You've Gotta Talk About It!

"Today we need a Church capable of walking at people's side, of doing more than simply listening to them..." - Pope Francis 

Throughout the ages people have asked questions of great importance to their lives, such as: is there a God? Who is He and what is He like? What reasons are there for believing in Him? When you do come to believe in Him, where do you go from there?  Is religion really necessary? Many people are still asking these questions and just because you or I may have already sufficiently answered these questions for ourselves does not mean that we can't or that we shouldn't discuss these questions with those who have not answered them.  In fact, it seems vital that this discussion should happen, because often people are drawn to faith in Christ through the witness of faithful and authentic Christians. 

Discussion about the divine, faith, and religion can be called "dialogue." A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. That means listening to what another person says, but it also means responding. As Christians, we are called to dialogue with other people. This is the heart of the New Evangelization!  This is what it means to preach the Gospel. It means we cannot stand on a soap box on the street corner like the Pharisees and speak just for the sake of hearing ourselves talk without any real understanding of who we are talking to. No, we must engage people in the grocery store, at the gas station, at the bar, and on the internet.  We must listen to their stories, but we must, as Pope Francis says, do more than simply listen. As Christians we must reply in charity to the questions and lives of the persons we encounter every day. We must not be afraid to engage in casual conversation about the topic of faith. The faith of others may be sparked by this and our own faith can only be sharpened and strengthened by the challenges presented to it by the culture.

In order to be able to enter into conversation with other people, we have to meet them where they are at. We need to be able to enter into the culture and encounter people right where they are and still remain faithful in our witness to Christ. One way in which we can begin to meet people where they are at is through the social media. It is something that a vast number of people use everyday. Blogging, as Mark Shea points out in the chapter on blogging in The Church and New Media, has a great potential to begin dialogue because of its conversational tone and interactive possibilities. Readers can engage and respond to the material they are reading and authors can continue the discussion almost immediately. (It is a far cry from when you wrote a letter to the newspaper and waited weeks for a response...that is, if you ever got a response.)  There are some great Catholic bloggers out there who do just this: write for the purpose of engaging people in conversation about topics of faith. Check out Marc Barnes, for example. 

However potent social media may be, I have found in my own short life that face to face interactions with other human persons are the most fruitful form of dialogue. No matter what, there is a disconnect that happens when a social medium is used to communicate. Much is lost without the tone of voice and the facial and body expressions that are part of a face to face interaction between persons. So while I firmly believe that social media can be used effectively in the New Evangelization and that it should be used, I also believe that it is only a springboard. Nothing can beat a conversation with that person on the airplane or in the driver's license bureau. Do not be afraid! Go out into the streets and proclaim the love of Christ present in your heart! But don't forget to listen. This is not a soap box or a "holier than thou" competition...it is an opportunity to walk together with other persons up the mountain of faith.

Rome Part 2: The Vicar of Christ

It is 8am and I settle down in my chair in St. Peter’s square to wait for the general audience to start.  Part of me can’t believe I am here.  I have seen so many pictures and postcards of this place that it seems like I am just staring at another picture.  But the rest of me feels entirely at home, as if I have lived in this place for my whole life.  

As I sit and wait and chat with my friends, more and more people pass through security and enter the square for the audience.  There are now thousands of people here, from many different places.  We are all here for the same reason – to say goodbye to our papa.  He has been such a gentle shepherd and a humble priest that our hearts are overwhelmed with love for him. 

A glimpse of the huge crowds that gathered in St. Peter's square on Feb. 28th.

 

The thought that we are all united strikes me.  Being surrounded by the many people from different countries, young and old, rich and poor, lay people and consecrated people, makes me realize again that the Church is indeed universal.  She welcomes all in her loving arms, leading them to Christ, just as the “arms” of St. Peter’s square welcome in all the pilgrims who have come to greet the Holy Father.  

One of my friends begins to talk to the people sitting in front of her.  They are Italian.  We chat with them for a little while.  Then someone suggests praying a rosary, so we invite the three Italians to join us.  This too shows me the universality of the Church.  We say the prayers in English while they say them in Italian.  One decade is lead in English and the next in Italian.  It is wonderful to be praying to the Mother of the Church in the place that is identified as the heart of the Church. 

In the short time that we interact with the Italians, we have become friends with them.  It is surprising, as we have no understanding of Italian and they know only a little bit of English.  Still, we understand each other.  They take a picture with us. 

