Jack Rosenthal awoke yesterday in a panic. The 16-year-old had overslept, missing the bus to Washington for an event with great historical and spiritual significance to him - Pope Benedict XVI's first Mass in the U.S. as pontiff.
The teen's father rushed him from their Harford County home to Greenbelt to ride the Metro to Nationals Park. The lanky Calvert Hall College student hurried through the security checkpoints and joined tens of thousands of other Catholics gathered in prayer.
That's when he felt the anxiety ebb and a sense of the sacred wash over him.
"I just had chills the entire time," said Jack, a member of St. John the Evangelist in Hydes. "Hearing Pope Benedict speak directly to us, seeing all the people praying together and knowing that we're the future of the church - it's our time to step up."
About 2,500 people from the Baltimore Archdiocese joined in yesterday's exuberant liturgy, singing boisterous hymns and joining in shouts of "Viva il Papa."
Several Marylanders participated in the Mass, including students at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg and Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Hyattsville who served as deacons, and families chosen to bring the bread and wine to the altar to be consecrated.
At the appearance of the popemobile, the congregation of about 45,000 roared. The smiling pontiff took a slow lap around the ball field to greet the faithful, many of whom waved Vatican flags.
In his homily, he spoke of the area's rich Catholic history.
"Our Mass today brings the church in the United States to its roots in nearby Maryland," Pope Benedict said, referring to the Catholic faith of the colony's founder, Lord Baltimore.
"The church in America can rightfully praise the accomplishment of past generations in bringing together widely differing immigrant groups within the unity of the Catholic faith and in a common commitment to the spread of the Gospel," he said.
Joining him around the altar in center field were Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien and his three auxiliary bishops, and Cardinal William H. Keeler and retired Bishop William C. Newman.
Many local Catholics traveled to the Mass on the MARC train or in rented buses. Members of Jack Rosenthal's congregation met at the Mountain Road Park and Ride on I-95 in Harford County at 5:30 a.m.
