A Unique Experience

Sorry for the lateness in posting about Philly, but we came home and had to get right back to class and help get ready for a very large fundraiser for the high school.

Turns out we had tickets for the Papal mass all along, but when the vocation directors switched at the end of the summer that wasn't communicated.  So Monday we had the van loaded up and off we headed to Philly for a week at the World Meeting of Families.   The WMOF was a very cool experience.  There were people from literally all over the world.  My only speaking English status was a bit of a hindrance in communicating with some of the foreigners, luckily some of my companions and the sisters with us were able to talk to those people.  In order to make up for missing a week of classes we were encouraged to go take in some of the talks taking place throughout the week.  I sat in on the talks from Bishop Robert Barron and Dr. Scott Hahn.  Both men had some really great points to make that although directed at the family could also be applied to people in religious life.

Friday is when the real fun began.  After tearing down our booth and sending all the stuff back to the convent, we headed out to explore historic Philly.  Being the Revolutionary War history nut I am, I thoroughly enjoyed touring Betsy Ross's house, attending church at the oldest Catholic parish in the U.S., and seeing other places our Founding Fathers frequented while in Philly.

Saturday we got up super early in order to be present for all the activities the Pope would be participating in upon his arrival to Philly. We somehow managed to be standing right next to the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul when he arrived to say mass.  Unfortunately, due to the large number of people we couldn't see him.  After listening to the mass on the jumbotron we headed to find good places for the parade and in doing so I met up with a group of students form U of I.  Pretty much made my day getting to see the folks from home.  Then along with one of the sisters, the priest who spent the week with us and a friend from U of I we went and stood along the railing for something along the lines of 4 hours waiting for the parade.  The parade finally came and although it was very exciting to see Pope Francis in person, it was a bit of a let down because they drove him by really fast and we literally only saw him for 6 seconds.

Sunday was the big day.  We got to the Parkway super early so we could have good seats. One of the Sisters grabbed a nice section of a hill and we parked it until the Mass. It was amazing the number of people who were crowding into the area to attend the mass and in hopes of seeing Pope Francis. Shortly before the parade started, the same sister who found our sitting area suggested to Companion B and I that we go try to get a closer look for the parade.  I'm so glad we took her advice.  We found a spot next to a family that wasn't super crowded.  The great part, the family had a two month old baby.  When Pope Francis drove by, the dad held out the baby and the pope stopped for the Secret Service to bring the baby to him so he could bless her. It was amazing! For a solid two minutes the Pope Mobile was parked all of about 20 feet away from me.  Seeing him that close was a very moving experience.  I had to chuckle because when he stopped he looked down at his watch to check how much time there was before mass started, showing his punctuality and humanity.  Mass was also pretty cool.  The only downside was he did the homily in Spanish so I have to find it online and listen to the translation.

All I can say from the whole experience is that God works in wonderful and mysterious ways in providing us with such a unique and monumental experience in our formation.