The Pope Recalls His Visit

Apparently my favorite moment of the Papal Visit was a particular highlight for the Holy Father as well.  In his weekly audience this Wednesday he recapped his visit to America, and had the following to say about the end of the Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral 

Other moments of my stay in New York have remained firmly etched in my spirit. In St. Patrick's Cathedral, in the heart of Manhattan, truly a "house of prayer for all peoples," I celebrated holy Mass for the priests and consecrated persons who had come from all parts of the country. I will never forget the warmth with which they congratulated me for the third anniversary of my election to the See of Peter. It was a moving moment, in which I experienced in a tangible way all of the support of the Church for my ministry.

Lidia Bastianich Cooks for the Pope

Okay, so in the week or two I've been working on this thing I've posted quite a bit about food, and about the Pope's visit.  So I couldn't resist passing along this article on, you guessed it, the food the Pope ate during his stay in NYC.  The best line: "After the goulash, the pope said to Lidia, 'These are my mother's flavors.' Lidia said she almost cried when she heard this."  Who could blame her.  What a compliment!

"The Future of the Church in America Must Even Now Begin To Rise."

Sunday was, of course, the Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium. Although I had a ticket to join the OLQP group for the Mass, I accepted an invitation to assist with the distribution of Communion.  So on Sunday morning I drove to St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie (Yonkers) to receive instructions and head to the stadium with the 500 other priests either concelebrating or distributing Communion.

We were all shown a video about how to distribute Communion in our sections, and were then given our section assignments, our credentials to enter the stadium, and our stole (which we were given to keep as a gift from Cardinal Egan).  We then boarded eight buses and were escorted by New York's Finest to the House that Ruth Built.

Once at the stadium, we went through security and had a quick sandwich in the Yankee Club Room.  Then we were divided into section crews and headed up to our part of the stadium. (The sections of the stadium were assigned by the priests' date of birth - so the youngest of us had the steepest sections, and the eldest priests had the easier sections closer to the field.)  We had some time to rehearse the faithful in our section and to meet our "guides."  These were NY Police, Knights of Columbus or West Point Cadets who assisted us with crowd control.  (I had a really nice conversation with one of the cadets and had a couple of really good laughs with the cops in our section.)

The pre-Mass "Concert of Hope" was highlighted by Harry Connick Jr.  But for me, the "soundtrack" of the day came from the youth choir "Libera."  

Of course, when the Holy Father entered the stadium and drove the warning track in the Popemobile, the crowd went insane.  And throughout the day there were plenty of chants of "Benedetto" and "Viva il Papa."  But in testimony to the power of Pope Benedict's teaching, what I will really remember from the day was his homily.

It didn't hurt that yet again the liturgy felt especially directed at me (isn't that how we're all supposed to feel all the time?!):

• The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles recounted the selection and ordination of Stephen and the other deacons.

• The Mass was intended to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the elevation of Baltimore to the status of Archdiocese and the erection of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville as diocese . . . so American Catholic history was a prominent theme.

• The Holy Father spoke about Catholic education in terms that were reminiscent of Blessed Basil Moreau's writing . . . "to know God, to love Him and to serve Him."

• Pope Benedict quoted Dante's wonderful line - "His will is our peace." Which also just so happens to be the episcopal motto of the bishop who ordained me, Bishop Daniel Jenky, CSC.

But much more than that, Pope Benedict's homily (again, do yourself the favor of reading it) laid out a challenge to the faithful in America, especially the youth:

And this, dear friends, is the particular challenge which the Successor of Saint Peter sets before you today. As "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation", follow faithfully in the footsteps of those who have gone before you! Hasten the coming of God's Kingdom in this land! Past generations have left you an impressive legacy. In our day too, the Catholic community in this nation has been outstanding in its prophetic witness in the defense of life, in the education of the young, in care for the poor, the sick and the stranger in your midst. On these solid foundations, the future of the Church in America must even now begin to rise!

And, I think, if you look at what else he said and did, in this homily and throughout his visit, he laid out an agenda to make this happen:

• He spoke of true freedom and the requirement it places upon us: "'Authority' … 'obedience'. To be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays. Words like these represent a 'stumbling stone' for many of our contemporaries, especially in a society which rightly places a high value on personal freedom. But true freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is found only in the self-surrender which is part of the mystery of love. Only by losing ourselves, the Lord tells us, do we truly find ourselves."  

