I was ordained a transitional deacon at the Altar of the Chair in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome in 1986. My mother and father made the trip to Rome to be with me for the celebration and we had a memorable week together.  The day before the ordination, the custom was for the deacon candidates and their families to attend the papal audience held each Wednesday in Saint Peter’s Square.  Saint Pope John Paul II was the pope we went to see and hear.

The custom at the audience is that the Holy Father does spend some time greeting the gathered crowd. We had all been packed in a section fairly close to the platform the Holy Father spoke from. The deacon candidates were lined up two deep on the rails about forty feet from the Saint.

When it came time for the meet and greet, most of the deacons in the front row stepped back to allow their mothers to come to the rail and reach out and touch the pope’s hand. My mother joined that throng and was pushing her way up front until I tapped on my mom’s shoulder and sternly cautioned her against pushing and shoving to get to get in
front. As soon as I did this, I regretted it. I had made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I prevented my mom from her one chance of shaking the Holy Father’s hand. I was as bad as the apostles who wouldn’t let the children have access to Christ out of their concern for propriety, their impatience, and their lack of generosity.

I apologized immediately, and quite frequently since them, and she forgave me and even apologized for embarrassing me, but I have never forgotten this experience.

So the point of this post is not to talk about Vatican crowd control. It’s to talk about the weekly Wednesday audiences that continue to this day, now by Pope Francis. I don’t know how many folks are aware of the importance of these audiences. Saint Pope John Paul II used these audiences to  deliver a monumental catechesis on family, love, marriage, morality, and a host of other topics that the Church has ever received.

The tradition of masterful catechesis has continued through the pontificates of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. On Wednesday, June 16, Pope Francis completed a year-long catechesis on prayer. People ask me how I managed during the pandemic. Well, there are a lot of things that made the difference in my life when so many of the familiar and reliable
sources of strength were not available. All in all, it was the steady grace of the Holy Father’s wise and compassionate teaching on prayer that was most significant.

On Wednesday, June 23, Pope Francis began a new series of teaching on themes from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. I am delighted that modern communication technology allows me once again to have a ring side seat to the audience which is livestreamed each Wednesday.  I typically use the Vatican news site as my stop for papal information. The  main Vatican web site  hosts all his talks and translations.  This one is the home on the news site for audiences and is most helpful. 

Each audience has a special nugget of wisdom that seems the perfect answer to some problem I am working on. Seriously. What could be a better source of perspective for a priest taking a new assignment than reflecting on the missionary journeys of Paul?
I invite everyone to follow the papal audiences. Pope Francis’s teachings are remarkable in clarity and conciseness. They are also practical guides for the daily living of the faith. We may not be able to reach out and touch the Holy Father, but we can allow the grace of his teaching to touch us in the power of the Holy Spirit.