Early Tuesday morning, we met with a group of 400,000 youths and their chaperones marching from the Arch to the Papal Plaza in front of the Kiel Center. The number of Catholics and their love of the faith really impressed me. I was proud to be a part of this enthusiastic group. There were so many of us it took two hours for the group to all reach the Plaza, only fourteen blocks away. Amid all the Catholic youths singing and chanting about their faith, I was, however, surprised to see anti-Catholics who felt it was their duty to warn us of our eternal damnation. When one these "street evangelists" was heard preaching from the steps of the city hall, a group of boys from Wichita, Kansas, responded by yelling, "Go Catholics!"

Since we didn`t have tickets for the rally inside the Kiel Center, we remained in the Papal Plaza, watching the happenings on one of the three movie size screens and listening to many bands and speakers on the outdoor stage. At 1:02, the Pope arrived at Lambert Airport. We watched as President Clinton welcomed him. I wondered then how our president felt to be in the presence of such holiness. After watching the pope and the president, we left the Papal Plaza to go back to our room at the hotel. There we watched the youth rally and anxiously awaited the Pope`s arrival in the Kiel Center. The reaction of the crowd when he arrived was incredible and his talk was the most inspiring speech I have ever heard. Only a man so filled with the Holy Spirit could mesmerize over 21,000 youths, plus countless numbers who were watching like us. His speech was only interrupted by cheers of love, such as "J.P. II, we love you" and "Viva Il Papa."

Wednesday morning we left our hotel room to join throngs of people making their way to the Trans World Dome/America`s Center. From blocks away we could see the crowds formed around the building. We joined a group to proceed through the doors and metal detectors. We were in our seats by 7:30 A.M., the designated time, prepared to wait two more hours for mass to begin. Before mass, the pope toured the center in his popemobile. We stood on our chairs to catch a closer glimpse as he came by. This was the closest we were to His Holiness-about ten feet away.

The mass was the most memorable I have ever experienced-over two hours long with people of every race and culture participating. Although there were over 1,000 priests and 250 cardinals and bishops concelebrating, our pope perfomed almost the entire mass himself. He even gave a homily about the importance of family. His theme was "as goes the family, so goes the nation." A very unusual part of the mass was the distribution of Holy Communion. Volunteers holding white and yellow umbrellas ushered the concelebrating priests to places throughout the center where they gave communion to the faithful. The entire process took only twenty minutes-amazing considering there were over 130,000 people there.

At the conclusion of the mass (about 12:30), we left, uplifted by the total experience. I am now challenged to be as Pope John Paul said "a light of the world." I will find strength in his words, "Christ is calling you, the Church needs you; the Pope believes in you, and he expects great things of you."

Do you want to learn more about the Pope?....If so click one of the links below...

-John Paul II in the Americas

-The official Vatican Web Site

-The Pope and Papacy