• He spoke of the proper relationship between our faith and the public square: "reject a false dichotomy between faith and political life, since, as the Second Vatican Council put it, "there is no human activity - even in secular affairs - which can be withdrawn from God's dominion"

• He called upon young people to discern their vocation in the Church: "Young men and women of America, I urge you: open your hearts to the Lord's call to follow him in the priesthood and the religious life. Can there be any greater mark of love than this: to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who was willing to lay down his life for his friends."

• And finally, he gave us encouragement and hope in this mission: "Dear friends, only God in his providence knows what works his grace has yet to bring forth in your lives and in the life of the Church in the United States. Yet Christ's promise fills us with sure hope. Let us now join our prayers to his, as living stones in that spiritual temple which is his one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Let us lift our eyes to him, for even now he is preparing for us a place in his Father's house. And empowered by his Holy Spirit, let us work with renewed zeal for the spread of his Kingdom." 
  

As I say, I think the fruit of this Papal Visit can grow in the Church in America for years to come if we take up the challenge and the promise of this "new springtime."  Let us pray and work so to be faithful to this commission.

"That Other, Greater City, The New Jerusalem"

As promised, I'm going to post a bit about my trip home for the Papal Visit.  The only problem I'm having is that as the time goes by I find more and more meaning in what happened, and in what the Holy Father did and said.  Trying to capture it all will be impossible - but I'll try:

On Friday morning I got up at about 4:30 and walked up to OLQP, where I met Fr. Pancrose. With another diocesan priest we drove to Blessed Sacrament Parish (where I was baptized, incidentally) and prepared to board buses into the city.  

The only problem was that we were short a bus!!  Eight of us were left on the sidewalk, and made plans to drive to the Staten Island Ferry.  Four guys did in fact drive off - but thankfully the other bus arrived before the car I was in had departed.  We quickly got onto the bus and were underway.  (Thankfully we met up with the other four men in the city - they had indeed been able to make it!)

After a tense drive through New Jersey (some poor soul had jumped off the Goethals Bridge which delayed us a bit) we made it to Midtown and to the hotel across from the Cathedral where we vested.  Leaving the hotel and going through a security station set up on Madison Ave., we accessed the Cathedral through 52nd Street where the bishops were lined up preparing to process into the Cathedral:

Once inside, I found the pew I was assigned to by my ticket.  It wasn't a bad seat . . . but the pew was full!  Spying one of the Cathedral ushers, looking dapper in their gray tuxedo tails, I asked for some advice.  The usher immediately escorted me to another pew with an open seat - this one with an even better view of the sanctuary.  

I was in a pew in the main nave, twenty or so rows back, and a few seats off the side aisle.  As I was on the west side of the nave, I could not see the cathedra - but I had a perfect view of the altar:

As we awaited the arrival of the Holy Father the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg was publicly thanked by one of the Auxiliary Bishops.  The Mayor then spoke briefly, and was applauded loudly.  He then went to the doors of the Cathedral to join the welcome party.

All of us in the Cathedral knew when the Holy Father had arrived in his Popemobile because the crowds outside were audible through the huge doors, pinned open for the welcome.  The Holy Father walked up the center aisle, into the sanctuary, and then underneath the high altar to the sacristy to vest.  All the while all these vested priests and habited sisters stood on pews, snapped photos, hooted and hollered.  It was surreal.

As the procession began for Mass, Danny Tuite (a fellow Sea Viking and OLQP parishioner studying for the priesthood at Dunwoodie) led everyone down the side aisle right past my seat. It was funny to watch the expressions on the cardinals' faces as they processed past.  My favorite was the newest cardinal, Cardinal DiNardo: he said hello to the priests as he walked by, and was singing lustily.

You've already seen my picture of the Pope as he passed within a few feet of me.  That's the closest I got throughout the weekend. My impressions?  He is shorter than I expected.  And those shoes are REALLY red.  Yes, I have more profound impressions, but those will come later.

I knew that since this Mass was for the priests and religious of the nation, I would be particularly interested in what the Holy Father had to say at this Mass.  I was also moved by the fact that at least two of the hymns were personal favorites of mine: "O God Beyond All Praising" which was the Opening Hymn from our Final Vows, and Franz Biebel's "Ave Maria," which is my favorite setting, and the one used by the Notre Dame Glee Club.

