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Written by Sherry
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Saturday, 19 April 2008 09:46 |
The Mass at St. Patrick's just finished. No deep observations. We don't discuss liturgy here anyway and I'd prefer to look at the text of the Pope's homily before commenting on it. As George Weigel noted yesterday, Benedict speaks in paragraphs, You have to read him to do him justice.
Just a few tidbits that I particularly enjoyed.
1) St. Patricks is truly beautiful. Someday I'll have to visit.
2) The EWTN team let the event speak for itself this time. Thank God.
3) Loved the obvious joy and energy from all the priests and religious present - especially the sisters.
4) Great cantor. With a voice and looks like that, that man is going to be a star.
5) Dare I say it? I liked everything: the music, the applause and the spontaneous standing ovation at the beginning, the Pope's homily, the prayers of the people in all the different languages of the archdiocese, the Holy Father's apparently spontaneous words of gratitude at the end. He struggled a bit with his English and that just made it more real and intimate - a glimpse of the private man. It was joyfully glorious and yet the television coverage makes it seem somehow intimate. (Although it was interesting to have an obviously Anglo nun praying in very carefully enunciated Chinese. A returned missionary, perhaps?)
Even the glimpse of the tall black man in what looked like a chasuble lifting his hands high in some kind of touchdown dance as the Pope passed down the center aisle. Had he managed to touch the Pope? I'm sure that he thought the pillar hid him from the cameras -but it didn't! :-} I love the little unplanned human eccentricities that say so much about what God is doing in people's hearts and minds through the Pope's visit.
So excommunicate me.
6) From now on, I'm gonna treat Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity with more respect. You just don't want to get between those sisters and the Pope. The same steely quality that makes them so effective with the poorest of the poor makes them a security detail's nightmare.
7) It was good to see so many Sisters of Life evident in their snazzy habits. I empathized with the young sister who sang the Psalm and who looked pretty anxious just before she opened her mouth. She did just fine.
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