Click on the image below to view photos from Day 7 of the archdiocesan
pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia:
Monday, September 28, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Mass with the pope and 1 million of his closest friends
Each day that the archdiocese's pilgrimage group to the World Meeting of Families has spent in Philadelphia has involved lots of things: worshiping at Mass, hearing keynote addresses, attending breakout sessions and visiting historic sites in Philadelphia. We sometimes caught ourselves coming and going as busy as the days often were.
Today was about one thing: the closing Mass of the World Meeting of Families with Pope Francis. Although the Mass started at 4 p.m., the Moster family of St. Louis Parish in Batesville and I got to our place along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway around 8:30. I'd say we were about a quarter of a mile from the altar but really couldn't see it (except on a Jumbotron screen) because of temporary bleachers in front of it. Other archdiocesan pilgrims arrived a couple of hours earlier and had a view of the altar.
The size of the crowd gathered for the Mass was much larger than that for the Festival of Families the night before and gathered much earlier. Pope Francis arrived some time after 3 p.m. and rode in a popemobile up and down the parkway. As he went by, you could hear the crowd roar. And, unlike last night, he frequently stopped to kiss and bless babies.
One stop that he made that we saw on a Jumbotron (and that Deacon Pat Bower of St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis saw in person) was particularly moving. When he came to the Basilica Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, he got out of the popemobile to visit the makeshift shrine to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, a favorite devotion of his. Many archdiocesan pilgrims had included their intentions there with thousands of others. So, it was touching to know that the pope offered those intentions to Jesus through Mary along with us.
Not long afterwards, he came by the place on the parkway where the Moster family and I were situated. The crush of people trying to make their way to the barrier was pretty intense. But it passed as soon as the popemobile did.
Mass began not long afterwards. It was beautiful to see everyone focusing on the jumbotron and taking part in the worship, many kneeling when we kneel, standing when we stand, sitting when we sit.
Pope Francis offered a touching message during his homily, encouraging families to show their love for each other and other people in small, everyday ways. It was thankfully a message that I had seen embodied for hours before the Mass as I saw families crowded around us caring for each other, getting to know their neighbors and helping other people in need.
I also saw it in a touching way during the Rite of Communion. Scores of priests with guides holding umbrellas of yellow and white (the colors of the flag of Vatican City) made their way down the parkway. As a priest came to where the Moster family and I were at, the crush of people was probably greater--and definitely more sustained--than when the pope had come by.
But it was beautiful to see how people who had received Communion were very deliberate about making way for people who had not yet received. And it was equally touching to see how so many priests made their way to where we were to help out after they had distributed Communion elsewhere. With the goodwill of the congregation and the help of the priests, it did not take long for Communion to be distributed to so many people, perhaps no more than 15 or 20 minutes.
It was then profound to see this large congregation become silent when invited to do so after the Rite of Communion. It may be hard to imagine how attending Mass in such a mass of people could be prayerful, but it really was. Worshiping with the pope and so many other families from around the world was a fitting way to end the World Meeting of Families.
Now we have the mission of spreading the grace we've received this week in our homes and throughout central and southern Indiana. That will start with a long bus ride tomorrow. Please pray for a safe ride for all of us.
Today was about one thing: the closing Mass of the World Meeting of Families with Pope Francis. Although the Mass started at 4 p.m., the Moster family of St. Louis Parish in Batesville and I got to our place along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway around 8:30. I'd say we were about a quarter of a mile from the altar but really couldn't see it (except on a Jumbotron screen) because of temporary bleachers in front of it. Other archdiocesan pilgrims arrived a couple of hours earlier and had a view of the altar.
The size of the crowd gathered for the Mass was much larger than that for the Festival of Families the night before and gathered much earlier. Pope Francis arrived some time after 3 p.m. and rode in a popemobile up and down the parkway. As he went by, you could hear the crowd roar. And, unlike last night, he frequently stopped to kiss and bless babies.
One stop that he made that we saw on a Jumbotron (and that Deacon Pat Bower of St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis saw in person) was particularly moving. When he came to the Basilica Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, he got out of the popemobile to visit the makeshift shrine to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, a favorite devotion of his. Many archdiocesan pilgrims had included their intentions there with thousands of others. So, it was touching to know that the pope offered those intentions to Jesus through Mary along with us.
Not long afterwards, he came by the place on the parkway where the Moster family and I were situated. The crush of people trying to make their way to the barrier was pretty intense. But it passed as soon as the popemobile did.
