February 17, 2018

Reflections From the Vatican

There was a woman who came up to me while I was about to caffeinate at the McDonald’s here on Borgo Pio. I had seen her before, from a block or two away. She wears duct-taped garbage bags either as her shoes or over her shoes.

There was a woman one recent morning who came up to me while I was about to caffeinate at the McDonald’s here on Borgo Pio. I had seen her before, from a block or two away. She wears duct-taped garbage bags either as her shoes or over her shoes. Despite her ad-hoc footwear, she had a confidence about her as she came up to the self-ordering kiosk and asked for food, motioning that she was hungry. I asked her in a mix of near-nonexistent Italian, hand motions and facial expressions what she’d like. Sixteen euros later, she said “thank you” — more than once — in English. A few minutes later, after starting to collect her nourishment, she asked me — again in English, noticing I hadn’t ordered yet (I was making sure she was settled) — “Are you hungry?”

I realized that I was, but not for anything McDonald’s had on the menu. How many times do we look past people? How many times do we take for granted what we have, what we’re given? I didn’t do much that morning, but I received a lot.

My first meeting of the day after Mass had been delayed, which was the only reason I found myself in McDonald’s. The meeting was with Paul Badde, a journalist (described as a poet or mystic by some), who begins every day with a colleague praying the Rosary outside of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Just meeting Badde, I got the sense of looking past this world into a promise of something greater; but a promise that can be redeemed right here and right now if we know how to do it. Like the woman at McDonald’s, there’s something about Badde’s confidence — it betrays a joy. A perplexing joy, obvious in the case of a woman who spends her day begging, obvious maybe, too, in a man who will talk about a crisis of faith among people everywhere, some in the highest ranks of the Church. Keep praying, is his answer to most questions — he has a particularly intense devotion to Mary, because she helped him know Jesus better.

Inside St. Peter’s, outside on the square and down the Villa Della Conciliazione, I’ve watched for the last few days tourists seemingly unaware that St. Peter’s bones reside here, that he was martyred here, that some courageous men of history — John Paul II comes to mind — rest here. But then, who am I to judge selfie-sticks and phone calls made inside the basilica? As I watch young African men trying to sell wooden trays, their full backpacks seem to betray their (lack of) success. (I’ve yet to see a sale made, and am determined to have cash as I head out for my next meeting.) Unlike Badde and my sister at McDonald’s, so many of these people look like they may be feeling lost in the crowd, literally and metaphorically. It’s hard not to pray that something here touches them. It’s often asked why the Church doesn’t sell its art. The answer is: Because people need the beauty — they need to see a mother holding her son in her arms, as Michelangelo made for us with his “Pieta.”

As I’ve been here, the school shooting in Florida happened. I keep thinking about how it was carried out by a boy, really — one not much younger than these men I see selling the trays, some of the young people I’ve seen on field trips. While I’ve been over here, too, a reader emailed me about a young man at a school where she teaches who took his own life. We simply can’t let these things happen anymore. And it’s not going to be a law that makes the change. It’s going to be love and the recognition that we are all beings made by the same creator.

COPYRIGHT 2018 United Feature Syndicate

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.