The morning progresses, but we still have about an hour to go before the audience with the Holy Father begins.  The student life director brings us a small banner that has the name of our university printed on it.  We hang it up on the barricade.  A woman with two small boys who is standing at the barricade opposite to us sees the banner and yells over to us.  “I’m a Franciscan Alum!”  She is so happy to see us and asks us to contact her husband, who works for a Catholic news agency in Rome.  “They want to interview you.”  I take down the contact information to pass along to the student life director later.

At 10:30am one of the cardinals comes out onto the stage that is set up on the steps of St. Peter’s.  One by one he reads the Holy Father’s greeting to all the different language groups that are present there in the square.  He addresses the people in seven (or maybe more) languages.  I recognize: Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, and Polish.  When the English speaking groups are announced, we cheer loudly when we hear the name of our University.  It sounded funny, because the majority of our group was in the front part of seating and only a few of us were in the back. 

The excitement of the people in the square is building.  Any minute our Holy Father will appear.  The greetings finish and the cardinal takes a seat.  A few minutes later we see the pope-mobile emerge from the arch on the left side of the square.  The crowd erupts into cheers.  The joy and love that the people have for Benedict XVI is overwhelming.  I am caught up in it and blown away by it all at the same time.  I wonder what he feels like.  

Here he comes! 

We wait in suspense by the barricade, not sure if he will even drive past us.  The pope-mobile turns and goes around the opposite side of the square.  I try not to get my hopes up, because I don’t want to be disappointed.  Then he turns down to go across the back between the seats and the people standing.  We get excited.  He is coming towards us!  He is going to drive by us!  A few minutes later he turns down the little street and drives right past us.  I am right on the barricade, only six or seven feet away from him.  We are shouting “Papa! Papa!” over and over again.  I feel tears coming to my eyes.  As he drives past it feels as if the world is in slow motion.  Love for the Holy Father wells up in my heart.  And then, he stops.  Right in front of us.  For one or two minutes.  He kisses the baby of the woman who told us she was a Franciscan alum.  We are still shouting “Papa!”  Someone is pressing on my head in an effort to see him.  I don’t know what to think.  I feel so overwhelmed.  The moment passes, the babies are handed back to their mothers, and the Papa moves on to greet and bless the rest of the people in the square. 

He was right in front of us!  What a blessing!

 

When he has returned to the front of the square, he goes up onto the stage and addresses the people in all their different languages.  It is marvelous.  The love of the people surges up again every time he addresses a new group.  He speaks again about how we must step out in faith and trust more deeply in the Lord’s will for our lives.  When he is finished, we sing the “Our Father” in Latin.  Then we receive the blessing of Christ Himself through the hand of His vicar on earth.  I am overwhelmed by the beauty and the great grace of being in St. Peter’s Square for the last general audience of the pope.  He is such a loving and gentle Papa.

 

Habemus papam!

Last night I was planning to come to the computer lab after our Wednesday night Women's Scripture Group and post the next segment of my series of posts about Rome.  And then it happened.  A few minutes after 7pm, when we were all socializing at the TOR sisters' house, Meredith ran in and shouted "Habemus papam!"  You can imagine what sound came next - a LOT of  VERY LOUD screaming.  Even I was screaming...and I am not typically a screamer. 

When we heard the news my heart was filled with joy!  A friend and I snuck upstairs to the sisters' chapel while the sisters hooked up their computer to the EWTN live streaming of Vatican Square.  I begged the Lord to pour His grace down upon our new Holy Father.  When I went back downstairs there were about fifteen women hovering around the computer screen, which was perched on a coffee table in the middle of the sisters' living room.  We sang a song of thanksgiving together and then spent the next fourty-five minutes or so in an agony of suspense.  It was so exciting!!!

When we saw the curtains in the balcony window move we screamed.  And then shhhhshed each other.  I'm sure that most (if not all) of you who are reading this have seen the footage and know what happened next.  The cardinal came onto the balcony and announced that we have a pope!  It was a thrilling moment (not quite as thrilling as it would have been if I had been in Vatican City...but thrilling nonetheless).  When he said the name of the new pope, none of us knew who he was, but as soon as we saw him, we fell in love.  :)

What a humble man.  He asked the Church to pray for the Lord to bless him before he gave us his first blessing as our pope.  The silence in that moment was so rich and full of joy.  I knew that I was united with people all over the world in calling down the Holy Spirit upon our new pope in that moment.  WOW.   

Then we received our second papal blessing in a month! 

After the excitement of seeing Pope Francis step out onto the balcony was over, many of the students here (including myself) flocked to the chapel.  An impromptu praise and worship session began, followed by a rosary for Pope Francis.  My heart was full of joy, of thanksgiving, but my head was spinning.

All I have to say is that God really loves my roommate.  It was her birthday yesterday, and do you know what she asked for? 

A pope. 

And she got one.