Keeping Vigil With the Holy Father
These past few days in Kraków, Pope Francis has been challenging all of us, but especially the young people gathered here for World Youth Day, to be willing to renounce comfort. He continued this theme last night in his remarks during the Vigil, and the renouncement of comfort is something we can all relate to right now.
The crowds of people seem to be larger than had been anticipated, and the security personnel have had trouble controlling the flow of traffic. The walk to Campus Misericordiae, the large fields where the final Vigil and Mass are taking place, took us five hours: roads packed so heavily that at one point we were at a standstill for ninety minutes. Whether or not pushing is appropriate seems to be an open question between some pilgrims and so the opportunity to practice mercy was presented many times for me during our walk to the Vigil! But, thanks to these massive fields, we were all able to slowly squeeze into the campus which is dotted by large screens and speakers and now by hundreds of thousands of sleeping bags, and people trying to wake up after snatching a few minutes of sleep.
The best way I can describe the Vigil with the Holy Father is that it was filled with a sense of peace. We were able to be fairly close to the stage because of volunteering here with the Knights of Columbus and were able to feel even closer to the Holy Father. There were many moving parts of the program, but perhaps especially the focus on Divine Mercy, with testimonies from those whose lives have been transformed by it.
Pope Francis then encouraged us not to "confuse happiness with a couch." He adamantly asked us to consider that consumerism quickly leads to slavery and that "paralysis happens when we confuse happiness with comfort." My personal favorite was one of his final statements: "Our times don't need any more couch potatoes. They need people with shoes on—or better yet—with soccer cleats on!"
Pope Francis, like every pope, has personal strengths and personal limitations, but he truly has a gift for speaking to the hearts of young people who are extremely attentive when he speaks.
We ended the evening with Adoration and by singing the Divine Mercy chaplet in 5 different languages. It was a profound moment for me when we began the Tantum Ergo. Right next to me were young people from Brazil, Poland, Italy, Mexico and the United States who were having trouble communicating before the Vigil but were now singing the Tantum Ergo in Latin in one voice. What a beautiful testament to the universality of the Church!
Finally, we ended the liturgical portion of the Vigil by singing a Marian antiphon before the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. This is a beautiful Polish tradition which is always done in the evening. Here I will finish by leaving you the English translation of the farewell we gave the Blessed Mother last night: “Mary, Queen of the Church. Mary, Queen of the World. We come before you. We remember you. We will keep vigil with you.”
