Pope’s Visit to Washington
Last week, my wife, Linda, and I were two of the fortunate people who were able to attend the mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Washington, D.C. Linda and I were quite excited when we left Wheeling and made our way to our nation’s capital, hoping that we would be close enough to actually see him and feel like we were truly participating in the proceedings.
The trip to D.C. was extra special for Linda and me because one of our friend’s sons was being married in the same church that the Pope celebrated the mass in on Saturday. Thus, we would be able to see the outside mass being celebrated by the Pope, and a few days later, be able to participate in the wedding celebration inside the church.
We chose to stay in Alexandria because of its close proximity to Washington D.C. and its old world charm. We walked the three blocks from our hotel to the subway station and took the subway to the location of the celebration of the mass. When we arrived approximately two hours early, we were met with an incredible line of people attempting to make their way through the security check points. Unfortunately, the lines moved very slowly in the hot afternoon sun. We finally arrived at the security check point only to have a number of priests move in front of us because they were running late for the celebration and had to be promptly ushered through so that they would have time to change into their vestments they would be wearing to participate in the celebration of the mass. Nonetheless, we made it through the security checkpoint, our bags were searched, the security wand was waived over our bodies, we showed identification and our tickets and we were ushered on to the next staging area.
We found the section our tickets permitted us to sit in and were able to locate two vacant seats only two rows from the front. We were able to get somewhat close to the Pope as he was processing through the crowd while in the Pope Mobile. Then, after waiting approximately another hour and listening to the beautiful choir music and magnificent orchestra, the mass began. We were able to see the side of the alter, although we could only see the Pope from the Jumbotron. The mass lasted about an hour and a half, mostly because almost everyone at the location was Catholic and received communion. Even though there were different stations for communion with different Eucharistic ministers participating, it was still quite a process.
The mass ended and the processional song was “Holy God We Praise Thy Name,” which may not mean much to some of you who are reading this blog, but it is the very same recessional song that we sing at daily mass at St. Michael’s church here in Wheeling.
There was such great anticipation and excitement about attending the event, and actually being that close to the Pope, who has touched so many lives throughout the world, that the end of the event was almost shocking. We had traveled a good distance, waited in long lines, participated in the celebration of the mass, and it was something that we wanted to go on and on and on, but like all good things, it came to an end all too quickly.
Not surprisingly, when Linda and I returned by subway to Alexandria, we were exhausted from having traveled from Wheeling to D.C. and standing and sitting in the hot sun for most of the afternoon. I can’t imagine how Francis, this gentle man of 78 years, has the stamina and the energy to maintain the incredible schedule that he maintains and that he had while he was here in the United States. Surely, if you’ve ever traveled overseas, you know that the trip itself is enough to cause you to want to rest in your bed for an extra day. Can you imagine flying from Rome, meeting with people non-stop, having to bring your A game at every single event, meeting with dignitaries and people of every age, race, sex, color, creed and status, and then to jet back to another continent almost immediately upon finishing your whirl-wind trip?
I’m hoping that the message of love, forgiveness, mercy, kindness and caring that the Pope brought to America is contagious and that it lasts not just a few hours or a few days, but is something that we as a nation can grab hold of and build on. I personally think it can be passed on person-to-person, step-by-step, day-by-day. I also think that if we follow the Pope’s message and love our neighbors as ourselves and look for opportunities to do good, that together the people in this world can turn many of the negatives into positives and will have a much better place to live.
