Pope Francis’ message touched lives in United States

PHILADELPHIA – In wheelchairs and strollers, in the confident stride of the young and the halting progress of the old, singly and by the hundreds: they came.

They came like sand in an hourglass, seemingly without number.

They prayed. They knelt. They bought T-shirts featuring his likeness.

They came with a conviction that the Almighty had sent this man, at this time, to this place.

Pope Francis wrapped up his six-day, three-city tour of the United States on Sunday afternoon. He concluded it with a two-hour Mass. Maybe 1 million watched in person, no one is sure of the precise numbers. Thus ended a tour that drew the faithful from across the nation and beyond.

“Faith grows when it is practiced and shaped by love,” he said during a 15-minute homily, broadcast on giant TV screens.

He also urged worshipers to “scatter seeds” – to commit acts of love and kindness.

For the faithful, the pope’s message is an indication of better times – in the church, and perhaps in the world at large.

The pope’s message can effect permanent changes, said Susan Francis Graham. Sunday afternoon, she stood on the edge of Benjamin Franklin Parkway, awaiting Mass. In her hand was a ham sandwich; atop her head was a nun’s wimple. She said she gave her life to the Lord nine years ago, when she was 21.

People who take Francis’ message to heart will feel their lives change, said Graham, a sister with the Order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of New Haven, Conn.

“That’s up to each person who hears his message,” she said. “He’s speaking the message of Jesus Christ, which has changed people for the past 2,000 years.”

Just then a boy came bounding up, waving his left arm, enclosed in a cast. “It’s broken!” he yelled. “Broken!”

The nun smiled. “Want me to bless it for you?”

God has blessed this gathering, said Ryan Piccininni, a junior at St. John’s University in New York. He came with a handful of other students, arriving Friday night. Sunday afternoon found him under a stand of hardwoods, eating yesterday’s pizza.

The pope’s visit, he said, is a “massive feel-good moment,” but it underscores something more important.

“As far as making more people come to the Catholic Church? Yeah, he’s making a change.”

His classmate, Dan DeMeo, nodded. He’s 19, and wants to be a lawyer.

Francis, he said, wants to make “radical changes” in the church – to emphasize climate change, to speak out against damage to the environment.

“It’s an issue Francis is willing to confront,” DeMeo said. “And I think future popes should embrace it as well.”

The pope, he added, touches a chord in young people.

“He’s really doing a nice job of connecting with them,” DeMeo said. “Previous popes have talked about the differences in us; Pope Francis talks about the similarities.”

That’s a lesson churches need to learn, said Leslie Toomer of Philadelphia.

“Looking at social media, people of different faiths are really happy to see the pope and really like what he stands for and recognize that we believe in one God,” said Toomer, 37. “I think the parishes need to carry on that message; they also need to figure out how to engage the youth in whatever way.”

Francis might help form future leaders, said Elvira Garcia. She’s 17, from New York.

“Hopefully, he will inspire a pope in the future to be just like him,” she said.

Francis has made it OK to be a Catholic, said the Rev. Richard Smith, pastor of Maternity BVM Church in Philadelphia. Four hours before Mass, he stood in the shade, a canvas hat on his head, his sunglasses reflecting the passing crowd.

“We’ve been told we should be ashamed and embarrassed because of our Catholic faith,” said Smith, 30, who became pastor for the 145-year-old parish three months ago. “We’ve been told on every issue that we should be ashamed.

“You know what?” Smith asked. “The pope comes here and says you should be proud of being a Catholic.”

The pope’s critics, Smith said, haven’t paid attention to earlier popes. John Paul II and Benedict, he said, spoke about climate change. They warned about environmental damage.

“The message hasn’t changed,” he said. “The presentation has.”

Claire Howson of New Jersey prays that others take the pope’s message to heart.

“I hope (his legacy) lasts, because we really need to revitalize the church and I think Pope Francis is really a wonderful spokesperson for Catholics,” she said. “And everyone seems to like him.

“I hope that the bishops hear his message and that they go back to their own flags and carry that sense of inclusion and love and mercy and that they … take that back to their parishes.”

The pope may not change the church, said Angela Montagno, but he surely can stir reform in the hearts of believers. She is from Atlanta, a parishioner at Christ the King.

‘He’s a good example of how people ought to act,” said Montagno, who lives in Brookhaven.

Then Montagno smiled and threw her arms wide.

“It’s the pope!” she said. “And he’s in Philadelphia!”