-I’m in Granbury, Texas to lead a YouthLeader training week for the Diocese of Fort Worth.  It feels good to be back in Texas – the last time I was here I spoke at the Archdiocesan Youth Conference for Galveston-Houston.

-How are my kids different and how are they alike? That’s what we tossed around recently.

-Here’s Sean and his friends performing “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers at his school talent show last month.

-You can follow me on Twitter, find me on Facebook, and/or see my videos on YouTube.

We walked to a nearby sushi restaurant for a quick bite.  In between bites of our salmon rolls and sips of our miso soups, we got talking about the differences between Sean, Jacob, and Kayla.  The answers ranged from the serious to the hilarious, the rational to the ludicrous.  Among them: Sean is the athletic one, Jacob is the creative one, and Kayla is the sweet (and stubborn one).

After a few laughs, I said something to the effect of: “Okay, that’s how you are different.  Now, how are you the same? What are the traits of an Imoo kid?”

Jake immediately replied: “We’re good-looking.  And smart too.”

I noticed he didn’t answer with “humble”.

Sean and his friends Theo, Joshua, Justin (along with music teacher Mr. Kelly) perform “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers at the St. Paul School Talent Show on Friday, May 24.

Sean sings, chants, and plays a mean cajon.

http://www.twitter.com/claytonimoo

Here is the text of my address to the congregation attending the 5pm Mass at St. Paul’s on Saturday, May 25.  Parishioners are giving quick testimonies at all the Masses this weekend as part of our stewardship initiative.

Hi everyone, my name is Clayton Imoo and I currently serve as the Director of the Parish Religious Education Program here at St. Paul Parish.  My lovely wife Gail is a grade 2 teacher at St. Paul School and she was the one who introduced me to Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church when I met her back in 1989.  Together we have Sean Isaiah who is in grade 6, Jacob Isaac in grade 4, and Kayla Marie who is in kindergarten.  My full-time job for the past 10 years has been as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Vancouver, and prior to that I was the parish youth ministry coordinator here.

I received the Sacraments of Initiation at this very church 20 years ago at the Easter Vigil and since then I’ve been blessed to encounter and experience the amazing love of God time and time again at this parish.  I love this parish because it is a main conduit to share God’s love for me with others: through what I do, through what I say, and most importantly, through who I am.  Put simply: St. Paul Parish is a huge part of my life.

And it’s in the community of believers here that I find my closest friends.  I find spiritual mentors and role models.  I find the teachers, learners, and the playmates of my children.  I find people who lead me, and I find people to lead.  All of these people collectively contribute to who I am.

I believe in young people.  It’s an incomparable feeling when you see a young person do something special all in the name of God.  In my work for the archdiocese, I’ve seen countless older teens and young adults from this parish step up and lead at archdiocesan events.  I was inspired when I witnessed 60 children receive Jesus for the first time at this very Mass 2 weeks ago.  And I was blown away by the talent displayed over in the gym last night at the school talent show.

Many of you are aware that I was blessed to go Rome in March to attend the inauguration Mass for Pope Francis as part of the Canadian delegation travelling with the Government of Canada.  I wouldn’t say at all that I “earned” or “deserved” the invitation – rather I was blessed to be “noticed” for the work that we are doing collectively here in the Archdiocese of Vancouver.  The people here at this parish continue to play an instrumental role in my formation…a process that started way back in my days at RCIA.

I choose to give to Project Advance and our new church building fund because I want future generations of young people to continue to have opportunities to grow in their faith, and in turn inspire young and old alike.

To quickly update you on our financial picture, we have saved $320,000 so far this calendar year, which brings our savings to just over $3 million total.  We are more than a year into our current three-year plan, and are targeting $1,500,000 saved for this year so we can hire an architect in 2015.

Also, for this weekend, we have produced a flyer with some really great ideas on how we can give of ourselves, and you will also be able to read some wonderful testimonies from a few of your fellow Parishioners on the backside. We have volunteers at the doors ready to hand these flyers out after Mass; please be sure to get one.

In conclusion, my testimony is simple: I am a husband and a father.  I am a believer in God, follower of Jesus, and dweller in the Holy Spirit.  And may I never forget these priorities of faith and family.

Because when it’s my turn at the pearly gates, they won’t ask me: How many kids were registered for PREP?  How many teens came to your youth rallies?  How many friends do you have on Facebook or followers do you have on Twitter?

Instead, I will be asked:  “The 4 people at home that you were given to love:  do they know who Jesus is?   Do they know what it means to love others as God loves them?”

