The Successor to St. Peter

HABEMUS PAPAM!

The white smoke cleared and emerged is the new successor to St. Peter - Vicar of the Catholic Church/ Christ...  

After the smoke cleared and the bells stopped ringing, appearing in white vestments, Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Buenos Aires, Argentina - who has taken the name of Pope Francis (I).  "Francis" being of St. Francis of Assissi - Patron Saint of Animals, Merchants, and Ecology. He is our first Pope to come from a Latin Amercian country and the first Pope to have taken the name of St. Francis.

Am I the only one happy about the new Pope?!  Is it a "Catholic thing?"  Or were people of other faiths waiting for the white smoke to appear?  According to the news and social media blogs it seems as though the  world was watching and waiting.  And to me that is a good sign.  A sign of hope for the future of all humanity and our world.

As a Hispanic/ Latina woman, I am humbly excited.  And as a woman of faith, I pray the Cardinals who voted in secrecy and were sequestered, made the right choice for all of us Roman Catholics around the globe.  I also hope as an American that the situation of the priests molesting the children, will be at the forefront, as well as bringing the flock back to the church who have left because of the scandals.  The Catholic priests have done both the church and our children wrong, and they need to rectify the situation accordingly.  This is one of the reasons why so many people Catholics and non-Catholics have no faith in the church - any church or so-called Religion.  But most importantly something has to be done not just to regain the faith and trust of the Catholics but for the young people as well.

Enough said and I leave you with the Prayer of St. Francis of Assissi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I 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 we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

The Prodigal Daughter

{A lot has been going on these past few weeks.  I will be sure to catch up on my blogs in the following days...}

Family Reunions can sometimes be bittersweet.  Saturday night I finally got to see my cousin Sandra I have not seen in over 15 years!  That is the sweet part, the bitter part - my aunt died three years ago - her mother...
My cousin Sandra who is only two years older than me, left her house when she was 16 years old - pregnant with child.  My aunt had seven children and Sandra was the sixth child.  Her oldest sister was married and still living at home with her husband.  A lot of rumors, gossip and drama developed as a result of my cousins teen pregnancy.

I was told by one side she was thrown out because there was not enough room in the house for everyone, especially not her and her child.  She was also offered the option of aborting the child. :O
Another side told me she left on her own accord.  She wanted her baby and to be with her man.  This debate has gone on for at least 20 years.  My cousin eventually married her boyfriend and they had four children in total.  Her husbands' entire family relocated to Florida, and my parents would hear from her about every five years or so.  Because of this "big family incident" it remained a sore spot for many. It never felt right with me and when I was younger I remained totally upset, hurt and quite disgusted with this situation.  I actually believed my cousin was thrown out.  If she decided to leave on her own, get married and have her child - why all the animosity and resentment towards her?!  I understand that whenever she called or possibly visited, she might not have been welcomed with open arms - but why??

I now realized it is quite possible that my cousin Sandra's siblings were hurt when she left and decided to choose her man and unborn child over her family?!  I did not take that personal but then again I am just a cousin, not her sister.  And what I do know is - since my own sister has passed, I try to help rectify other sibling rivalry and such.  I tell people all the time, make amends; and do it now before it is too late!  Life is too short!  

I wish I could say that her visit went well... Her siblings still seem bitter towards her and might possibly resent her.  They ALL did not welcome her with open arms.  And to have to process the fact you were too late and your mother has already been deceased for three years - is a hard fact to swallow...

All I know is I did my part.  When my aunt died I decided to look for her on my own.  I thought she had the right to know her mother passed away.  As I was searching various Web Detectives, my father called and told me to "search" for her.  (Little did he know I had already begun the process.)  Come to find out I was looking in the wrong city.  But I prayed everyday for over two years that my aunt (her mother) would bring her home.  [It was recently when I prayed to my sister to bring her home  - that my cousin showed up.]

I was too elated to see her beyond words and emotion.  Perhaps I was in shock.  And maybe because I thought of my own sister who is no longer here with us - with whom I would have loved to share this moment of the Prodigal Daughter...

Be Blessed and Stay LOVED!!