Dear 1036: Love Made Real

Dearly Beloved 1036 Clarence,

It was a memorable day on the afternoon of Sunday, September 27, 2015.  I was in the back room watching live coverage of the World Meeting of Families Concluding Mass in Philadelphia.  I had watched live coverage of other parts of his Apostolic Journey in the USA, including his speech to Congress, and then his ride through Manhattan to St. Patrick's Cathedral, with crowds cheering, and Cardinal Dolan beaming as he sat behind Pope Francis in the Popemobile.

I spent probably close to 2 hours watching the Mass on that Sunday.  It was awesome to participate in this Mass through the television along with the crowd of near a million people gathered along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and probably many more watching it live like me.

While I was watching it, Mom came into the back room. I was glad to pray the Lord's Prayer with her when Mass reached that point.

The music was uplifting, offered in a reverent way to lift up our praises to God, particularly the music in Latin.  The 2015 World Meeting of Families theme song had great lyrics about being together as family, drawing from the presence of Incarnate Love.

In his homily, Pope Francis said, "Love is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home. Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love. That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to grow in faith. 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."

God was truly present in so many ways throughout the many years I was living in you. I recognize how real it was through the loving gestures we shared as family.

One of those gestures was seeing the appearance of taffy apples in the kitchen when it was autumntime, which was a great treat from the grocery store.

I felt a powerful boost of morale reconnecting with that love during a weekend 17 years ago this month during my first month of college.  I saw one of my friends leave for a weekend home, and it stirred something in me to do the same.  So in the latter half of the day on September 19, I rode the South Shore Line back.  I was overjoyed to sit down to dinner with Mom and Dad that evening, followed by a night in my own bed.

My heart is still stirred as I joyfully recall these memories of love.

So I declare that you shall not fade into the background, but remain deep in my heart as that dearly beloved place.

And we shall remain ever connected:

All my relations.

With gratitude, gladness, and joy,

God's blessings,

Paul