(ANS - New York) – Pope Francis celebrated Mass before 20,000 faithful at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a sports arena, capping his two-day visit to the city. Participants had to dedicate many hours to the event due to travel and security requirements, in addition to the liturgy itself (a 9- or 10-hour investment by the SDBs from New Rochelle and Port Chester, for instance).

By Fr Mike Mendl, SDB

Among those worshiping were 5 cardinals, 2 apostolic nuncios, almost 40 bishops, and several hundred diocesan and religious priests, including SDBs from 3 communities. Also present was Brother Salvatore Sammarco, SDB, who led the team of day laborers that made the Pope’s chair for the Mass. Some of the linens for the Mass were made by a group of women from the Salesian parish of Corpus Christi in Port Chester, N.Y. The Holy Father was received most enthusiastically by everyone.

The Pope’s homily, based on a prophecy of Isaiah, stressed that Christ is the light of the world. He said: “‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.’ One special quality of God’s people is their ability to see, to contemplate, even in ‘moments of darkness,’ the light which Christ brings. God’s faithful people can see, discern and contemplate his living presence in the midst of life, in the midst of the city.” He urged the people who have seen Christ’s light to make strangers and the poor welcome in their city. He urged the faithful “to go out and meet others where they really are, not where we think they should be. Go out, again and again, go out without fear, without hesitation. Go out and proclaim this joy which is for all the people.” They should go out and make known the Father’s mercy; they should be “like yeast in the dough.”

In addition to the Mass, Pope Francis’s visit to New York included a Solemn Vespers service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with clergy and religious; an address to the U.N. general assembly; a prayer service at Ground Zero (site of the 9/11 attacks); a visit to a Catholic school in a low-income neighborhood; and a motorcade through Central Park that gave some 80,000 New Yorkers a chance to see the Holy Father.

Published 28/9/2015