Mass began not long afterwards. It was beautiful to see everyone focusing on the jumbotron and taking part in the worship, many kneeling when we kneel, standing when we stand, sitting when we sit.
Pope Francis offered a touching message during his homily, encouraging families to show their love for each other and other people in small, everyday ways. It was thankfully a message that I had seen embodied for hours before the Mass as I saw families crowded around us caring for each other, getting to know their neighbors and helping other people in need.
I also saw it in a touching way during the Rite of Communion. Scores of priests with guides holding umbrellas of yellow and white (the colors of the flag of Vatican City) made their way down the parkway. As a priest came to where the Moster family and I were at, the crush of people was probably greater--and definitely more sustained--than when the pope had come by.
But it was beautiful to see how people who had received Communion were very deliberate about making way for people who had not yet received. And it was equally touching to see how so many priests made their way to where we were to help out after they had distributed Communion elsewhere. With the goodwill of the congregation and the help of the priests, it did not take long for Communion to be distributed to so many people, perhaps no more than 15 or 20 minutes.
It was then profound to see this large congregation become silent when invited to do so after the Rite of Communion. It may be hard to imagine how attending Mass in such a mass of people could be prayerful, but it really was. Worshiping with the pope and so many other families from around the world was a fitting way to end the World Meeting of Families.
Now we have the mission of spreading the grace we've received this week in our homes and throughout central and southern Indiana. That will start with a long bus ride tomorrow. Please pray for a safe ride for all of us.
Photo Gallery (Day Six)
Click on the image below to view photos from Day 6 of the archdiocesan
pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia:
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Festival of Families
Sept. 26 was, in some ways, a long day for archdiocesan pilgrims. But it's length was sweetened by faith-filled fellowship with each other, Catholics from around the world, and Pope Francis.
It started with Mass in the lower church of St. John the Evangelist Church a few blocks from our hotel. As happened with our archdiocesan Mass yesterday, word got out to the crowds of Catholics in Philadelphia that Mass was being celebrated and so many other visitors worshiped with us.
Afterwards we walked about 40 minutes to Benjamin Franklin Parkway along many deserted streets, blocked from all vehicular traffic and after we got through a tight security checkpoint. When we arrived around 10:30, there weren't a lot of other people around, but the flow of people into the area was steady so that, by the end of the afternoon, the crowds were three or four deep along the barriers by the street.
Security was tight. Pennsylvania state troopers stood about 50 feet apart all up and down the parkway. Secret Service agents made their way through at times. We saw policemen in cars and on motorcycles, bicycles and horses. There were also agents from Homeland Security. And the security agent who looked through my backpack at the checkpoint said he was from Seattle.
Although many people's legs got tired through the day and some of the little kids understandably got impatient at times, we had a good time sharing time with each other, seeing various entertainers on a jumbotron screen, hearing powerful witnesses about family life and, around 7:30, seeing Pope Francis come by our area in a popemobile.
Later, as some of us were leaving for the hotel around 9:15, we got to hear a powerful speech by Pope Francis about family life.
We were all a bit tired in body but uplifted in spirit when we arrived back at the hotel a little after 10:00. A long day, but a day lengthened in blessings.
Tomorrow will see us out by the Benjamin Franklin Parkway again, this time for Mass with Pope Francis and probably more than 1 million other Catholics at 4 p.m.
It started with Mass in the lower church of St. John the Evangelist Church a few blocks from our hotel. As happened with our archdiocesan Mass yesterday, word got out to the crowds of Catholics in Philadelphia that Mass was being celebrated and so many other visitors worshiped with us.
Afterwards we walked about 40 minutes to Benjamin Franklin Parkway along many deserted streets, blocked from all vehicular traffic and after we got through a tight security checkpoint. When we arrived around 10:30, there weren't a lot of other people around, but the flow of people into the area was steady so that, by the end of the afternoon, the crowds were three or four deep along the barriers by the street.
Security was tight. Pennsylvania state troopers stood about 50 feet apart all up and down the parkway. Secret Service agents made their way through at times. We saw policemen in cars and on motorcycles, bicycles and horses. There were also agents from Homeland Security. And the security agent who looked through my backpack at the checkpoint said he was from Seattle.
Although many people's legs got tired through the day and some of the little kids understandably got impatient at times, we had a good time sharing time with each other, seeing various entertainers on a jumbotron screen, hearing powerful witnesses about family life and, around 7:30, seeing Pope Francis come by our area in a popemobile.