When the Holy Father began preaching, though, I really felt like he was talking directly to me . . . and Joe Reimer was apparently thinking the same thing (thanks, Joe!).  I say that because in is homily the Pope used the architectural image of the Cathedral itself to make his theological points!  This was right up my theological alley . . . and Benedict's I might add.

Two of those points stand out to me:  First, that like a Gothic cathedral the unity of the Church is not based on uniformity but on the creative tension of various interconnected parts.  And second, that like the stained glass windows of a cathedral, which look dark and imposing from the outside, but light and beautiful from within, the Church's glory can only be appreciated from within.  It was a magnificent homily - do yourself the favor of reading it at the link above.

My favorite moment, however, came at the end of the Mass. After Communion was finished, Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State stood and congratulated the Holy Father on the fourth anniversary of his election to the See of Peter.  It was mentioned that, in fact, it was the very hour that the conclave had chosen Josef Ratzinger as the Successor of Peter.

Pope Benedict then gave an impromptu thanks for the thunderous applause he received.  He said:

At this moment I can only thank you for your love of the Church and Our Lord, and for the love which you show to the poor Successor of Saint Peter. I will try to do all that is possible to be a worthy successor of the great Apostle, who also was a man with faults and sins, but remained in the end the rock for the Church. And so I too, with all my spiritual poverty, can be for this time, in virtue of the Lord’s grace, the Successor of Peter.

It is also your prayers and your love which give me the certainty that the Lord will help me in this my ministry. I am therefore deeply grateful for your love and for your prayers. My response now for all that you have given to me during this visit is my blessing, which I impart to you at the conclusion of this beautiful Celebration.

That was when I fought back tears.  What a profoundly humble and beautiful thing to say.  It was completely revelatory of the essence of this man: humility, prayerfulness, obedience to God's will, gentleness and erudition.  

As I said at the beginning of this post, there is simply so much to say about the Papal Visit and the fruit that the Church in America should seek to draw from it.  I'll say more on this in my post about the Yankee Stadium Mass, but my overall impression of all the major events of these past six days was that of a tremendous pep-rally:  The Holy Father confirming us in faith and hope, even in the midst of serious trials, so that, like our ancestors in the faith we can continue to build the Church in this country . . . and so that we can prepare ourselves for that city greater even than New York. 

The Shadow of Peter

"More than ever believers were added to the Lord.  And they carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he came by." (Acts 5:15)

Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, voicemails and emails!  It was a truly wonderful weekend for me personally.  And I think that the overwhelming reaction is that the Pope's visit exceeded everyone's expectations.  I hope, and trust, that the "shadow" of Peter's visit to the US will have long and lasting effects.  

I look forward to telling you all about it soon - in person, and here on the blog.  Be sure to stay tuned for posts and pictures.

(Here's the first of my pictures.  At the Mass at St. Patrick's I was just a few feet from the Holy Father as he processed down a side aisle at the beginning of Mass.  I know this is from behind, but I didn't want to be looking at him through a camera when I saw him up close . . . and I think it kind of fits this quote from Scripture quite nicely)

Have Ticket Will Travel

Sorry it's not the best quality picture, but here is my ticket for the Papal Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral.  I've also received instructions for distributing Communion during the Mass at Yankee Stadium. (The stoles we will use are a gift to us from Cardinal Egan . . . that's awfully nice!)

Obviously security is a MAJOR concern, so there will be plenty of time spent waiting between our arrival and security check, and the arrival of the Holy Father.  No bother - something tells me it will all be well worth it.

I depart Portland tomorrow morning: updates when I return next week.

Welcome, Holy Father!

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI has arrived for his six day Apostolic Visit to the United States.  When he was greeted at Andrew's Air Force base by the President, the marching band from Bishop McNamara High School in Maryland provided the music for the occasion.  Bishop McNamara is run by the Brothers of Holy Cross.

Here at Holy Redeemer, as at thousands of churches and cathedrals across the country, our church bells tolled for ten minutes in celebration of the Pope's arrival on American soil.  I joined several of our classes as they watched the Pope's landing live on television.  The children here have also joined Catholic school students around the nation in pledging to do hours of community service in honor of the Pope's visit and his 81st birthday tomorrow.  Nationwide, nearly 1 million hours of service are being promised in honor of the Pope!

I have the privilege of concelebrating Mass with the Holy Father at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Saturday, and again at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.  Stay tuned for posts and pictures of my trip!