The coming Conclave will be the fifth during my lifetime. I was too young to remember the first of these which elected Pope Paul VI, but the others were a real focus of expectation and of excitement.
A Conclave is first and foremost the moment when the Cardinals of the Church come into their proper role, but for the rest of us it is a time of humble prayer to God - almost a time of vigil - endeavouring to place the Church and especially the Cardinals under the mission of the Holy Spirit - that the choice which the Cardinals make will be God's choice. We all have a role to play in this matter, then.
I sense that the world, and particularly the Media, do not know who to look for in this Conclave. The gap between the Church and the (western) world has grown since the last Conclave, partly because of clerical scandals but much more because of the world's distain for the Christian life. I would expect to see the Media's own focus on the Conclave to miss the point entirely, which will help the Church and the Cardinals in their task.
Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well-beloved spouse.
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