Where were you thirty-three years ago today? I was standing on the Boston Common, listening to this.
I was a young Episcopal cleric, and a Catholic priest friend of mine had encouraged me to go to Boston "to see the Pope." It rained for most of the day, and I was standing in it with no umbrella. An excited community of religious sisters was in front of me, screaming their heads off and waving their signs to no one in particular. I didn't know a single person around me, and after standing in the mud and rain for nearly seven hours, I didn't think I'd ever want to do this again.
But then... the Holy Father arrived. The Mass started. The memory of the long and uncomfortable wait we'd had melted away. I didn't hear anything but his voice.
When he began his sermon, my heart was ready. And when he repeated, "Follow Christ!" that's all I wanted to do. So I made my decision then and there. I'd become a Catholic. I didn't know how, and I didn't know when, but to follow Christ meant that I had to become a Catholic.
What a thrill to hear some of these words again, when I found this video. The same feeling came over me -- the heart racing just a little, the eyes getting a bit moist.
What a man he was, what a Pope! And I thank God daily that I had ears to hear.
