Like the Israelites in the wilderness, I’m sure we have found ourselves asking the question, many a time, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”  We can apply that question to our personal lives and we can apply that question to what is happening in our Universal Church experience. Especially with the various “crises” in the Church, and with the election of a new pope, we might all be asking:  “Is the Lord among us or not?”  

The “wilderness experience” is about thirsting and hungering for God, and yearning for the “land of milk and honey.” We can see in our Universal Church today, this wilderness, and the yearning, so the work of the conclave needs to be supported by our positive thoughts and petitions of prayer.  Allow me to borrow the words from 2 Thessalonians: verses 11 and 12  

            Prayer for Their Progress (The Conclaves Progress)           

            We pray for you always that our God may make you worthy of his call, and fulfill

                By his power every honest intention and work of faith.  In this way the name of our

                Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, in accord with the gracious gift

                Of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

May the Church’s work of choosing the next Pope be a work done only in and with our Lord Jesus Christ.  May the choosing of the next pope by this assembled conclave reveal to the whole Church the plan of God, our destiny, and the will of God, whether it be understood or not.   

While the prayers and supplications are important and come naturally to a living, breathing, praying, community, we must also surrender our need(s) so that we are trusting in only God’s Will and his Divine Providence.  We have seen the affects, by the example of the Vatican , that we cannot take power and control to ourselves regarding the Church.  The Church is forever and always the enduring initiative and work of God. Just as God loved us first, He also sends us first! For our ways are not his ways, and our thoughts not his thoughts!  We need to accept the outcome and continue to take our direction from the Lord!  

This Sunday’s Gospel is about the Prodigal Son, and I’m sure we would like to see some “prodigal sons” among the Cardinals in Rome . I ask the question:  Is the Lord Among Us or Not?   I can only hope!