Page 6 - June Mag2025

SPIRITUAL

Fr. Valerian M. Michlik
GCU Spiritual Advisor

Change

ear Friends: that they wanted cardinal Pizzaballa to be the next pope.
Christ is Among Us! When I asked why? Because they liked his last name Piz-
As I begin writing this article, let me go back zaballa – Dancing Pizza! Instead, we were all shocked
to Easter Sunday – Pascha 2025. The entire when Pope Leo XIV stepped out unto the balcony of St.
D world was delighted to see Pope Francis on Peter’s to bless the world. I could not believe it! The first
the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. He was American Pope! Let us pray for our Holy Father Pope Leo
able to pray with the faithful, offer his “Urbi et Orbi” mes- XIV as he begins
sage to the world, and even drove around greeting the his pontificate. It is important for ALL
faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square. On the next day we May he, as suc-
learned that Pope Francis had died, he returned to the cessor to the of us to entrust God
house of the Father. I was in shock. Apostle Peter,
From that moment on, the eyes of the entire world were build the Church with our changes.
on the Vatican. Hundreds of thousands of people, Catho- into a sacrament
lic and non-Catholic, traveled to Rome to bid farewell to of unity, love,
the “Pope of the peripheries,” a leader who spoked and and peace for all the world.
acted on behalf of marginalized groups of people world- With this “change” in the life of the Church we often
wide. I have to be honest that I did not always agree with wonder, what will happen next? We don’t like change be-
Pope Francis (and he was my boss), but I did admire his cause sometimes it can be very hard. As we celebrate
ability to connect with people from all walks of life, his hu- Pentecost Sunday – the Descent of the Holy Spirit we see
mility, concern for the poor, and emphasis on God’s mercy. how the lives of the apostles, simple men, changed for
Afterwards, we began praying for the conclave. The me- good. A simple fisherman Peter became the first Pope of
dia was having a heyday, chasing the cardinals around St. Rome. A man who became known as doubting Thomas,
Peter’s Square, presenting to us the top “contenders”, and becomes the founder of Christian communities in India.
once again they were wrong! I even had someone tell me I’m sure cardinal Robert Prevost from Chicago was not
ready for that major change in his life!
Changes are difficult and learning to cope with
change is a large part of our maturing process –
the older you get, the more changes there are.
And let’s be honest some changes are for the
good; others are not so good. The big question is
how do you react to change, that is, are you able
to successfully cope/deal with change in life?
I remember when our daughters were chang-
ing schools. This change was for their good, but
with this change our daughters were facing new
challenges: new friends, new teachers, new bus
drivers, etc. Two of our daughters were okay with
this change, one had a harder time coping with
this change.
As a parent, priest, spiritual advisor of the GCU,
I must say that it is important for ALL of us to en-
trust God with our changes.
Pope Leo XIV Facing changes in life there will always be fear,

4 GCU MAGAZINE JUNE 2025