Beloved friends in Christ,
Thanks be to God, I have encountered a slight delay extending my holiday and giving me a little more time to relax. The bus which I was riding lost its power steering shortly before we arrived at our residence here north of NYC. Since they were unable to repair it on Saturday or this morning, another bus is coming out fro IL to retrieve us, so we have had all day free in this conference center and will be leaving tomorrow morning (we hope).
Thus, I send this email, as I promised, for which I hope you are waiting.
How often do you get to be in the front couple rows at a mega-rock concert? Kelly Clarkson, Third Day, Toby Mac, Matt Maher, Fr. Stan, Three Graces, and many others! And this was just leading up to the big event....
As I have said many times, the center of the Holy Father's theology is an encounter with Christ, who is love. Recently he wrote an encyclical "Spe Salvi" (Saved by Hope), where he clearly states that there is no hope without Christ, who became man to bring man eternal life with God. Many of the addresses of this trip were built around this theme, which was itself the theme of the trip "Christ our Hope". To the youth, he stoked the desire of every human person for truth and meaning, for that relationship with Him who is the Truth, the Way, and the true Life, building on the Sunday Gospel. He encouraged us to live the authentic Christian life and proclaim the Gospel with our lives, as the saints had. It is a great address, and I have provided a link to the text itself below.
To go beyond the message, I wish to help you experience the encounter with the Vicar of Christ, albeit vicariously through me. Arriving at 2:00am, sleeping until 6:00, mass at our residence at 7:30, and on the bus by 9:00, we arrived at the seminary around 10:00, where we then proceeded through security, up to the front semiarian section, and secured our spots. I was standing to the left of the stage (looking toward the stage), right where the wing came out, just four people behind the rail. By 2:00, it was impossible for anyone in the area to move, even squatting was impossible! By the time I sat down on the bus, I had been standing for 10 1/2 hours, mostly in one spot. Tired, fatigued, dehydrated from 3-4 in a sea of black with the sun beating down. It was worth it.
Then the Holy Father arrived (and the water and a cross-breeze and the sun had dipped far enough that the shadow of the stage was upon us). Then we decided to interrupt the planned schedule as much as possible. Pope Benedict entered and stood at his chair. We cheered, and cheered, and cheered. Then, rather than sit, or Cardinal Egan (NY, the host) begin to speak, the Holy Father moved towards the crowd, towards us up front, and he looked directly at me.
There are many cued events to make fame - award ceremonies, political speeches, etc. Nobody can possibly write something like the response of the youth to the Pope!
The humility of Pope Benedict is something worth practicing in our own lives. When the first presenter to the Holy Father had finished speaking, it appeared she was supposed to return backstage. However, the pope rose from his chair and began to walk down the stairs and went after her to greet her. Later, Pope Benedict, having delivered the English address, forgot to give the Spanish summary. Rather than simply sitting back down and continuing, he told us all what had happened! How many people of importance go after people to greet rather than let them go or sending someone else? How many people, ourselves included, admit their mistakes?
As he spoke, the Holy Father truly appeared as a loving father to us all. He related his own experience of adolescence to us, witnessing to the horror he endured in Nazi Germany. But he spoke of hope - the true hope that exists only in Christ. He encouraged us all to follow Christ, to seek the truth, to live in freedom, and to give our lives for him however we are called.
To us seminarians he spoke. I will never forget the words "I pray for you daily." These words I have heard many times from many priests, none the least of which being Fr. Fontanini, our vocations director. However, they mean something more when they come from the bishop, from the Successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth. If you really want to experience this moment and see our reaction, watch the video!!!
There is so much I could tell you about this event, and I'm sure some of you will hear it. The one regret I have is that, although I joined in a couple disruptions (like a song towards the beginning), I did not begin a cheer at the end I desired to do at the time, for all would have certainly joined in - "We want Jesus!"
Finally, I bring you greetings from the Holy Father himself, who assures all of you of his prayers.
Your friend
Guthrie
Seminarian, Diocese of Des Moines
PS: Don't forget to check these out:
Last week my colleague Joe and I were upbeat to visit the Church of Agony. We dressed ourselves with warm clothes because it was a chilly morning. After grabbing a map in the lobby we set out. The map indicated that the Church is only 15 minutes from the center we are living in. Since it was our first walk on the crowded streets of Jerusalem, we were not sure if we would get to our final destination, but our hearts were craving to get there.
After walking down the road for 10 minutes we came at a crossroad and did not know what direction to follow. The map we had did not indicate the crossroad. We were stranded for 5 minutes trying to figure out which direction we should take.
We were nervous to ask directions because we could neither speak Hebrew or Arabic, the two most spoken languages in Jerusalem. Finally we decided to walk towards the east. We made a tiresome 40 minute walk, but could not find the Church. We became more nervous, but we were determined to walk back to the crossroad, where we took another 40 minutes. At this time, we were tired and couldn't walk any longer. Joe's knees were jerking while my Achilles tendons were really hurting. I was almost walking on my knees. But our curiosity did not let us go back before we get to the church. We kept on walking the other direction hoping that this time we would find our way. After another 30 minutes walk up a steep hill, we could not find the Church. We decided to ask directions from a man who was walking toward us. Luckily, he could speak a little English. He pointed to us a building way down at the bottom of the hill. After another 30 minute walk down the hill, our legs could no longer support our tired bodies. But finally we arrived at the Church. "Hurray we got it Joe" I shouted, looking at Joe's sweaty face. "Yes, thanks George for your insistance; otherwise I had already given up." We entered into the Church and observed a full holy hour of prayer.
This story reminds me of our vocation journey. It is a long journey indeed before our ordinations. Sometimes we think that the time will never come. At other times we are not sure where the Spirit is leading us, while at other times we cannot figure out where we are in our spiritual journey. On such moments it is tempting to give up. But with a little insistence through prayers, spiritual counselling or even sharing with your brothers about our spiritual struggles, we can regain our strength and keep pushing on.
Brothers, let us echo St. Augustine's words that "my heart is restless until I see Thee". May you have a Blessed time. George Komo, Jerusalem Holy Land.
George Komo is a Third Year Theology Student at Mundelein Seminary
