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When the picture above was taken at his ninth birthday nobody would have imagined that a lad from South Chicago could become pope.
And even when he as Cardinal Robert Prevost entered the May 2025 conclave few took seriously the possibility that he could be elected.
It’s a year today since that moment and in these twelve months we have come to know and appreciate the clear and strong leadership of Pope Leo, a leader grounded in God with the sound, robust and lively theological mind of Pope Benedict and the lively and extroverted synodal energy of Pope Francis.
A few days later in his first papal homily he stressed his hope:
“Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”
His call for unity came a few paragraphs after crediting the Holy Spirit with leading the diverse group of 133 electors into a profound and practical unity:
“Coming from different backgrounds and experiences, we placed in God’s hands our desire to elect the new Successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, a shepherd capable of preserving the rich heritage of the Christian faith and, at the same time, looking to the future, in order to confront the questions, concerns and challenges of today’s world. Accompanied by your prayers, we could feel the working of the Holy Spirit, who was able to bring us into harmony, like musical instruments, so that our heartstrings could vibrate in a single melody”.
We too easily fall into the trap of thinking that we have to creat (and even manipulate) uniformity in order to be unambiguous instruments of the Divine on earth. But no. Instead the unity that we are created for is the diversity and difference that leads us deeper – to let the Spirit of God breathe through us and blow fresh breeze to dislodge our cobwebs of complacency.
At my High School (St. Pat’s Timaru) Assemblies every morning the school would gather for prayer and notices. The prayers were simple and timeless. The first, the Morning Offering, and the second the Prayer for the Pope.
We might make this our prayer today.
Let us pray for our Holy Father
Pope Leo the Fourteenth.
May the Lord preserve him
and give him life,
and make him blessed upon the earth,
and deliver him not
up to the will of his enemies.
Amen.
Pope Leo is a timely gift of the Holy Spirit to us. His impact is giving me hope. One year in to his pontificate and already we are witness to a world leader of courage and steadfast faith in what God is doing.
Thanks Fr John. The world has changed but all peoples’ needs are the same. A wonderful reminder to start our days whether teenagers or adults.
Thsnks, Fr. John. Meanwhile we thank the Lord for the gift of Pope Leo XIV and we pray every day for him, we recognize thst in each of our communities unity is a gift from God to be humbly pleaded for and accepted with gratitude.