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Mass Before the Conclave
Today, in a few hours, the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI Emeritus begins. This morning, March 12, 2013, Vatican time (CT + 6 hours, ET + 5 hours, etc.), all the Cardinals celebrated Mass together in St. Peters Basilica. The homily was given by Cardinal Angelo Sodano (translation here) during which he tied the readings to the task of electing the pope. Here's some (rather awesome) excerpts:
"My brothers, the readings of the World of God that we have just heard can help us better understand the mission that Christ has entrusted to Peter and to his successors. The Message of Love"
"This mission of mercy has been entrusted by Christ to the pastors of his Church. It is a mission that must be embraced by every priest and bishop, but is especially entrusted to the Bishop of Rome, Shepherd of the universal Church. It is [infact] to Peter that Jesus said: “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?... Feed my lambs (John 21:15)."
"St. Paul teaches that each of us must work to build up the unity of the Church, so that “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Eph 4:16). Each of us is therefore called to cooperate with the Successor of Peter, the visible foundation of such an ecclesial unity."
"The basic attitude of every Shepherd is therefore to lay down one’s life for his sheep (John 10:15). This also applies to the Successor of Peter, Pastor of the Universal Church. As high and universal the pastoral office, so much greater must be the charity of the Shepherd. In the heart of every Successor of Peter, the words spoken one day by the Divine Master to the humble fisherman of Galilee have resounded: “Diligis me plus his? Pasce agnos meos… pasce oves meas”; “Do you love me more than these? Feed my lambs… feed my sheep!” (John 21:15-17)"
"My brothers, let us pray that the Lord will grant us a Pontiff who will embrace this noble mission with a generous heart. We ask this of the Lord, through the intercession of Mary most holy, Queen of the Apostles and of all the Martyrs and Saints, who through the course of history, made this Church of Rome glorious through the ages. Amen"
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| Mass before the Conclave |
I'm also working on a post about how the conclave works and that sort of thing, so stay tuned!
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