Later, as some of us were leaving for the hotel around 9:15, we got to hear a powerful speech by Pope Francis about family life.
We were all a bit tired in body but uplifted in spirit when we arrived back at the hotel a little after 10:00. A long day, but a day lengthened in blessings.
Tomorrow will see us out by the Benjamin Franklin Parkway again, this time for Mass with Pope Francis and probably more than 1 million other Catholics at 4 p.m.
Photo Gallery (Day Five)
Click on the image below to view photos from Day 5 of the archdiocesan
pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia:
Friday, September 25, 2015
Catholic Philadelphia and Religious Liberty in America
I am staying in Philadelphia, the city in which the
United States of America was born. In the colonial period of our country and in
many ways up until the end of World War II, Catholics were looked upon with
suspicion in this country as people who had loyalty to a foreign power. This
remained true despite the fact that many Catholics played a significant role in
establishing America’s independence and were advocates of the freedoms on which
it was founded.
Today, I visited Independence Hall, where the Declaration
of Independence was voted upon by representatives of the 13 British colonies.
Behind the hall is a statue of John Barry, a Catholic born in Ireland who later
emigrated to America and who is considered the father of the American Navy. He
served as a captain in the Continental Navy during the Revolutionary War.
A couple of blocks from Independence Hall is Old St.
Joseph’s Church, although a passerby could be excused from failing to recognize
that it was there. From the outside it does not look like a church but like a
townhouse alongside many other similar structures. The Catholics who founded
the parish in 1733 were intentional in choosing this design. For while William
Penn, who, when he founded Pennsylvania in 1701, guaranteed the religious
liberty of all the colony’s residents, Catholics were still looked upon with
suspicion and could not hold public office.
A year after the parish was founded, leaders in
Philadelphia threatened to close it. A plaque at the parish gives part of the
response to this threat by its pastor, Fr. Joseph Greaton. The Jesuit
missionary priest noted in words reminiscent of the Declaration of Independence
that the Catholics of Philadelphia “are and of right ought to be free and independent
of all civil authority retarding, restricting or debarring religion. It is not
toleration we claim. It is freedom we demand and will maintain.”
In 1908, the Knights of Columbus, at a time when
Catholics were still held in suspicion in America, just years before members of
the Ku Klux Klan persecuted members of the Church in Indiana, erected a plaque
at Old St. Joseph’s “in memory of founders of the faith in Philadelphia and in gratitude
for the triumph of religious liberty.”
In 1960, the election of the Catholic John F. Kennedy was
seen by Catholics in America as the broader society here finally accepting them
as true and faithful citizens. And today, Catholics hold positions of
leadership in government, education, business and culture in numbers that often
outstrip even the large number of the faithful who are Americans.
And yet the religious liberty of the Church as a whole,
institutions connected to it such as hospitals and schools and of individual
Catholics and their families are being threatened by governmental bodies,
businesses and the broader culture for a number of reasons, including our beliefs
regarding marriage and sexuality and our advocating for the dignity and rights of
immigrants. The words of Fr. Greaton are sadly as relevant today as they were
in 1734.
So there seems a mysterious paradox in the confluence of
the pressure put at present on the religious liberty of Catholics and other
people of faith in America and Pope Francis’ visit to the United States and the
million or more Catholics from around the world who are expected to worship
with him on Sunday on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
At the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families
a few days ago, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput noted that only 11 people
attended the first Mass that Fr. Greaton celebrated in the city in 1732. (One
wonders what city leaders found so threatening in such small numbers that they
considered closing the parish.) Clearly the Mass on Sunday will be a vibrant
expression of just how much has changed for the Catholic Church in the United
States since Old St. Joseph’s was founded in 1733.
But we would make a mistake to presume that the strides
the Catholic faithful have made over that time and the freedom they enjoy are a
permanent reality. With the numbers that we have now in the United States—some
70 million, almost a quarter of the population of the country—we can do much to
foster and preserve religious liberty, the first freedom of all humanity, for
us and all people of faith around the world.
May the Holy Spirit nurture a greater unity and communion
among the Catholic faithful of this country, the vitality of which is so
clearly on display during Pope Francis’ visit, so that we may never be held in
suspicion as we were in the past in America and may instead be leaders in
promoting the common good of all.
Photo Gallery (Day 4)
Click on the image below to view photos from Day 4 of the archdiocesan
pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia:
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