Bishop Larry Silva and Island pilgrims join a group of travelers from the Archdiocese of Chicago Sept. 22 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center for the first day of the World Meeting of Families (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz)
The people we met and events we encountered were God’s way of reminding us, ‘Hey! I’m right here’
Pope Francis’ concluding Mass in Philadelphia is broadcast on a Jumbotron TV in the city, Sept. 27. (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz)
A whirlwind adventure. A journey of faith. A dream come true.
The Sept. 20-28 diocesan pilgrimage to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families was an unbelievable week. This once-in-a-lifetime trip included inspiring talks, mingling with people from around the globe and being in the presence of Pope Francis.
Our Island pilgrimage group first met at Honolulu International Airport late at night Sept. 20. We were a diverse, enthusiastic bunch of travelers — Bishop Larry Silva, two priests, a young Honolulu couple, a retiree from Maui and another from the Big Island, and three diocesan staffers (including me).
Kristina DeNeve, diocesan adult faith formation coordinator, was the pilgrimage host. She and diocesan Safe Environment director Kristin Leandro wrote daily pilgrimage perspectives on our Hawaii Catholic Herald blog.
Banners welcome the pontiff to the City of Brotherly Love. (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz)
Kristina departed early from Honolulu in order to greet the rest of our group when we landed in Philadelphia. We took a red-eye flight from Honolulu to Phoenix, then from Phoenix to Philly.
An “ohana,” or family spirit sparked quickly in our small group of faithful. During 10 hours of flying, we shared stories of past travels and our admiration of Pope Francis.
Crisp fall breezes and colorful signs with the pope’s smiling face welcomed us at the Philadelphia airport Sept. 21.
We hopped cabs to the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Trenton, New Jersey, about an hour’s drive away. After settling in our rooms, Bishop Silva closed our inaugural evening on the East Coast with a hearty dinner and prayer at the hotel restaurant.
World Meeting opening day
Our routine for the World Meeting of Families week entailed early morning commutes with pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Chicago from our hotel to Philadelphia. The Chicago group had driven 14 hours by bus from the Windy City to attend the World Meeting of Families.
We arrived at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Sept. 22 at about 10 a.m. Pilgrims from more than 100 different countries flooded the lobby for World Meeting check-in.
What a thrill it was to hear Spanish, French, Vietnamese and African languages in that hall!
The registration process was impressively efficient. Each of us swiped our check-in forms at an “express counter” and were given backpacks and nametags.
Bishop Silva joined us for lunch before checking into another hotel near the convention center. He and his fellow bishops had a special itinerary, which included meetings and Mass with Pope Francis in Washington, D.C.
Thousands of World Meeting of Families participants that afternoon gathered for kick-off remarks from Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, mayor Michael Nutter and event organizers.
Newly ordained Los Angeles auxiliary bishop Robert Barron delivered a riveting keynote talk on the topic, “Living as the Image of God: Created for Joy and Love.”
“I was loving every minute because Bishop Barron presented on one of my mostest, favoritest tenets of our faith: ‘Imago dei,’ the Judeo-Christian view that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God,” wrote Kristina DeNeve on the Herald blog.
“Bishop Barron suggested that imago dei is more than a belief in our innate goodness. Rather, imago dei is a concept for the world. It is our mission and responsibility. No other philosophy, religion or social theory holds the human being in a higher light.”
Archbishop Chaput celebrated the World Meeting of Families opening Mass. Bishop Larry and our own Father Boniface Waema from St. John the Apostle and Evangelist Church in Mililani were among the hundreds of concelebrating priests and bishops.
Talks and other activities
Pope Francis touched down in Washington, D.C., while we celebrated the World Meeting of Families opening Mass on Sept. 22.
We tried our best to catch highlights of the pope’s activities on TV as we winded down at our hotel each evening. During the day, we were kept busy with the many talks and activities in Philadelphia.
World Meeting of Families organizers provided an extensive lineup of speakers and sessions that covered many facets of the Catholic faith, Christian love and family life.
“The World Meeting of Families has offered something for every one of us — breakout sessions for every decade, for every generation,” Kristina DeNeve blogged. “From dealing with the ‘hook-up’ culture to great-grandparenting, the sessions have been pleasantly age-discrepant.”
One of the sessions I attended was a talk by “Dynamic” Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers of Oregon. On Sept. 23, the deacon spoke on the topic, “Mary of Nazareth: First Disciple and Mother of the Redeemer.” It was breathtaking to see Mary’s strength, faith, courage and humility in a modern light.
I also liked the Sept. 24 presentation by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila. He spoke on “The Family: A Home for the Wounded Heart.” His warm smile, shining eyes, joyful humor and contagious passion for sharing Jesus’ healing love carried the message of his talk with something intangible.
