09/05/2025
"THE SEAGULL ON THE CHIMNEY: A Reflection on the Conclave and the Waiting World"
That small chimney atop the Sistine Chapel becomes, for a time, the center of the world.
As cardinals pray and vote behind closed doors, people from every nation gather outside in St. Peter’s Square. Others watch from their homes, eyes fixed on the screen. Everyone is waiting—waiting for a sign. Will it be black smoke or white? Silence or announcement? Still waiting... still watching.
Then, something unexpected happens.
A seagull lands on the chimney.
It’s just a bird—common and uninvited. And yet, in that moment of suspense and worldwide anticipation, its presence feels meaningful. It perches calmly, above the prayers of the cardinals and the gaze of the world, as if joining in the waiting.
That seagull becomes a SYMBOL.
It reminds us that while we often expect God to speak through thunder or grandeur, He often chooses THE SIMPLE and THE SMALL. The seagull on the chimney does not speak. It does not move. It simply stays. And in its stillness, it seems to say: “Even creation is watching and waiting.”
Some saw in it a symbol of the Holy Spirit—not as the majestic dove descending in radiant light, but as a humble bird, reminding us that God’s presence OFTEN COMES QUIETLY, even in ordinary forms.
The seagull also speaks of UNITY. As a migratory creature, it knows no borders. It crosses continents and oceans, just as the Church gathers people of every land and language. Its resting place on the chimney becomes a quiet sign that the hopes of the world are one.
Then comes the white smoke. The bells ring. The people cheer. A pope is chosen.
But long before the name was spoken, before the crowd erupted, there was the waiting, the hoping, the watching. And a silent bird on a chimney—reminding us that GOD WAS ALREADY THERE - - In the ordinary. In the stillness. In the waiting.
Shining stars