May my answer be a resounding YES!

Thank you and God bless you.

Upon receiving the CD, I immediately popped it into my computer and listened to it on repeat throughout my work day. It is a wonderful collection of songs, each one with its own unique style and feel.  There’s a bit for everyone: some pop, some folk, some soul and some worship.  And over-arching the entire CD is the theme of God’s love and power – you can really sense Renee’s love for God and devotion to her faith.  Have a listen to the entire CD here.

However, even more touching than the music was the simple hand-written note that Renee included in the package.  With her permission, I am posting it below:

Without getting into too much of the back story, the simple version is that Renee served with my good friend Andrea as part of the youth ministry at St. Matthew’s Parish in the early 2000s and Andrea and her team (including Renee) were involved in the planning of Youth Day 2001.

Thus, I was moved to read that that simple invitation was a catalyst in a life-changing summer for Renee – one that reaffirmed her belief in God and her faithfulness to the Catholic Church.  Now, a dozen years later, Renee is not only involved in her parish but also following her dream to be a professional musician and music instructor all while giving glory to God through her music.

This is why we do what we do in youth ministry. 

This is why we lead.  Why we encourage.  Why we affirm.  Why we challenge.  Why we cheerlead.  Why we advocate.

This is why we spend time praying for the young people we shepherd.  Why we put hours into planning our parish youth ministry gatherings or archdiocesan events.  Why we get so excited when we see a young person step outside of her comfort zone in the name of the Lord.  And why we get so hurt when we see a young person suffer or endure disappointment.

We do this to make a difference.

We do this to make an impact in the lives of young people.

We do this not to lead young people closer to ourselves.

We do this to point young people toward God and to lead them into an encounter with Him so that they may feel his awesome love.

So to everyone involved in youth ministry – whether you’re a parish youth ministry coordinator, core team member, volunteer, parent, teacher, campus minister, chaplain, priest, sister, religious, driver, or the person who cleans up after our mess:  thanks for who you are and for all you do.

YOU make a difference.

The Vancouver Canucks are down 3 games to zero to the San Jose Sharks in their first-round NHL playoff match-up.  As they try to stave off elimination in this must-win game, I turned to my kids for their predictions.

Sean and Kayla are optimistic that the Canucks will still make this a competitive series, and they pulled out every sports cliche possible in expressing their optimism.

Meanwhile, Jacob took a more cynical approach as he worked in a few cliches and a bunch of thought-provoking questions regarding the Canucks’ future.

http://www.canuckshockeyblog.com

http://www.twitter.com/canuckclay

Here are a few important things to remember when it comes to doing good relational ministry with young people:

• Youth cannot be evangelized without a relationship
• Focus on people, not programs
• Be interested in souls, not attendance
• There isn’t one correct relational style: God wants you to use the personality that he has given you to reach out to young people
• The heart of relational ministry doesn’t change, but opportunity and location do

And most importantly: young people won’t care how much we know until they know how much we care.

Here’s the official promo for Youth Day 2011 – our annual rally for high school teens presented by the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

Youth Day will be held on Saturday, May 4 at Archbishop Carney Regional Secondary School in Port Coquitlam.

Youth Day will feature Mike Patin as the keynote speaker and the Jacob and Matthew Band as the musical guests.

For more info, visit http://www.oyyam.com

Aside from “How was the Mass of Inauguration for Pope Francis?” the next most common question I’ve been asked is “How were you chosen to go?”  While being careful not to say something I’m not supposed to, I can tell you this much:  I was nominated by someone from Ontario whom I respect very much.  He was among a group of three people who provided lists of 20 names or so.  Then, an employee from the Prime Minister’s office had to whittle the list from 60 people down to 14.  The final 14 were approved by the CCCB (Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops) and the rest – as they say – is history.

My gut feeling is that I kept “advancing” through each stage or filter because of a few factors:  I’m from BC, I’m Asian, I work with youth, and I’m good-looking (haha).  I wouldn’t say at all that I “earned” or “deserved” the invitation, rather I was blessed to be “noticed” for the work that we are doing collectively here in the Archdiocese of Vancouver.  I do know that they wanted to invite people who would be able to share and articulate their experiences upon returning home to their respective communities and spheres of influence.

So, without further ado, here are the Top 10 Things I Miss About Rome:

10.  Nametags galore.  The Governor General’s office provided me with a name tag for almost everything:  for gmy official credentials, for my suitcase, for my computer bag, for my camera bag, and even for my seat on the airplane. Too bad I took my airplane nametag with me after arriving in Rome as I was the only person without a placeholder on the airplane travelling back to Canada.

