Thursday, March 14, 2013

Boo and Pope Francis

Boo was interested in the papal conclave.  He earnestly prayed for the Cardinals, the Pope to be elected and our beloved Pope emeritus.  He maintained absolute faith that the Holy Spirit was guiding the hearts and minds of the Cardinals. 

Change is difficult for Boo.  He thrives with a peaceful environment, as consistent a schedule as possible and limited and much discussed changes.  Even then, change can be unsettling and daunting.  Boo's biggest concern during the papal conclave was that he'd have difficulty remembering the name of the new Pope.  His hope was that the new Pope would choose the name of a recent previous Pope.  That would certainly have made this change easier for him.

Boo was sleeping when I heard that we had a new Pope.  I woke him and, after his immediate prayers of thanksgiving, he asked what the Pope's name was. 

"Pope Francis.  He's from Argentina."

Absolute silence...and then tears. 

I waited.  I had no idea what was going through his mind. 

"Pope Francis.  He's chosen Boudreaux's name so that I can remember it."

(For those who don't know, Boudreaux is Boo's cat, his "four legged son" and his constant companion.  Boo insisted that he had to have four names "like a proper Cajun" when we first adopted him as a tiny kitten. Thus, this little tiger cat became Francis Clawed Boudreaux Guidry.)

Well, I'm pretty sure our new Pope didn't choose Francis because of Boudreaux.  On the other hand, Boo remembered Pope Francis' name this morning with no difficulty.  A fact that pleases him no end.  In the midst of a life when the ordinary is often confusing and sometimes frightening, Boo remembers and already feels a connection to Pope Francis.

The three Francis in Boo's life...

St Francis of Assisi

Pope Francis

Boo and Francis Clawed Boudreaux Guidry
We're linking with Thought Provoking Thursdays, Deep Roots at Home, and Catholic Bloggers Network in the Catholic Family Journal section.

11 comments:

  1. How wonderful! What a lovely connection. Thank you for sharing this. :-) I am excited to learn more about our new pope.

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    1. We're excited to learn more about Pope Francis too!

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    1. Thank you, Denise. You always leave such nice comments. I really appreciate them.

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  3. Thanks for sharing, this is a beautiful blog.

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  4. A very touching story. I appreciate your blog.

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  5. This really grabbed me. Thank you.

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    1. You're welcome. So often Boo says and does things that really make me think. Caring for him is such a blessing.

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  6. Hi Kari, I came over from Sunday Snippets to say hi. I read your profile and learned that Boo suffered a stroke. He looks young to have had a stroke but perhaps that's the blessing in it? Young enough to have the strength to recover. God bless you and your husband. Love that he feels the connection to our new pope!

    St. Patrick, pray for us! Since its March 17th, I couldn't resist asking him for prayers!

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