Editor's note: Prior to the conclave to elect a new pope, Cardinal Roger Mahony offered daily reflections on the events and activities in Rome following the death of Pope John Paul II. The following was prepared ahead of the April 8 decision by cardinals gathered in Rome to refrain from speaking to the media in the days preceding the conclave.

How providential it is that the upcoming Conclave to elect a new Pope occurs during the fourth week of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday.

We will listen once again to John's singular account as Jesus offers himself to us in this comforting role. We will have before us that wondrous image of Jesus as our Good Shepherd, urging us to follow him because he truly leads us to the green pastures of eternal life: "…he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice" (John 10:4).

We will be reminded that Jesus continues to walk with us on our journeys of life and of faith. Though he is hidden from our sight as he was to the men on the road to Emmaus, he is very much in our midst in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist, as well in other ways. His shepherding never leaves us alone. He continually calls us by name, and urges us to follow his voice day by day, to shepherd us through our daily joys, sorrows, and challenges.

His presence in our lives is a great comfort, and the image of Jesus as our Good Shepherd is one that has brought consolation to Christians from the earliest days of the Church. In fact, the earliest Christian artwork is of Jesus portrayed as the Good Shepherd.

But Jesus has also provided for us in his Church visible Shepherds: ordained deacons, priests, bishops primarily, but others through their Baptismal commitment as well. But most especially has Jesus provided us a Chief Shepherd in the person of St. Peter and his successors --- our Holy Father, the Pope. We are presently missing this important visible Chief Shepherd, the one who continues to proclaim the voice of Jesus and to encourage us to follow ever more closely.

I am inviting all the people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to make this year's Good Shepherd Sunday, and the days following, as special days of fervent prayer and sacrifice to guide us Cardinals in the power of the Holy Spirit as we begin the sacred duty of providing a new visible Chief Shepherd for our Church. Of the 117 Cardinals under 80 years and eligible to vote, 115 will gather on Monday, April 18 [illness prevents Cardinal Sin of Manila, and Cardinal Suarez of Monterrey, Mexico, from coming to Rome].

The entire election process is guided by an Apostolic Constitution given the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1996 entitled Universi Dominici Gregis ("The Shepherd of the Lord's Whole Flock"; one can easily access the entire document via any internet search engine by entering the Latin name).

But for me, your Archbishop, the single greatest decision of my entire life will come when I am called upon to write on the ballot the name of the one whom I believe deep in my heart and soul should serve as our next Chief Shepherd. I approach this decision with personal unworthiness and trepidation, and with extraordinary reliance upon the promptings of the Holy Spirit. One can read the biographies of all the Cardinals, we can engage in conversations and discussions with them and about them, but then that quiet and secret moment must come when I have to write a name on the ballot.

I will then walk forward to the altar and proclaim aloud: "I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected." We will repeat this process over several days until someone has received the 77 votes needed to be elected our next Pope.

To sustain me in that decision and that vote, I truly need your deep and persistent prayers --- but most especially on Good Shepherd Sunday, and the days of the coming week. As your Archbishop, I am truly overwhelmed to represent you in this Papal Election. But as your unworthy servant, I am also keenly aware that I can do nothing without the presence and power of our Risen Lord and the prayerful support of you, our wonderful people of Los Angeles.

In a profound and spiritual sense, all of you enter this Conclave with me. May all of us fulfill our responsibility to Jesus Christ and His Church seriously, prayerful, and faithfully.

April 6: 'We surely feel the void and emptiness…'

The death of our Holy Father and the gap that this brings for the entire Church is very evident each day as we celebrate the Eucharist.

In every Eucharistic Prayer, we remember the Pope. For example, Prayer III is worded: "Strengthen in faith and love your pilgrim Church on earth; your servant, Pope (name), our bishop (name), and all the bishops,…" I have found it difficult each day while celebrating Mass to skip that remembrance for our Pope since it is so much our custom.

