And that is how I ended up being able to sit and watch three full days worth of the Pope's visit to America last week. (plus what I saved on the DVR). I have not been watching daytime TV at all...I am not interested in game shows,talk shows, etc. that are on...so I've been avoiding it. One day I did catch myself thinking about all the things I could do...and decided I better put the sling back on and sit down and watch one of my TV shows I have on DVD. So" Veronica Mars" came to my rescue and saved me from myself that day. haaha
I turned on the TV to see what was happening and from then on it was MSNBC and the Pope. It was nice that Brian Williams had just recently come back to work, because I have always enjoyed him. How lucky for him to start back and get to cover such a great event.
If my mother were still alive, she would have loved watching it all; so part of me enjoyed watching for that very reason. And also...it was hard not to get caught up all the excitement....because I can tell you from watching...wherever Pope Francis went...there was a CROWD of happy people and reporters, security, etc. But for 3 days I watched the news pretty much ALL day long and it as great to watch so many happy, smiling people for a change! As one person said when asked how long he thought the good feelings would last....he replied something like -I wish he would have stayed two months instead of two days! Then we might actually get something done! not the exact words, but something along that line.
I've heard reporters in the past talk about having met a Pope and the affect it had on them. The charisma of the man or appeal of being in his presence is undeniable. And I saw that time and time again as I watched the coverage.
This Pope just seems so approachable, so humble, gentle and truly kind. Growing up Catholic I can tell you some priests were very dour and serious.....but I also liked the ones who laughed, joked and made you feel comfortable. I have never liked the "Fire and Brimstone" approach to religion. Any minister, priest, etc who starts telling me everything I'm doing wrong is going to find me heading for the exit! Encourage people to join in, don't shut them out...that just never made any sense to me.
So that is another reason why I enjoyed watching Pope Francis making his way around, D.C. and NYC and Philadelphia. He is a spiritual leader who welcomes everyone! When he asked people to pray for him at all his stops "or if you are a non-believer or you can't pray for me, please send good wishes to me" I thought FINALLY...here is a religious leader who GETS it!!!
I grew up as a Catholic.....but I don't follow all the rules of the church- I did not follow the rules about birth control ; and I feel they aren't realistic for most people. Not everyone can afford a huge family. I still go to church from time to time but have never believed as one priest told me "we are the one true church".
For a time I attended a Methodist church, but when the minister was relocated I did not care for his replacement. I also went to an Episcopal church for a while, I liked it because it was similar to the Catholic mass. There was a priest there who would get on a rant about pre-marital sex...and after one too many of those I found myself thinking.."This guy is struggling..he's obviously frustrated" and then I decided I really shouldn't be thinking THAT while I'm in church! hahahah so I quit going
there. And even though I don't go every week...I still prefer the Catholic church. There is a comfort in knowing the rituals, the prayers, the routine...I always feel at peace when I go back.Others may not approve of my attendance now and then...but I feel comfortable and I don't feel the need to apologize. I am not super religious, but I am a very spiritual person. I don't wear my heart or my faith on my sleeve...but I try to live my life by following the "Golden Rule".
I have been to services at Baptist churches, Presbyterian and Lutheran churches and spin-offs from them. When we were younger sometimes my friend Lisa would come to my Sunday School class and I would go with her to the "Young Judea" meetings. My mother thought it was important to learn about other religions and encouraged us. And I will never forget when I was getting married and a friend who attended an Evangelical Christian Church told me she was afraid (HUH???????) to attend a Catholic Mass. It completely astounded me...why would you be afraid of going to a church service ??? It's not like it was some sort of cult for goodness sake. My feeling has always been that no matter what church you attend...we are all working towards the same goal...we just might be taking different paths to get there.
When you attend a religious service, mass, Jewish service...whatever...you can feel the spirit of God in the place and it's wonderful. One of my favorite parts of the Pope's visit was the visit to the 9/11 Memorial. The Inter-Faith prayer service with all the different religious leaders was so beautiful. To hear all the prayers spoken, sung, chanted was really wonderful. Even the prayers in other languages...the tone of voice of the speaker(s) was enough to convey the meaning. Again...it goes back to my feeling that we are all working towards the same goal. Work together, pray togetherhttps://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1110389502195831263#editor/target=post;postID=1068813128696088282;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=0;src=postname just like Cardinal Dolan put it. (He looks like quite the character...hahah my kind of priest!)
That prayer service reminded me of my Uncle Dave. He was a monsignor. He always made it a point to have contact with other religious leaders in the Springfield area, Christian and Jewish. We got to meet some of them at his funeral celebration. He also told me more than once...don't let your experience with one priest define your connection to the church. If you have trouble relating to one priest, maybe you can find another priest/parish. Boy was that the truth. I remember more than one super serious, no nonsense priest. But on the other hand I can still hear the laughter in my memory of the parish priest at our church in Pittsburgh and other friends of our family along the way. (Father Jack playing the piano for one...and others whose names escape me at the moment.)
I watched as the motorcade left the prayer service and rode through the streets of NYC. Crowds of people who had waited for hours...would jump up and down with joy , hugging each other, simply because the Pope looked in their direction while he passed. Maybe they got a blessing, maybe a wave...but everyone seemed happy just to be there. I know not everyone in that crowd was Catholic!
It did make me think...was it just people like me..Catholic (at least in some way) or were there also people of other faiths glued to their TVs watching his every move. (I know Rush Limbaugh who called him a Marxist and a clown) wasn't...but knowing that makes me like the Pope even more!!!!Because I can't stand Rush Limbaugh) It was interesting to hear the reporters...I could usually tell who was Catholic by the way the related was was going on...but not always. It was kind of fun to hear the pride in their voices...almost like "Hey...this is OUR guy" hahaha I also hoped that other Christians were watching to see the way he shared the message...truly humble and you felt like he was talking to everyone...not a select few.
I guess once again I was happy to have had the time off...so that I could sit and watch for hours on end. If you have to do nothing, at least that gave me something to watch and enjoy in the meantime. There have been other events on TV in the past...various inaugurations, the Royal weddings,Olympic opening and closing ceremonies... events that are just a joy to sit and watch and feel like you are watching history unfold; and it's nice not to feel guilty about sitting to watch it all. Not feeling like you should be working, or doing something else...just enjoying the festivities.
It did also make me remember WHY I don't watch daytime TV...I have seen every prescription commercial on the air during the past few days. Good grief! We are a sick bunch! Diabetes, toenail fungus, blot clots, depression, lawsuits against the companies selling said drugs...it's never ending....I'm glad it's just my shoulder I have to worry about!!!! Now I just have 5 1/2 more weeks to go. The Pope is back in Rome, football is over for a few days......the blog is written. What am I going to do next????hahaha
