By Tim Devine
Taken From Companions of the Cross newsletter, Fall Issue 1998.

On the third week of June this year, my good friend D'Arcy Dufresne and I went on a "Roman Holiday". we Stayed at the Canadian Pontifical College where Fr. Mark Slatter is studying. I certainly reaped the benefits of having connections in the community. He was a great host. Needless to say, the accommodations were fantastic. D'Arcy and I each had our own room with a bathroom. My room had a balcony where I practiced pronouncing several amateur dogmas to the people of Rome.

D'Arcy went sightseeing and I, due to my low vision, went sound hearing and text touching. The echoes in the church were marvellous; the water in the fountains sang pretty melodies and the traffic buzzed in my ears as though I were inside a honeycomb. The ancient ruins felt crumbly, as could be expected; the foot of the statue of St. Peter felt extremely smooth from the millions of lips that kissed it and the bust of Pope John Paul II inside the Vatican enabled me to feel what he looks like. It must have been a strange sight to see a Canadian tourist excitedly caressing the bronze bust of His Holiness. He's got big ears. I suppose they help him hear the Lord with greater accuracy in these times of ours.  However, despite all these great sounds and textures, the best, without a doubt, was the sound of the Holy Father's voice as he blessed me in my native language of English and when I held his hand and kissed his ring.

I like to tell people that with my cane, I'm able. During the Pope's general audiences on Wednesday mornings he invites all newlywed couples and anyone suffering from illness or a disability to sit at the front during his catechesis. To top it off, he also invites them to have a photo audience with him immediately afterwards. All I had to do was flash my cane as though it were a badge and before I knew it, D'Arcy and I were being escorted by the Swiss Guard up the steps of St. Peter's Basilica to the front row. It was a beautiful sunny morning and while D'Arcy and I prayed the rosary in anticipation of the audience, I was overwhelmed by the graciousness of my Heavenly family.

I will always be thankful to our Lord and our Lady for my trip to Rome. Even though my encounter was brief, I will forever find it to be a source of strength and encouragement as I continue this pilgrimage towards eternity.  I pray that as you look upon the picture of our meeting, you will see a loving father who identifies himself with the sick, suffering, and disabled; a man who loves both you and me as his own children.  Let us always follow the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, as our Holy Father Pope John Paul II shows us in these times of ours.

"You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it" (Mt 16:18).