Brother David: #WMOF and Papal Pilgrimage

I am back in the Glenmary Vocation office and still trying to get caught up on everything from last week, prepare for the upcoming events and somehow reflect on what just happened. This past week I was in Philadelphia at the World Meeting of Families to promote Glenmary Vocations. I did not get to experience much of the weeklong conference outside of the exhibit hall as I was tied to the booth almost everyday to welcome all of the conference attendees. We had great success and met with so many new "friends of Glenmary who are interested in the Mission Ministry we do in Mission Land USA. Thank you everyone who stopped by to talk with us.
Over the weekend I met up with a Glenmary priest, Fr. Vic subb who brought a group of 47 pilgrims from his missions in Tennessee to see Pope Francis and attend the papal Mass on Sunday. The enthusiasm amongst the pilgrims was wonderful. For all of them, like me, this was our first opportunity to see not just the Pope but a Pope. Sunday morning we made our way into town and managed to get through the security perimeter in time to greet Francis as he cruised by in his PopeMobile.
In his homily he reminded me of the need to generously share my faith with others through those small acts of kindness which Pope Francis called little miracles. He said, "Jesus tells us not to hold back these little miracles. Instead, he wants us to encourage them, to spread them. He asks us to go through life, our everyday life, encouraging all these little signs of love as signs of his own living and active presence in our world." A good reflection for me each day to ask myself if I shared or held back these little miracles.
But my favorite moment of the weekend was hearing Pope Francis asking the crowd to please pray for him. and then saying "don't forget." Let us remember to continue to pray for our Holy Father as he is praying for each one of us.