“A home is the gift of a loving presence,” Cardinal Tagle said. Jesus “knows our wounds and transforms our wounds into triumphs of love.”
Moments outside
Island pilgrim Kristin Leandro shared on the Herald blog some of her favorite moments outside the “classroom” sessions in Philadelphia.
On Sept. 24, she and other Hawaii pilgrims stepped away briefly from the World Meeting of Families to watch on TV Pope Francis’ address to Congress. Awaiting this historic papal speech, Kristin likened her emotions to the anticipation of a Super Bowl football game.
“The most exciting ‘I’m getting butterflies’ moment for me … is the opening kickoff,” she wrote. “All the cameras in the stadium are flashing as I wonder, ‘What in the world is going to happen?’”
“So it was, that same ‘I’m getting butterflies’ moment … when, as we watched from the lobby of the Downtown Philadelphia Marriott, the announcement was made, ‘Mr. Speaker, the Pope of the Holy See.’ When Pope Francis’ historic address to the U.S. Congress concluded, I sat there and just said, ‘Wow.’”
Kristin also had a humorous “international incident.” At the World Meeting of Families, three “boisterous” women from Zimbabwe asked her to take their picture and drew a crowd of onlookers from different countries.
“A very excited family from Ecuador could not contain their excitement for these three ladies,” Kristin reported. “Suddenly, mom photo-bombed the ladies from Zimbabwe, complete with her Ecuadoran flag.”
The papal weekend
The pinnacle of our Philadelphia pilgrimage was Pope Francis’ visit.
We journeyed to see him at the Sept. 26 Festival of Families. That day was beautiful. We got to Benjamin Franklin Parkway at roughly 2 p.m., which gave us a five-hour wait before Pope Francis’ scheduled appearance there.
We passed the time as if enjoying a concert in the park. Jumbotrons broadcasted live music and multicultural entertainment. We ate hot dogs and lazed in the cool autumn air.
Pope Francis’ address at Independence Hall was broadcast live in the parkway as well. By that time, people were buzzing as the Holy Father would shortly make his way from the hall to the Festival of Families in a “papal parade.”
Before we knew it, Pope Francis zoomed by us on the pope-mobile. Folks screamed with joy and snapped videos and pictures on their cell phones and cameras.
Bishop Noel Simard of Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada said to me excitedly after the pope passed by, “We waited five hours for that five seconds” of glimpsing the Holy Father!
Bishop Simard was a highlight for us Hawaii pilgrims. He danced with us to “We Are Family,” sung live by the music group Sister Sledge.
“His enthusiastic attitude and unabashed love for everything are contagious,” wrote Kristin Leandro.
The papal Mass
More than a million people were expected to attend Pope Francis’ Mass at Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Sept. 27, the culminating event of his American trip.
Although we were given tickets to the papal Mass through the World Meeting of Families, most of our Island pilgrims did not get into the parkway. Bishop Silva and Father Waema, fortunately, were able to concelebrate Mass with the Holy Father.
Security and law enforcement officials were all over the streets of Philadelphia when we arrived. There was a wall-to-wall line of people waiting to get into the parkway’s many check points. By the time we found our place in line, we were at least a half-mile from the Mass site.
The Mass began at about 4 p.m. After more than two hours of waiting, we were disappointed to realize that the odds of making it into the parkway before the end of Mass were slim.
Several of us Hawaii pilgrims walked out of the line and instead found a city plaza where dozens of people were watching the Mass on a big screen TV.
We watched Pope Francis celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist. People knelt during that portion of the Mass and followed along as if the pontiff were at a real altar in front of us.
After Mass, the train stations were jam-packed with people trying to get out of Philadelphia. We were in the city as dark set in. At nearly 8 p.m., we found an improvised bus service deployed by Philadelphia’s transportation department to aid with shuttling the crowds.
That Sunday was absolutely chaotic, but one we’ll never forget.
Final reflections
“Not only does God make amazing plans, he also has an awesome sense of humor,” Kristin Leandro wrote at the end of the pilgrimage.
She said the people we met and events we encountered in Philadelphia were “God’s way of reminding me, ‘Hey! I’m right here.’”
Treasuring love and family in its many different forms was the pilgrimage lesson I gleaned.
Each day of the trip I was reminded of the relatives, friends and colleagues who helped shape my faith and my life. I was inspired to pay forward all the love they have shown me.
I also came away with a new “family” in my fellow pilgrims.
“Love is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home,” Pope Francis said in his Sept. 27 Philadelphia Mass homily. “Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love.”
Visit the Hawaii Catholic Herald blog at http://hawaiicatholicheraldblog.wordpress.com to read our bloggers’ full papal pilgrimage reports.
