by Elizabeth Nisperos
 |
| This is how John Paul II signs his name on his official document |
 |
| John Paul II visited the Bay Area in 1987 |
Protected inside his popemobile, the Pope had a city tour around San Francisco Streets during the week . Vendors selling popcorn said, "Popecorn! Popecorn!" I got close to the popemobile, the Pope smiled & waved his hand at me. Resplendent in his white robe, the pope dazzled in light, something sparkling amidst particles of photons like a holy object would. I told myself, a sign of how holy people emanate light ; the way angels surround themselves with light when they appear to humans. Pope has an aura of spectacular light, oozing of love,calmness, peace, prayer.
The little miracle came when the Pope said mass in Candlestick. I arrived together with other parishioners in a bus ; I didn't bring any driver's license with me. My friend sister Bebs was a choir member singing that day. Sr. Bebs auditioned to be in the choir and was accepted by the committee. Being editor I went to the media room where the press are sitting. The press room had direct view of the Pope. However as I started to get inside the press room , there were two tall women who asked for my PRESS credentials. I said I didn't have any but I was editor of the Blue & Gold of the Archconfratenity of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. They said you can't be in the Press room unless you have Press credentials or badge. Then they asked me if I'd any other id like a driver's license. I didn't bring any id or driver's license. I wanted to write an article on the pope for a magazine, newsletter and plus my own Blue & Gold newsletter. Guess what , I didn't get in and I was left standing alone in the hallway.
God sensed that I really wanted to write about the Pope. This was indelibly written in my memory.
When a door closes, God opens a window but if the window is still closed. GOD sends in a SECRET SERVICE AGENT. Feeling like a reject, I was left standing on the hallway, outside the Press Room. In a few minutes, a man in black suit with a badge holding a walkie-talkie on his hand shouted at me,"WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING OUTSIDE THIS HALL? WE'RE DOING SECURITY, ON AIR , ON GROUND, INSIDE THIS BUILDING?"
He stared at me, "EVERYONE AT THIS TIME SHOULD BE SEATED DOWN BEFORE THE POPE APPEARS ." The Pope was about to appear in three to five minutes anytime to say mass on the grounds of Candlestick
He escorted me inside the Press Room and said to me, "Sit down and take a seat." The two women who didn't want to let me in look puzzled from afar and thought , "That lady whom we turned away must be really important.Look she's being escorted in by a Secret Service Agent." What they didn't know was the Secret Service Agent was doing a security check on halls and as he said, "Nobody should be standing around in the hallways. Take a seat and sit down." The Press Room guards couldn't turn away a Secret Service Agent. When Pope John Paul appeared, the crowd chanted , "JOHN PAUL II, WE LOVE YOU!"
The outcome : I was able to write a one page and a half page article at Phil News(Alex Esclamado editor & Ed Diokno features editor).Yeah, almost two pages about the Pope. I'd previously written to the Pope about a message for my Blue & Gold and I received his message on Christmas "DEUS CARITAS EST" (God is Love) and a postcard signed not as John Paul II but as Joannes Paulus II.
I also incorporated his message in the Blue & Gold for parishioners ,Archconfratentity Members .
Sr Iluminada Bite taught the Legion of Mary how to sing "Totus Tuus"(Totally Yours) the Pope's motto. Even up to now I know how to hum , "Totuus Tuus Ego Sum, Regina Mea Mea Mater". This is Marian loyalty and fidelity.
The article,postcard, the Pope mass booklet are in the attic box somewhere. I'd to search for them one of these days. I prayed to saints who were dead for a long time. Pope John Paul II was a personal experience = seeing and writing about a Pope who became a saint.