9.  Being called Mr. Imoo.  I was called “Mr. Imoo” by everyone from the Governor General’s office.  And here’s the kicker:  they pronounced it correctly every single time!  Given the way I was treated, they truly could have called me anything they wanted and I still would have been smiling profusely.

8.  Reserved seating.  Aside from the assigned seat (and entire row) on the Government of Canada airplane, we had reserved seats at the Inauguration Mass for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square just 30 rows from the altar on the right side.  Just as remarkable as our seats was the feeling entering St. Peter’s Square from beside the Basilica (as opposed to coming from the back or sides) as walking right next to the main steps to the altar as we made our way to our seats.

7.  Asking “What language is being spoken?”  This happened a few times during the Inauguration Mass, as prayers or readings were presented in English, Latin, Spanish, Greek, Russian, Arabic, French, Mandarin, Swahili, and of course, Italian.  It took me a few minutes to discover that Pope Francis was giving his homily in Italian.

6.  Asking “Can you translate for me?”  Related to #7, once I figured out what language was being spoken (and if there wasn’t a translation provided for me in the liturgy guide), I would ask my colleagues in the delegation to translate important points for me.  For example, the priest I was sitting next to at the Mass gave me a quick one-minute recap after Pope Francis was done his homily.  And I’m sure thankful that he did…as I took a media call a few hours later and they asked me what I thought about the homily!

5.  A sense of security.  Everywhere we went, we had security detail with us:  on the plane, on the streets, in our hotel, when we drove, and at the Mass itself.  The security extended back home as well: I was told that people in Ottawa were monitoring our tweets, Facebook pages, and blogs as a security precaution.  There’s a funny story behind this, but it’s not something I can disclose on a public blog.  Ask me in person if you want to know about it. :p

4.  The bidet.  Anyone who has been to my home in Richmond knows that each of our toilets is outfitted with a bidet.  It’s a nice luxury to have and it’s helped us cut down on our toilet paper consumption by over 50%.  So you can imagine my excitement when I saw the beautiful bidet in my hotel room bathroom.  I just had to be careful not to mix up the bidet with the toilet.  That wouldn’t have been a pretty sight.

3.  A bubble bath every night.  At the end of each day (and sometimes in the middle of it), I would sneak in a bubble bath.  For whatever reason – primarily the fact I’m a 38 year-old man – I don’t take a lot of bubble baths at home.  But, for whatever reason, I sought out opportunities to do so when I was in Rome.  In fact, the number of bubble baths I took almost outnumbered the hours of sleep I got.

2.  Our hotel.  I’ve already mentioned a couple of features:  the bidet and the bubble baths.  Our hotel was a 5-star property, almost palace-like.  It wasn’t lost on me that Pope Francis had urged some bishops (especially those in his home country of Argentina) to not bring delegations to Rome and instead donate the money to the poor.  However, I didn’t have much choice in the matter, and I wasn’t about to book separate accommodation.  Admittedly, I got over this hang up pretty quickly.  My only regret is that I didn’t take advantage of the comfortable bed: in the 60 hours I was in Rome, I slept for a total of 6 hours.

1.  The motorcade.  I don’t think words can do this element of the trip justice.  Immediately upon landing in Rome, we were whisked into Mercedes vans, SUVs, and busses to make our way to the hotel.  Led by Italian police (with lights flashing and sirens ringing), we proceeded to rip through the streets of Rome.  It was something you’d see in a movie or TV show and probably the most surreal part of the trip.  To this day, I still can’t believe we didn’t get into any accidents nor hit any pedestrians (Lord knows we came close).  Anytime we traveled, we did so via the motorcade.  It was especially helpful on the Tuesday morning we needed to get to St. Peter’s Square (along with what seemed like half of the people of Rome) for the Inauguration Mass.

Now if only I could arrange for something similar to navigate the busy streets of Richmond…

I went up for breakfast at 6:30am as usual and ate the same delicious food for the third straight day:  bacon, eggs, salami, ham, prosciutto, bread, and yogurt.  After breakfast I ran up to get my bags, said goodbye to the most beautiful hotel room I had ever stayed in, and took my spot on the bus to make our way to the airport.  This final ride in Rome was the first time that we did NOT travel in a police-led motorcade but it was a relatively quick ride nonetheless.

