Pope Francis is in town. Viva il Papa! What a privilege it is to be hosting him in our country. What an honor to be in the same place, breathing the same polluted air, travelling the same crowded skies and streets, experiencing the same inconvenience of living in this sprawling metropolis. There is even the threat of a storm. The shepherd has come to be with his flock.
These past weeks, I have wracked my brain thinking of how to get close to Pope Francis. I would so like to meet him up close, kiss his ring, ask for his blessing, tell him how much I appreciate him, and that he is constantly in my thoughts and prayers. And yes, have a selfie taken with him. Who wouldn’t? But I would have to pull strings to do that, and knowing the Pope’s simplicity and his rejection of privilege, I know I shouldn’t even try.
The people managing his visit are frazzled enough with the Pope’s busy itinerary and his insistence on being close to the madlang pipol, no matter its humongous security implications, the least I can do is get out of their way. So, like most everyone else, I will have to catch the Pope by braving the traffic and the frenzied crowd that I hope will have more dignity and decorum than the procession in Manila during the recent feast of the Black Nazarene.
I will have to walk with the millions who have no connections and have the same longing to catch even a glimpse of this holy and simple man who has brought the Church’s focus back to Christ’s basic teaching of love of neighbor. I will have to be content to stand with the multitudes in the streets of Manila and jockey for a good position during the few seconds that the Pope will be passing by. It is right and just because Pope Francis didn’t come to the Philippines to rub elbows with the perfumed and well-dressed; he is here to be close to the common, ordinary folk, especially the poor. His visit to Malacañang is an official courtesy call to a fellow Head of State, but the rest of his activities are pastoral – to remind the clergy and religious of their true calling, and walk in solidarity with the rest of the Filipino, especially the most deprived.
Following Pope Francis around will involve a lot of walking, what with roads closed to traffic all over the city. I could stand outside the Manila Cathedral, the Mall of Asia or the University of Santo Tomas with the poor, homeless and hungry who have no tickets to enter, when he goes there to meet with special groups. Or I could join the millions who will troop to the Luneta on Sunday for a glimpse of him, in person, saying Mass from very far away, a tiny figure on the grandstand. Or I could watch his every activity on television from the comfort of my bed. Why sweat it out with the hoi polloi when I can be relaxed in clean and safe surroundings? This way, I can hear his every word and watch every activity up close.
But something is nagging at me to go out there, in the heat or cold or rain, and experience with the rest of the faithful, the joy, comfort and holiness of the Pope’s presence in our midst, and listen to God’s message of mercy and compassion.
This is not just the journalist in me wanting to be where the action is. In fact, at this lazy, laid back stage in my life, and fighting a persistent cough and cold, it is an inexplicable longing that Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ, in his homily on January 10, was able to define and put in perspective:
“As many of us yearn for an invitation to be introduced to Pope Francis personally, Pope Francis himself lives, moves, breathes and pours himself out in joy so that we all, without exception, might be introduced personally today to Jesus.”
Writes Fr. Joel, “For any and all of us, the greatest grace that can be gained from being introduced personally to Pope Francis is to meet Jesus.”
Although I am not likely to ever be introduced to him personally, I have gotten to know Pope Francis pretty well. I have been impressed, astounded and inspired by his homilies and exhortations on peace, human rights, relationships, freedom and climate change, to name a few. And I have experienced Jesus and gotten to know Him more intimately through the strong leadership and simple lifestyle of this wise, courageous, Christ-like and very human Pontiff.
Pope Francis has made real the mercy and compassion of Jesus in my life. By his visit, he has brought God’s mercy and compassion to all the Filipino people.