"The Laws of God's Providence"

There's that showbiz slogan "It's not what you know, but who you know." In my Roman experiences that phrase has held true many times, except sometimes it need not even be "who you actually know" but just "who other people think you know." During Lent of 2003 on our Roman Spring Break, I and my two friends managed to get progressively closer to John Paul II as the week progressed. We first saw him at his weekly Angelus Address from the window of his room in the Vatican as he traditionally had done over the years. Benedict XVI does the same Angelus Address which consists of a brief homily and greeting of peoples (from the window) followed by the Angelus and a blessing of the people there and any holy objects they might have.

On Ash Wednesday, through the connections of my sister's religious order, we got aisle seats for the Mass traditionally held at Santa Sabina. We were estatic to be less that 3 feet from JPII when he proceeded down the aisle.

Mass with John Paul the Great
As if it couldn't get any better, we returned home and the next night received a call from my sister's religious community telling us that we would be able to attend Mass with the pope the following morning in his private chapel. Upon arriving in the Vatican Palace we were directed by the Swiss Guard to the chapel with 35 others. After the Mass was over the Pope received each of us individually, where we were allowed to greet him, kiss his ring, and have our picture taken. Although we didn't say anything else then a simple greeting (I said, "Thank you ,Wojek."- which means "uncle" in Polish and was his nickname for years in Poland with the youth he took out into the wilderness), are gaze was locked and I know he saw right into my soul. Such was his gift as a living saint.

After this momentous occasion, not only did I know I was living a lie by not being in the seminary, but that I needed to get there soon--I had felt a deep calling to the priesthood since the 5th grade, but had as the saying goes "I had given God a laugh because I had told him I had other plans." It wasn't until the day of his burial my senior year of college in 2005 that I bolstered the courage to make that decision to stop fighting his will and to surrender to God doing so in honor of JPII and asking him for his protection and prayers.

Christmas of the same year (2003), I took my brothers to Rome and although we didn't meet John Paul II again privately, we did with the help of my sister's religious community get to walk through his palace hallways and talk to the only black Swiss guard ever since there inception in 1506. His North African mother gave birth to him in Switzerland and hence he is 100% Swiss therefore passing the nationality requirement. My brother was able to get an aisle seat for Midnight Christmas Mass, but something changed then and has stuck to the present.

After having attended so many papal events, I can say that I have not stopped wanting to see the pope, but the hype is over. I felt I'd had my turn and that was enough, at least until a new pope was elected....

Public Papal Liturgies
Being in Rome has its perks of being able to go to many of the papal events, but when one's objective is no longer to see the pope close up, one's motive is often purified and one goes to be with the pope in prayer. This is quite difficult though, when the majority are pilgrims many of which seeing the pope for the first time are jumping up and down, standing on chairs, talking and clapping excitedly, and flashing cameras as "The Bishop of Rome" proceeds by and the Mass insues.

Benedict XVI has done something very interesting to cut down on this hype, this Hollywood-like spectacle, because he wants us to remember the liturgy is about something much greater than him. In his liturgies and appearances you don’t see a pope playing to the crowds, but a pope creating an atmosphere which draws the people to prayer with long pauses between readings from Sacred Scripture and prayers. He also will at times begin a liturgy with a Litany of Saints or whole songs before he arrives, so that when he comes into the Church the people instinctively clap less and if they do clap, they do so more solemnly because they are in communication with God--they are already praying.

"Laws of Divine Providence"
Having said all this, I must confess that when I go to a papal event these days with another one of the seminarians from the NAC, we, like anyone, attempt to get as close as possible, but I don’t exactly always play by the ever so popular "Laws of Physics". While some might be scandalized by the pushing and shoving that goes on by even little habited nuns,--the truth is, it happens. Everyone wants to see "Il Papa". I've over the past year developed a method I would like to call the "Laws of Divine Providence", which avoids this unruly and uncivilized behavior that resulting in a game of tug-of-war ends in the suffocation of the weak.

The objective each time is to get as close as possible to the pope, but to do so by avoiding all the pushing and shoving that really only makes you feel anything but prayerful (down-right ticked and angry and hence feeling like you need to go to confession) by the time you are forced into a chair far from the pope after having being jabbed in the ribs by some Sr. Maria Goretti for 3 hours prior to the liturgy only for her to slip around you and take your aisle spot. This really will happen to you...

