Viva il Papa! Viva!
So, habemus papam.
I went nuts in real time on Facebook, so for better or worse, you missed me in the thrill of the moment. I'm thankful it was the fifth ballot such that the Western hemisphere could be awake for it.
I tried to clue in Pippa to the Momentous Historical Event that was happening but she just looked at me with bewilderment and went back to playing with her alphabet puzzle.
We had the live feed on during lunch, and when she heard all the cheering and chanting, she said "Hockey!" LOL. Because that's basically her experience with people cheering on the computer: it's hockey time. Daddy got to explain this was much, much more important than hockey.
I feel that St. Francis Xavier interceded in a special way this conclave. First, the conclave started on the traditional ending date of his famous novena, the Novena of Grace. Second, the new pope is a Jesuit (his order). Third, he picked the name Francis. The fact that his avowed namesake is specifically St. Francis of Assisi doesn't bother me in the slightest. If I remember correctly from a biography I once read, the Francis in Francis Xavier was also picked in honor of the same. (Remember that St. Francis Xavier lived about three hundred years after St. Francis of Assisi.)
fpb also pointed out that the Jesuits have another saint named Francis: St. Francis Borgia, who is proof that a family of black sheep can produce a white sheep as much as the reverse. He was the (illegitimate) great-grandson of one of the contenders for worst pope of all time, Alexander VI. At the time he joined the Jesuits, it was kind of a rock star order that was threatening to get a bit over the top with zeal. His charism was to rein things in a bit, instituting the practice of daily devotional time, and generally moderating and reforming the bureaucratic/practical side of things, which idealists can easily forget to do.
So, with just these three saints, we see love for the poor, passion for evangelization, and concern for spiritual development, prudence and maturity. These all seem to be things that the new Pope Francis is striving for. So it was an excellent choice of name.
The big thing that concerns me is his health. He has only had one lung for a long time, and he is 76. I do not think it would be a good idea for this next pope to resign, as it might set an ominous precedent that all future popes would be pressured to resign. But, it's not up to me of course.
Initially we were watching it on the Salt and Light feed but that got overwhelmed so we switched to the Guardian feed, which I preferred, as it had NO COMMENTARY. :D
Anyway I need to get to confession ASAP in order to cash in on the plenary indulgence. ;)
----
We've been having some lovely rain here. It's been drier than usual lately so this is actually refreshing. My least favorite weather is cold, dark, and blah. If it's going to be cold and dark it should be raining or snowing and give us some excitement and beauty.
LB gave me quite a scare today. We were having tortilla wrap sandwiches for dinner--each kid got one half sandwich. LB had eaten about half of his, when suddenly he picked up the remaining half, and shoved it into his mouth. He looked like a python trying to swallow a ferret. It was so horrifying and unexpected that for a moment I was just staring at him in shock. Then he started to choke of course and his face was red and his eyes were all panicked. I ran over to him, leaned him forward and started thumping his back. The tortilla came forward enough for me to grab it and pull it out of his mouth.
One choking scare not apparently being enough for him, he then started cramming blueberries into his mouth, his animal role model apparently having switched to a chipmunk. I gave him one warning to chew and eat slowly and when he disregarded it I just removed all the food from his tray and hands. No kid is choking to death on my watch if I can help it.
It was such a weird thing. I can't imagine what triggered it. The weirdest part is the tortilla, because he started out looking like was about to take a normal bite, then he kept his mouth open as if going for a big bite, then he just started pushing more and more in without actually biting until the entire thing was in his mouth and started trying to swallow it. It only took seconds. Crazy.
---
There hasn't been any neighbor fracas since I called the landlord Saturday, and today I tested the waters by (gasp) running the dryer from 8pm to 9pm. No appearance and no loud passive-aggressive comments made with the door open so I can hear them in the laundry room. I hope the detente lasts.
I went nuts in real time on Facebook, so for better or worse, you missed me in the thrill of the moment. I'm thankful it was the fifth ballot such that the Western hemisphere could be awake for it.
I tried to clue in Pippa to the Momentous Historical Event that was happening but she just looked at me with bewilderment and went back to playing with her alphabet puzzle.
We had the live feed on during lunch, and when she heard all the cheering and chanting, she said "Hockey!" LOL. Because that's basically her experience with people cheering on the computer: it's hockey time. Daddy got to explain this was much, much more important than hockey.
I feel that St. Francis Xavier interceded in a special way this conclave. First, the conclave started on the traditional ending date of his famous novena, the Novena of Grace. Second, the new pope is a Jesuit (his order). Third, he picked the name Francis. The fact that his avowed namesake is specifically St. Francis of Assisi doesn't bother me in the slightest. If I remember correctly from a biography I once read, the Francis in Francis Xavier was also picked in honor of the same. (Remember that St. Francis Xavier lived about three hundred years after St. Francis of Assisi.)
fpb also pointed out that the Jesuits have another saint named Francis: St. Francis Borgia, who is proof that a family of black sheep can produce a white sheep as much as the reverse. He was the (illegitimate) great-grandson of one of the contenders for worst pope of all time, Alexander VI. At the time he joined the Jesuits, it was kind of a rock star order that was threatening to get a bit over the top with zeal. His charism was to rein things in a bit, instituting the practice of daily devotional time, and generally moderating and reforming the bureaucratic/practical side of things, which idealists can easily forget to do.
So, with just these three saints, we see love for the poor, passion for evangelization, and concern for spiritual development, prudence and maturity. These all seem to be things that the new Pope Francis is striving for. So it was an excellent choice of name.
The big thing that concerns me is his health. He has only had one lung for a long time, and he is 76. I do not think it would be a good idea for this next pope to resign, as it might set an ominous precedent that all future popes would be pressured to resign. But, it's not up to me of course.
Initially we were watching it on the Salt and Light feed but that got overwhelmed so we switched to the Guardian feed, which I preferred, as it had NO COMMENTARY. :D
Anyway I need to get to confession ASAP in order to cash in on the plenary indulgence. ;)
----
We've been having some lovely rain here. It's been drier than usual lately so this is actually refreshing. My least favorite weather is cold, dark, and blah. If it's going to be cold and dark it should be raining or snowing and give us some excitement and beauty.
LB gave me quite a scare today. We were having tortilla wrap sandwiches for dinner--each kid got one half sandwich. LB had eaten about half of his, when suddenly he picked up the remaining half, and shoved it into his mouth. He looked like a python trying to swallow a ferret. It was so horrifying and unexpected that for a moment I was just staring at him in shock. Then he started to choke of course and his face was red and his eyes were all panicked. I ran over to him, leaned him forward and started thumping his back. The tortilla came forward enough for me to grab it and pull it out of his mouth.
One choking scare not apparently being enough for him, he then started cramming blueberries into his mouth, his animal role model apparently having switched to a chipmunk. I gave him one warning to chew and eat slowly and when he disregarded it I just removed all the food from his tray and hands. No kid is choking to death on my watch if I can help it.
It was such a weird thing. I can't imagine what triggered it. The weirdest part is the tortilla, because he started out looking like was about to take a normal bite, then he kept his mouth open as if going for a big bite, then he just started pushing more and more in without actually biting until the entire thing was in his mouth and started trying to swallow it. It only took seconds. Crazy.
---
There hasn't been any neighbor fracas since I called the landlord Saturday, and today I tested the waters by (gasp) running the dryer from 8pm to 9pm. No appearance and no loud passive-aggressive comments made with the door open so I can hear them in the laundry room. I hope the detente lasts.