This pilgrimage was an incredible blessing! We prayed for you, our family and friends at the shrine of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. One of my great joys as a Sacred Heart Sister is the work we do with families, so it was wonderful to see all the families that were present and to experience the beautiful way in which family values were being promoted and lived. We had a beautiful booth at the Philadelphia Convention Center (pictured), thanks to David & Chery Lim. On Saturday, we waited by a gate so we could get a good view of Pope Francis when he drove by; with great excitement and joy we waved at him. For the Papal Mass, we had settled in front of a “Jumbo-Tron” screen to watch Mass being celebrated. God had other plans though, and through the generosity of others, all of us were able to ‘move up’ into the seated area and be present as Pope Francis celebrated Mass. What an incredible gift!
I was greatly touched by Pope Francis’ obvious love for family life. I leave you with his words from the Festival of Families: “Families have a citizenship that is divine. The identity card that they have is given to them by God so that within the heart of the family truth, goodness and beauty can truly grow.” – Sister Laura Bradford