Habemus Papam! Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago has been elected as the 267th Successor of St. Peter, and has taken the name Pope Leo XIV!!!! Please continue to pray for Pope Leo as he begins his Papacy!

Unfortunately, life in today’s world is noisy, and it is not always easy for us to hear the voice of our good shepherd. We are bombarded with so many other voices, so many images, so many ideas. Christ knows this, yet he still tells us, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” What gives Christ so much confidence in our ability to stay close to him and avoid the traps set by poachers and wolves? It is prayer, one of God’s greatest gifts to us, and one that we often take for granted. Christ is always paying attention to us, just as a good shepherd pays attention to his sheep. He is always speaking to us, just as a good shepherd walks ahead of his flock talking and singing, so they can hear him and follow along. No matter how noisy, dark, or stormy it gets, he knows how to make his voice heard in our hearts. We can always tune into it – that’s the gift of prayer. The server never goes down, the reception never goes bad: as soon as we turn the attention of our hearts to our good shepherd, he makes his voice heard. God is always online, waiting for us to turn our attention to him, so he can guide us to the meaningful life we long for. The sheep who wanders away and gets stuck in a ravine or attacked by wolves cannot blame the shepherd. Just so, when our lives don’t fill us with the meaning we long for, before blaming Jesus we should take an honest look at our prayer lives: do we pray? Do we strive to pray better? Today, as Jesus renews his commitment as our good shepherd, let’s renew our commitment to be his good sheep, to give daily prayer the place it ought to have in our lives.

Please pray for our sick that they may receive God’s healing strength: Albert Ferranti, Marisa Della Pia, Dom Dinella, Sarah Wallace, Marie Devlin, James Curci, Susan and Frank Addis, Grace Jones, Brian Ligato, Danielle Peters, Marie and Hugh Quigley, Geraldine DiDonato, Gerri Liberato-Abbott, Louie DiBruno, Michael Cornaglia, Sr., Angel Scorza, Linda Sammaritano, Sister Peg, Stephanie Sinex, Shawn Keefe, Maria Dattilo, Ashleigh Leone, Fr. Casey, Rose Campolongo, Landon Reid, Annette Slattery, Anna Musolino, Joann Auld, Pat Kennedy, Sister Francine OSF, Constance DeMayo, Robert Federico, Tom Rucci, Diane Cellini, Dominick Condo, Leon Defulgentis, Anthony DiDonato, Robert & Assunta Nataloni, Bill DiMascio, Lucia Maria Cudemo, Chris Penrose, Joann Fontana, Gregory Lucia, Jackie DiStefano, Jeff Thomas, Jessica Lauria, Richard Graham, Karen Specht, Ed Specht, Annamarie Curci, Rose Candelora