On Black Smoke

A kindly person came up to me on the street today, as I walking to lunch, and stopped to announce that there was black smoke today, and that there would be no more news today as the Cardinals had gone to bed.

So, there was black smoke today, rising above the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City. I understand that there was some misunderstanding at the beginning, but whitish puffs darkened quickly, and revealed, nothing.

The first round of ballots resulted in a plurality too wide for an election. Journalists and commentators were hot to suggest that this ballot reveals the candidates, strong and weak.

Maybe. But maybe, just maybe my friend's announcement was correct. Perhaps the Cardinals of the Holy Catholic Church, exhausted by the responsibility and spectacle of their office, burned up the artifacts of their trial run and turned in to sleep on it!

Somehow, I'm not worried about the outcome. I've lived during the reigns of five successors of St. Peter. Each one of them a surprise, each one a gift. None of them were perfect. All of them were loved, by someone.

The new boy will have his strengths and weaknesses; his successes and his failures. He will be loved for it.

Let the Cardinals take their time. Its all in God's hands.

Veni Sancti Spiritus!