Thankful Thursday. We have a new Pope. Giving thanks for the church.

Last night before I went to bed, I set my alarm for 4.30 because I knew that that was the time that smoke would be coming out of the Vatican chimney. I woke up pretty quickly and went to facebook because I knew that my peeps would be posting if we had a new Pope. I noticed after a couple of minutes that my conclave app had an update and it was saying White smoke coming out of the Vatican chimney so jumped out of bed and got Steve up too. We turned on EWTN and saw the Vatican chimney and the Vatican Bells ringing. We sat waiting for the announcement and then Pope Francis came out. It was quite a joyful moment for us all here. Because it was so early, I taped the program for the children to watch rather than waking them so early.

A couple of years ago, a non Catholic challenged me in my faith in God because I am Catholic. At the time, he said to  me that we could discuss anything I wanted and he would prove to me that the Catholic church was not from God and that in being a Catholic, I was not following God's plan for my life.

I challenged him with the fact that God started a church and that the Bible was a product of the church, not the church a product of the bible. We had quite a few notes back and forth about this and he showed me lots of Catholic sinners and lots of how his own interpretation of the bible contradicted some of the churches teachings. At the end of it though, he wasn't able to show me that Jesus didn't start a church because it is obvious from scripture that he did.

I am so grateful that God started the Catholic church and that the church guides us in to full truth. He promised us that the gates of hell would never prevail against her and that he would be with us always. For me, the new Pope is a sign that God is faithful in his words and that he is with us.

Therese.