So the first "Law of Divine Providence" is be calm and patient and don't expect much; be happy with whatever chair you end up in. The second law is "to practice what you preach" or to master that showbiz add-it I described earlier, “It's not what you know, but who other people think you know." This really takes a perfecting of the first law. But having the two laws down we proceed to our rendition of Mission Impossible.

Stage I: Anyone in magenta wearing a zuchetto and/or a pectoral cross (that means a Bishop or Cardinal) needs no ticket to get into a papal event or the Vatican for that matter. Also this is where the fun begins because anyone that "looks official" and like they are with the bishop or might follow behind them with another seminarian doesn't necessary need a VIP-ticket either. Therefore you have two options, strike up a conversation with one and ask if you can accompany him or follow behind him with an accomplice. Next, those classical Jesuit-Jedi mind tricks come in handy and save the day when the guards ask you if you are "insieme?" or "together?" referring to the bishop. You respond in Italian, "Why of course! We are "together". (with a mental reservation that you are actually together with the other seminarian in this Covert "Get Past the Guards" Operation) Note: It's best to choose wisely the bishop or cardinal you decide to follow because as that line goes "it's who other people think you know". This is key since you only get one shot before being discovered or worse getting asked for your VIP ticket that you don't have. Hence being white and American, it's not probably a good idea for me to follow Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Mink Man of Ho Chi Minh City, since I don't know Vietmanese, let alone am 3 feet taller than his "Emminence".

Stage II: Having evaded the guards and just walked down the center aisle everyone begins to start looking at the seminarians headed down the center aisle in cassocks and automatically assumes they must be "official" or have some special duty, after all Italians provide top-notch security right (sarcasm)??? The best thing is to attempt to continue your conversation with your brother seminarian even if you are both in disbelief of having been able to slip by the first patrol. Again it's about keeping calm and not expecting much but trusting in the "laws of Divine Providence". We rapidly are approaching the main altar and wondering what we are going to do next, we're about to run into more guards, what will we claim, ignorance??? Again the mind is racing, but because of your gentile smile and commanding appearance you walk by the next wave of security in the midst of that conversation that you never really decided was about.

Stage III: You quickly have to decide what seat is available and can be taken. After all, the last thing you want to happen is to end up with the Con-Celebrants and accused of impersonating a priest or even worse having taken a bishop's seat. So you find the choir section (which happens to be closer that the Bishop and Priest's sections) and again choose a seat not to far back, but not to far forward. Attempting to keep up that conversation that died in the section you saw the first guard, you begin talking about how you slipped by and then you see the usher coming and you think you may wet the shorts you're wearing underneath your cassock, but you keep your composure until the Italian spills out of his mouth, "Do you sing in the choir?" Thinking quickly you call upon the "Jedi forces" and quip back in Italian, "We sing!" He's satisfied since you have cassocks on and he walks away. The peace and security begins to take over. You've succeeded.

Stage IV: The next question is, "Is this seat good enough and/or has 'God's Providence' run out or do you have some extra graces stored up in heaven to get you an even better chair, perhaps at the front of the choir next to all the Cardinals which just happens to be closer than the bishop you followed in?" Hmmm, you think for a moment and set a time frame for the next move. After all, there are all those chairs that no one is in. "Don't good Catholics always take the front pew? You begin to realize that others in the section you somehow managed to get into want those seats as well, so you all collectively decide to make a move together with 5 minutes to go before the liturgy begins. It works like a charm, the choir comes in (now you're flanked by the choir on one side and the Cardinals on the other) and the liturgy begins, the pope processes right in front of you, and although you keep your composure and don't make a scene, your heart is racing inside at how awesome this is. Only in your dreams could you have imagined something so ridiculous actually working.

You say a prayer of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the "Laws of His Providence" succeeded.

Having now spilled the beans on my "covert operations", I must say I still have yet to personally meet Benedict XVI or serve Mass for him, but I've enjoyed this just as much up til now. NACcers (seminarians at the North American College) get the opportunity to enter a lottery to serve Mass for the pope at one of the papal events, but I still have yet to get one of these once in a lifetime chances.