The reason every Eucharistic Prayer recalls the name of the Pope is because he serves as the source of unity for the Church, the Vicar of Christ and Successor to Peter. The Body of Christ, the Church, is only truly whole when the earthly and visible Head of the Church is with us. We surely feel the void and emptiness without that visible and audible link to our Eucharistic tradition.

The Eucharist is the great celebration of the fullness of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, his sacrifice upon the Cross, and his glorious Resurrection to new life. The Eucharist both celebrates and makes present the full unity of the Church. And that unity demands a visible Head.

I imagine that many priests are slipping as I have done --- and starting to pray as we have for 26 years --- "your servant, Pope John Paul II…." But by silently skipping the naming of a Pope, we realize our incompleteness as a Church without our Universal Shepherd.

As we celebrate the Eucharist each day during this interim, and especially at that moment when no Pope's name is mentioned, let us pray earnestly that the Holy Spirit will guide the College of Cardinals in selecting the one whom God desires to resume that visible unity of the Church.

April 7: 'The presence and power of Christ sustains us.'

Pope John Paul II lies in state very near the Tomb of St. Peter. Sitting nearby and reflecting upon this special historic moment of the Church, I was struck by the span of salvation history before us.

Buried beneath the Main Altar is St. Peter, the first Vicar of Christ. Lying close by is Pope John Paul II, the 265th Vicar of Christ and the 264th Successor to Peter. It is awesome to simply allow those 20 centuries to gently move forward from the Acts of the Apostles to our present time.

For me, this reflection on both salvation history and the succession of Popes has opened up new vistas. I began to realize ever more fully that each of us called to ministry in the Church is called to serve for a brief sliver of God's saving grace --- so many have gone before us, and so many will follow us. And more, I realized that those called to serve Christ and his Church do so in a very small portion of the Lord's Vineyard.

And what does God ask of us in this brief sliver of time and this small portion of the vineyard? Most importantly, to remember the promise of Jesus: "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20). It is the Church of Jesus Christ, and he is the one leading us forward through time and history. It is the presence and power of Christ that sustains us.

Our own meager human gifts and talents are really not required by Jesus to effect growth and dynamism in his Church. But he calls us, through our Baptism, to bring whatever gifts we have received and place those at the service of his Body, the Church. It is so reassuring to realize that Jesus does not ask of us great intelligence, unusual wisdom, or miraculous results.

Rather, he simply asks us for faithfulness, obedience to the will of the Father, openness to the Holy Spirit, and a deep commitment to use our inadequate talents to help build up the Kingdom of God in our midst. Let us pray for this grace at this time.

April 8: 'The Pope truly loved us'

Today's Funeral Mass in Rome for Pope John Paul II was attended by more people and watched by more people on television than any other Funeral in the history of the world. That is a breathtaking statistic --- but it's true.

How does one fathom such a phenomenon, much less explain it? An image came to mind as I participated in this extraordinary Funeral Mass in St. Peter's Square, and as I looked out upon the sea of people that went as far as the eye could reach. Recall the time Jesus was teaching his disciples to stop judging one another? He also added an important point for us: "…the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you" (Matt. 7:2). We normally see this lesson as applying to extending forgiveness.

But I don't think it's limited to that. I think Jesus also meant that to the extent that we extend love, goodness, comfort, nourishment and hope to people --- we will also receive back ten or a hundred-fold. The millions of people who have come to Rome since the Pope died, as well as all of those who have journeyed to our Churches in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, have experienced deeply the love and care of Pope John Paul II. And now it's their turn to return that love and care --- and they did so in heroic and spectacular ways, often with great personal sacrifice.

The overwhelming number of young people who came to Rome this past week speaks powerfully about the graced effect of our Holy Father upon the world. I had the privilege to meet many of them on the streets, and I would always ask one important question: Why did you feel that you had to come for the Pope's Funeral? The response was uniformly this: We came because the Pope truly loved us, and he spent his entire life trying to make life better for every single person in the world. Powerful!

Just maybe our Holy Father left behind yet another important lesson for us: Reach out to everyone with love, openness and hope --- and they will respond in kind.