‘The Prayers of the Righteous Availeth Much’ In Pope Leo XIV

Black Roots Among His Blessings, Cross

Our Sun may be just a dot in the full-sky 3-D image recently captured by SPHEREX, but it’s a vital part as each one of us is to the whole.

Happiest day, beloved world! Bless you! I love you and pray you’re doing well.

Maybe second only to nature and National Parks, I love my husband Frank. A pioneering Civil Rights leader who helped integrate an entire city police force and told the KKK to “come on over” when they called and threatened him, his sagacity and faith in our country has never wavered though he saw the worst of it.

Today I’m loving him in particular on the eve of his 88th birthday because the ascendance of Pope Leo XIV confirms his frequent saying, “Honey, you never know what’s going to happen. Things never work out as they plan.” I’m so grateful for his steadiness.

Because in the midst of our apparent existential crisis, when dark forces are trying to make jackals of our people and watch us tear each other apart - a beam of heavenly light suddenly appeared. It took the form of new Pope Leo XIV who is outspoken for love and justice; compassionate; a humble servant leader and a unifying force. I feel that he’s an answer to the prayers of people of faith around the world.

Then I saw the records on Facebook showing that he comes from Black roots and his grandparents were from New Orleans. I became almost giddy. New Orleans is so culturally and historically rich: It is home of the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, the living history and record of evolution in both music and war.

A person with that lineage is bound to understand more different aspects of our country and humanity, and bring that to the table. A Pope with roots in one of the Blackest Cities in America at a time when government forces are trying to demonize Black Americans is a sweet counterpoint. Among his first words were that being appointed Pope is both “a curse and a blessing.”.

Does God has a sense of humor? Or maybe it’s the joy of those who’ve been praying, defined by Britannica as “an act of communication by humans with the sacred or holy—God, the gods, the transcendent realm, or supernatural powers. Found in all religions in all times…”

I’m so excited that I want to go to church today, and to my favorite of all Churches in the National Park System (I just learned there are so many)