, Who rose from death, be glory given, with Thou, O Holy Comforter, henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen.
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