Last month Pope Francis visited the U.S. for the first time, and people across the country came to get glimpse of his holiness. Siena Heights’ own Father John Grace traveled with a group from the New Life Center in Flint to Washington, D.C.

New Life Center members organized the trip for the group and have been working for a long time with women, literacy programs, employment opportunities and just stabilizing the community and neighborhood they were saving. Fr. John said he has known them for seven years and was thrilled to join them on what he calls their “pilgrimage and retreat with a backdrop of the pope’s visit.”

“We were on Constitution Avenue with all the crowds, which was a lot of fun,” Father John said. “It was really enjoyable, perfect weather, and just everyone was in a great mood. Interesting point: I am tall, so I got down there and I was by myself. I was going to meet up with them, and in the throngs of tens of thousands of people there going through the security in literally thousands of people around me I hear this, ‘Father John! Father John!’ ”

That person was McKenzie Bryant a student from Siena Heights, who was there with her own group. And she was not the only familiar face Father John encountered.

One thing that stood out to Fr. John was the amount of people attempting to get the perfect picture of the pope. He said how the people were focusing on preserving a moment that they were not even experiencing because they were too busy lining up the camera.

“You really saw that (as) Americans, we are a celebrity culture,” he said. “I mean, I was really struck by the idea that everyone was trying to get as close as they could to get the perfect shot. Here we are chasing a celebrity, somebody very important, who keeps turning around and telling us to pray for him. Which is the pope’s code language of ‘No, I need your prayers, I can’t do this by myself.’ ”

Even though there were people there with picket signs against the pope, the positivity outweighed those against the event, he said.

“I really appreciated the mix of people,” Father John said. “I mean, a lot people were not Catholic. It was the same kind of thing where people were talking about hope. The pope even said this to the bishops in Philadelphia: We are always complaining about how life is not the way it used to be, and the good old days. And he says that’s not where should be orienting ourselves. There’s always been problems. Trust what you believe in and share what you believe in and bring good to the world.”

“Even that prayer piece (that) he said at the very end, ‘Pray for me. If you’re not a believer and you don’t pray, well, at least send good wishes, and that will be enough.’ ”

Father John continued about his experience.

“A person in our group who is not believing in anything, she was in tears,” he said. “She said, ‘I’ve been included. Even in my unbelief.’ That is a really wonderful send off right there. The pope doesn’t have to be less Catholic to do that, that’s the whole integrity thing.”

“It was absolutely just a delightful time,” he said. “It’s a great reminder. It’s a pause in the normal run around life to go, ‘Yeah, I needed to hear that.’ ”