Habemus Papam!

Today was an exciting day for us Catholics around the world.  We elected a new pope, the first from the Western Hemisphere.  He is a Jesuit (also a first), who focuses on poverty and humility.  We are all optimistic about our "new" 76 year old leader.  We pray that he leads us properly.  Of course the hate is already out there because of his stances on some issues.  Haters are gonna hate.  I was glued to my computer screen watching the smoke stack all day.  The seagull that became a celebrity by hanging out on the smoke stack was awesome.  We rushed back from lunch to see the white smoke, and I watched with anticipation for the curtains to be drawn back.  I was amazed at the rain soaked St. Peter's Square, a place where Brooke and I visited 9 years ago.  I was proud to have been there, and I am a proud Catholic.   As I don't agree with everything America does, nor am I proud of some of America's mistakes, I am always proud to be an American.  The same can be said for my Church.  A sense of pride swelled in me to see so many people, not just Catholics, pile into that St. Peter's.  I know that somewhere in Heaven my grandmother would be proud.  No doubt that Granny was excited for today.  Her Irish-Catholic blood is what brought the Southern Baptist Ayers to the Church of Rome.  Today would be a great day for her.  I was also proud of my father, Deacon Tim Ayers (who predicted the correct pope long before he was selected).  He has always lived a proud Catholic lifestyle, in the truest meaning of the word.  No matter what has happened in his life, he has kept the faith.  Dad believes in the true Christian spirit, and Deacon Tim is an excellent face for the Church.  If more Priests and Deacons were like him, we would have very little problems with our faith.  While he is a small piece of a huge puzzle, looking at that crowd today made me even more proud of Dad.  Lastly, I was proud/thankful for Caroline.

See, I had started my own Internet campaign for me to become Pope.  #BoomerforPope #JPIII.

It started with my brother first, Patrick was the first one on board.  Then Evy, from work, created this picture above.  She was quickly behind my push for the Papacy.  James Irwin, Patrick Stiff, Mark McDonough, and a few others really got behind my twitter campaign.  The support I got from the SAE world was great. I love being their ESR, but being a pope is a higher calling.  Everyone seemed to understand my situation.  When I got home for dinner, I was forced to have the conversation with my girls about moving to Italy. At first Reagan was disappointed about moving until I reassured her that I would bring both sets of grandparents with us.  Caroline, however, was all about it from the word go.  She believed in me from the start.  Keep in mind they have no real concept on how the pope is elected, or what it actually means.  To Caroline, it didn't matter.  She was confident I would make a great pope, and told me so at dinner.

I was proud of Brooke today, too.  She and Caroline watched the announcement on TV.  I think it is important for the girls to watch it.  Caroline, bless her heart, was sincerely disappointed when it wasn't her father who came out on the balcony. Deep in her beautiful heart, she was expecting me to be named Pope John Paul III.   She never lost faith.

I think this cycle of belief is a microcosm of any religion.  I believe that my grandmother, God rest her Irish soul, is in a better place.  I also believe that she would have been happy today.  I believe in Deacon Tim and the work that he does, even though I often cant see it due to me being far away.  Caroline believes in her daddy, despite the fact that she doesn't understand what is really going on.  Through her eyes, her daddy can do anything.  I was even proud of Patrick.  Perhaps its was the Jesuits that pushed him away, but maybe his brother being a pope could bring him back.  Back to a "home" (the Church) that always loved him and never stopped believing in him.   That is the definition of Faith, right?  No matter the distance, no matter the lack of knowledge, no matter the lack of evidence, you believe... and you are always welcome back.

Habemus Papam indeed.


#BoomerforPopenexttime