Papal Visit Day 2 – ¡Adelante!

 

              Today certainly was a busy day for Pope Francis in Washington, DC.  He started off the day with an official state welcome at the White House, followed by a meeting with the President, a little parade around the Ellipse, Mid-day Prayer at Saint Matthew’s Cathedral with the U.S. bishops, and finally the canonization Mass for Saint Junipero Serra.

 

                Two things in particular struck me during today’s events.  First, I found it interesting how comfortable people are with Pope Francis.  There used to be a day when regular old folks would never touch the Pope.  Today, people couldn’t seem to keep their paws off him - shaking his hand, patting his shoulder, giving him warm embraces.  To me, this familiarity is wonderful, and it speaks volumes about the man that Pope Francis is – warm, approachable, Christ-like.  He is a pastor who loves his sheep, and his sheep love him back.

                The second thing that struck me was the theme of Pope Francis’ homily during the canonization Mass:  ¡Adelante!  In Spanish, adelante is a command that means “forward,” as in “Move forward!”  Pope Francis attributed Saint Junipero’s success in bringing the Word of God to the native peoples of California to the fact that he just kept going forward.  Nothing stopped him in his efforts to evangelize.  Pope Francis invited us to join him, saying:  “Let’s keep moving forward.”  I think this message is particularly important in the United States as our country struggles to reconcile our deep religious roots with a growing move to secularize our society.  It’s a long-term struggle, but if we keep moving forward, I am confident that we will remain, One Nation Under God.  ¡Adelante!