Monday, April 4, 2005, I was
hanging out at St.
Peter's with nothing to do (as usual). So I decided to go get something
to eat.
As I was leaving for lunch, I noticed that the police had closed off
the entrance to the
piazza. So I asked one of the cops if it was okay to leave...and he
said sure, I could leave. Only thing was? They wouldn't let me back in.
Because even though none of us in
the square realized it, we were now in the group who would be able to
see John Paul II's body come by in the funeral procession!
Kinda
crazy to think that my lack of having anything to do would give me the
chance to be at such an historic moment in our Church. And in the
world.
Sure enough, around 5pm, the procession began.
And as I stood there waiting, I realized I first saw John Paul II in
this piazza, driving in his Popemobile, back in 1983. I'd seen
him hundreds of times since then. Waving.
Smiling. Blessing.
Now, sadly, I saw him being carried right towards us.
And then, there he was...
I only took this one
picture. I then made the sign of the cross, and
joined the rest of the crowd giving him a standing ovation.
It was an ovation that lasted for minutes...and, quite honestly, an
ovation which we didn't want to have end. I genuinely couldn't believe
it would be the last time I would see John Paul II in St. Peter's
Square.
As is often the case with emotional experiences, once the Holy Father
passed by...I wasn't sure what else to do. That's the thing about
emotions. Once the experience passes, you're like "oh, this is kind of
awkward. What do I do now?"
So I just hung out in the square for a few more hours.
I grabbed my cellphone and called my mom back home in the states to say
hi. Told her where I was standing and was really perplexed on how this
very personal experience was apparently being broadcast everywhere in
the world. Around the world?! And I saw it all because I decided not to
go get a slice of pizza. Bizarre.
Mom also mentioned that news reports were saying millions of people
were planning on coming to Rome to say good-bye to the Pope. So just
out of curiosity, I thought I'd take a look down the street to see how
the line was
growing...
Wow. If I'd left for lunch a
few hours ago, I'd be standing in THAT
line. I suddenly realized that this was one of those rare moments in
life when people actually
wanted to be me.
Ok, maybe not ME. But they
at least wanted to be where I was
standing...because I didn't have to wait in line. So I just hung out
with my fellow "seriously, aren't you glad we're not in that line?"
folks.
And not only were we not
jammed in a line together - we had enough room
to sit around and play cards!
I love watching nuns play cards.
The hours passed, and
eventually they opened the doors and let us in.
Unbelievably, within 10 minutes of the doors being opened, I was about
to walk inside. So I looked back to take one last look, and one last
picture, of the crowd.
And then we walked through
the Basilica of St. Peter's...to say
good-bye one last time to the successor of St. Peter.
I didn't take a picture,
though, because I wanted to remember the
moment without my camera. It was the last time I'd see John Paul II...
