It’s starting to get real. Facebook and Twitter are buzzing with activity and all kinds of posts from people about the World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis to conclude the conference. We’re looking at the itineraries, conference schedule, speakers, festivities and of course, where the Pope will be in the city and the parade routes.
I’ve been to numerous conferences for work with thousands of people, but this is unlike any other thing I have been to. Of course it will be amazing to see the Pope – I’m just hoping we can be close to him on one of his parades up and around Ben Franklin Parkway, and I hope we can get within eyesight of the alter during Mass. That is all up to the Holy Spirit, and of course the atmosphere will be electric and full of an energy you cannot explain. I know. I felt it almost 30 years ago in Detroit when my family and I went to see Pope (now Saint) John Paul II. I was only 10 years old, but the memory and experience is still crystal clear and sticks with me to this day.
But as awesome as it is to be able to see the Pope, the reason he is coming to Philly is to close out the World Meeting of Families, an every three year event that sponsored by the Holy See is the world’s largest Catholic gathering of families. The theme of the World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015 is “Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive,” and this is the first time the meeting is being held in America.
This event is the reason the Pope is coming to America. This is how important the family is to our world, and to our future, and this conference is going to be amazing with world renowned speakers talking about embracing the sacrament of marriage and being loving parents to our children through Christ and our faith. Thousands of families from all over the world will travel to Philadelphia with one thing in mind – love and peace. This is what this week will be all about. And then the Pope is just the icing on the cake!
But I still do not know what to expect. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people coming into the city to see a man that relates to so many of us. A once in a lifetime event! I still don’t yet realize the magnitude of what this event will be, and what this means to our country and our faith. As the Pope himself even said in recent days, this is a “complex trip”. So much turmoil an uncertainty and confusion in the world today, especially in this country. So much confusion in our faith, and what each one of us believe and what we stand for. And Pope Francis has said nothing different than Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict before him, but it’s all in his loving, down to earth and realistic delivery. And so, the magnitude of this event and what it will mean to American Catholic’s, Christians, and society in general, not to mention my family and I has not hit me yet – but it will at some point over the weekend.
It surely will be an amazing experience – one that my family will not forget. My son Joseph is not too much younger now than I was when I saw Pope John Paul II. He will remember this event, and may be writing about it years down the road. Who knows what the lasting effects will be, but I am so excited to start this journey together, as a family.