Personal reflections on Pope Benedict’s historic visit
By Deacon Cal Christiansen
Pope Benedict XVI greeted upwards of 25,000 at the seminarian and youth rally held at St. Joseph’s seminary in Yonkers New York Saturday April 19th with words from the First Letter of Peter: “Proclaim the Lord Christ…and always have your answer ready for people who ask the reason for the hope that is within you.” (1 Pet 3:15).
A delegation of 25 seminarians from the Archdiocese of Seattle had the opportunity of participating in this historic event. For me it truly was an honor as well as a tremendous grace. All of us preparing for priesthood study at seminaries spread throughout the country, and coming together for the common purpose of celebrating the presence of the Holy Father here in the United States was an exciting experience, an experience that will live long in our memories.
The entire rally and the Holy Father’s address to youth and seminarians were extremely inspirational as well as enlightening. His words emphasized that to be a disciple of Christ is not to be an individual burdened by rules and regulations, do’s and don’ts. It is rather a personal and liberating encounter with the person of Christ who truly sets us free, which, as the Holy Father said, should instill in each and every one of us a sense of wonder but above all, hope. He reminded me that our Christian faith and discipleship are both based upon the beauty, wonder and majesty of God and the truth of his revelation to the world.
‘We love the pope’
I will always remember the sensation that I experienced when Pope Benedict walked out on the stage for the first time at the rally. We had been camped out at the very front of the seminarian section near the central stage for hours.
We all were a bit tired, hungry and thirsty from our travels the night before and from the long day. The moment when the Holy Father walked out on stage, all feelings of weariness and hunger dissipated, replaced by enthusiastic and joy-filled cheers, chants such as “we love the pope” as well as a general sense of euphoria as the successor of Peter himself was standing there in the flesh before our very eyes.
The encounter with the Holy Father was extremely impressive and powerful for me personally as this event was the first time that I had ever been in the presence of a pope. When the Holy Father first walked on stage, I found the experience to be rather surreal as it was difficult to take in the fact that the Pope himself, the spiritual leader and chief pastor of more than one billion people was standing there before us.
I found his humble presence, beaming smile and obvious pleasure at being with us very uplifting. It was equally apparent that being in the presence of more than 25,000 joy-filled and exuberant youth and seminarians gave him as much hope as his presence gave us.
The foundation of hope
Toward the end of his address, he spoke directly to us seminarians. “I urge you to deepen your friendship with Jesus the Good Shepherd. Talk heart to heart with him…Strive for a pattern of life truly marked by charity, chastity and humility, in imitation of Christ, the Eternal High Priest of whom you are to become living icons.”
With these words, he gave us our marching orders, both for our spiritual lives as well as for our lives of service. He also filled us all with a tremendous sense of hope and excitement for our vocations, to be good and faithful priests and servants for the various dioceses that we represented.
I am truly grateful for having been able to have participated in this historic visitation of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States. The experience communicated to me as well as to all the many thousands that participated, that Christ is indeed the foundation of our hope.
It is my own personal hope and prayer that we will all have the strength and courage to communicate this message to a world desperately in need of the light and hope of Christ.
Transitional Deacon Cal Christiansen of St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Port Townsend will be ordained to the priesthood June 7 at St. James Cathedral. He is currently serving in St. James Cathedral Parish and in the archdiocesan Liturgy office.