Eyes

I lined up with about 100 others.
It was a gray windy day.
I wished I had worn a heavier jacket.

We began.
Hymns, prayers, and pauses floated across the parking lot.
The statue stood far away, regal in the float of roses and lilies.

A procession in honor of Mary on Mother's Day.
It is a beautiful tradition at St. Peter's Church.
We shivered in the unusual chill.

She bought me a Mother's Day corsage.
She wanted to support the youth's fundraiser.
Her eyes said, "I'm worried for my grandma because grandpa is in his last days."

He held Genevieve, his six-month old daughter.
He told me about the stitches on the baby's eyebrow.
His eyes said, "I want more children."

She checked her iPhone.
Lunch was late.
Her eyes said, "What kind of place is there for me in the Church?"

My eyes are not my own.
It is the stories, the dreams, the wonderings persons have imparted to me.
"I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart."

John XXIII said that.

When John XXIII was elected Pope, he was 76.
Many considered him to be a "caretaker pope" because of his advanced age.
They did not expect him to do much.

It had been usual for popes to dine alone.
After a week, John XXIII declared that he found nothing in Scripture or Canon Law which required this tradition. From now on, he shall have friends when the mood was upon him.

He horrified Vatican and Italian officials by visiting hospitals and nursing homes, alone and unannounced. One Christmas, he wanted to visit Rome's prison. One of his aides said there was no such protocol for such things. He replied, "Well, make some!"

Today, people could pray the Mass in the vernacular.
Today, we don't assume people go to hell because they're not Catholic.
Today, I know God can find me. Anywhere.

Well, it was always true that God can find me. Anywhere.
And the other two things were always true too.
We just forgot.
For 1000 years.

And John XXIII reminded us when he opened the Second Vatican Council.
A lot of the bishops didn't like a church council.
They thought it was an old man's whims.

It was his eyes.
He saw.
He placed his heart near our hearts.

I looked up at Mary as we ended the procession.
I looked up into her eyes.
I placed my heart near her heart.


p.s. Photo from http://www.twoheartsdesign.com/images/clipart/catholic/ourlady/images/bvm_013.gif

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