Papal pilgrimage brings sense of renewal

Editor's note: The following account of the Mass said by Pope Benedict in New York City earlier this month originally appeared on the blog site (http://afriarslife.blogspot.com) of the Rev. Thomas Washburn, formerly an associate pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Derry.

So I finally have a moment to share some thoughts from (the April 20) Mass at Yankee Stadium. So, I'll give you the play-by-play (pardon the pun) from the day. Hey, that reminds me, did you hear about the controversy about what Pope Benedict was going to wear at Yankee Stadium? In the end, they let him wear his red shoes, but they would not let him wear Red Sox! (Sorry, again.)

So, Saturday after the Mass was a day of just basking in the glow of having concelebrated the Mass with the Pope and roughly 2,000 other priests, bishops and cardinals in the morning. There is something so special about the shared ministry of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ when concelebrating. Usually our only experience that even approaches that during the year comes during the Chrism Mass each year at Holy Week, when all of the priests of the Archdiocese concelebrate together. But, concelebrating a Mass with the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of Christ, is absolutely amazing. You just feel so connected to something so much bigger than you. The only thing better than concelebrating with the Pope and thousands of other priests - doing it two days in a row!

Saturday night we had a wonderful fraternal dinner with a bunch of friars in the city, and went to bed early to rest up for Sunday. Luckily we didn't have as early a start since Mass was at 2:30 p.m., but we got moving at a decent hour. Since Father Mike and I don't know the subways of NYC too well, we hooked up with our local Franciscan parish, St. Anthony of Padua on Sullivan Street (www.stanthonynyc.org). The pastor there is Father Joe Lorenzo. I don't remember if I mentioned this yesterday, but Father Joe was vocation director (along with Father Mario) when Father Mike and I entered the Franciscans - so he is responsible for bringing us in (blame him!). Father Joe was also pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Derry, N.H. (www.stthomasderry.org), where I made my Solemn Vows in 1997, was ordained in 2000, and was stationed there from 1997-2004. So, we go way back!

Our ride (to Yankee Stadium on the D Train) in was uneventful - it was even a bit weird that there didn't seem to be too many people on the train. We expected more. We found "more" when we got to Yankee Stadium. Suddenly the subway was packed and there was tremendous excitement in the air.

Security was, of course, tight and it took us more than an hour to get into the stadium. But a cool thing was while waiting in line with literally tens of thousands of other people, I ran into two people below that I know. In the picture is John Campbell, a youth minister I've known probably for about 10 years now. With John, was Brian Jones from St. Joseph's in Winsted, another of our Franciscan parishes. It was great to see them.

We finally got to our seats and there was Bill Byrd, a member of our parish who was able to get us our tickets to both Masses (thank you Bill!). Bill got there early, he'd been in the park since about 9:15 a.m. It was after noon by the time we got in. Bill had such a youthful exuberance about him during the whole experience, it was contagious - like a kid on Christmas morning!

There was a wonderful concert called a Concert for Hope that really made the waiting go by quickly and enjoyably. The concert just added to the excitement that built throughout the morning and early afternoon. The highlight for me was a long time favorite of mine, Harry Connick Jr. But, it was all awesome! Then, on cue at about 2:20 p.m. the Pope arrived and rode around the park in the Pope Mobile. It would be an understatement to say that the crowd went wild!

One of the images that was so powerful both days were the large number of religious women who were everywhere. We really need to pray for and encourage young women to embrace the life as a consecrated religious. Do you know any woman who might make a good sister or nun? Do me two favors today - first, pray for them; secondly, tell them!

The Mass of course was beautiful - even surprisingly so given the challenge of celebrating Mass with 60,000 people. I know how difficult it can be to find a solemn silence in our church with 500 people - how we did that with 60,000 was surely a grace.

"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. Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ — "the way and the truth and the life" — we come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words. The Gospel teaches us that 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 (cf. Lk 17:33). True freedom blossoms when we turn away from the burden of sin, which clouds our perceptions and weakens our resolve, and find the source of our ultimate happiness in him who is infinite love, infinite freedom, infinite life. "In his will is our peace".

You can read all of the Pope's words during this journey (plus video and photos) at: www.uspapalvisit.org

One of the most beautiful moments was when the "official" concelebrating priests came out onto the dais with their ciboria. What an image of the Church - this was the Church, is the Church - bishop, priest, deacon, people - united around the altar in prayer, in Eucharistic prayer. I wish Father Mike and I could have been among that group, but we were not able to get those particular tickets. We were graced, none the less, to be where we were.

At the end of the Mass, the Holy Father departed. You could tell there was a sense in the crowd, like that of St. Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration - "It is good that we are here. Let us set up tents!" We didn't want to let him go.

Pope Benedict came to this country last week as somewhat of an unknown quantity, still a bit in the shadow of his predecessor, John Paul the Great. While no one could fill those shoes, Benedict has put on a pair of his own and filled those just right. I am awed and amazed at the grace through which the Holy Spirit continually selects the right man for the right time.

Benedict this week became Our Pope, and I think we all fell in love with him. I saw a newspaper in New York that said it well. I paraphrase, "Pope Benedict does not have the kind of charisma that John Paul had, but he has a charisma of sincerity." I think that names it well, a Charisma of Sincerity. He loves the Church, he loves us, his flock.

Today, I think each of us loves him and the Church even more. Let this be a renewal, a new springtime, a new beginning for the Church in America and the world.

The Rev. Thomas Washburn is the associate pastor at St. Francis Xavier Parish in New Milford, Conn. He previously served as associate pastor and coordinator of youth ministry at St. Thomas Aquinas in Derry from 1997-2004. He can be reached by e-mail at frtom@sfxnewmilford.org .

Photos

From left are the Rev. Tom Washburn, former associate pastor and coordinator of youth ministry at St. Thomas Aquinas in Derry from 1997-2004, the Rev. Joseph Lorenzo, former pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Derry from 1995-2004, and the Rev. Mike MacInnis, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in New Milford, Conn. Father Tom and Father Mike were ordained at St. Thomas Aquinas on Sept. 16, 2000, by Bishop John D. McCormack of Manchester. Courtesy photo