In making conversation while waiting in VIP lounge to board our plane, I discovered that I wasn’t supposed to remove my name card from the airplane on Sunday.  Thus, I was the only person in the entire delegation without a placeholder on the flight back to Vancouver.  I was relieved to find out that we were to sit on the same seat going home.

The conversation on the flight back was very lively and much more comfortable than on the way to Rome.  Obviously, spending the last 60 hours together helped with that.  I had a wonderful chat with His Excellency Governor General David Johnston and I thanked him repeatedly for having me on the trip.  We were able to share stories about our families, our interests and our experiences.

After less than three hours in the air, we had to make a quick stop in Glasgow, Scotland.  It turns out that the runway in Rome was so short that the 757 couldn’t take off with a full tank of fuel.  Thus, we were able to do a bit of shopping in Scotland while the plane refueled.  I bought this:

Seven hours later we touched down in Ottawa at just after 4pm.  We said our goodbyes, exchanged business cards, and took our last pictures.  After everyone else in our delegation had left, I washed up a bit and changed into a suit while waiting for Ted to pick me up at 5pm.  As I looked around the empty VIP lounge, I remarked that it felt like the end of a parish youth ministry function and I was the last youth to be picked up.

Ted and I made our way to the archdiocesan pastoral centre to kill a bit of time before the evening function:  the annual “Meet the Movement” event for Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO).  We arrived to the venue just after 6pm much to the surprise of many of the CCO staff members.  Turns out only a few people on the event organizing committee knew that I would be attending. For those who didn’t, some of them knew I was just in Rome while others were wondering what I was doing in Ottawa.

The evening provided a wonderful opportunity for me to catch up with old friends and make a lot of new ones.  In fact, it felt very much like a family reunion as I hadn’t seen many of the CCO staff members in years. During conversations, I was able to share some stories from my trip to anyone who would listen.  At the same time, I was able to learn a bit about what CCO is doing in Ottawa and I was happy to support such a worthwhile movement.

We got back to Ted’s at 10:30pm and I settled in for what I hoped would be a good night’s sleep.   Sure enough, I matched my Rome total with a good six hours of shut-eye (I got some good sleep on the flight of course).  I joined Ted’s lovely wife Teresa and their four daughters for breakfast including the three year-old daughter that I had scared the you-know-what out of just a few days prior.  Thankfully, we made fast friends over the morning.  :p

I took Ted and Teresa out to lunch to thank them for their generosity and hospitality before going to the airport.  A couple of flights later, I was home from Rome just before midnite.  I was thrilled to see Gail and Sean in the van (Kayla was already asleep at home where my mom was).

“Where’s Jacob?” I asked.

“Oh, he’s sleeping over at a friend’s house.”

Glad he was so excited to welcome his dad home.  Despite all the transformation that I had experienced on my trip, it was somewhat comforting to know that some things had remained the same.

As well, here are all of the daily blogs from my trip:

• Days 5 & 6: Home from Rome
• Day 4: Reflections on Pope Francis’ Mass of Inauguration: Inside and Atop St. Peter’s Square
• Day 3: My First Time at St. Peter’s Square and the Best Receiving Line Ever
• Day 2: Rome Sweet Rome
• Day 1: The Invitation of a Lifetime

So blessed to be here

I only got one hour of sleep heading into the day as I was very excited to attend the Mass of Inauguration for Pope Francis; after all that was the whole purpose of this extraordinary trip.  We had breakfast once again in our rooftop restaurant and were very encouraged by sun shining gloriously.  Much of our table discussion was centered on whether or not to bring a jacket and/or umbrella

We met at 8am in hotel lobby and took a group picture with the entire delegation.  It was quite an honour to be in the same picture as the Governor General and his wife, Members of Parliament, a Senator (government official not hockey player), and more.  What made it even more special was the fact they used my camera as the official photographer had already left for St. Peter’s Square.

We left the hotel at 8:30am in our motorcade – riding in the motorcade was quickly becoming one of my favourite aspects of the trip.  This particular trip was probably the craziest one because of the combo of how busy the streets are and how crazy our driver was.  Many times during the trip I would cover my eyes or brace myself in my seat – or sometimes both – as we literally would come within inches of running people over or hitting other vehicles.  Then, after about 15 minutes of battling traffic, the traffic parted like the Red Sea and we had a clear path to St. Peter’s Square.

We unloaded our bus at a back entrance and waited there for our tickets and instructions for a few minutes.  We saw many different cardinals and bishops arrive including Cardinal Turkson on Ghana and Cardinal O’Malley of America.  After receiving our tickets, we were quickly ushered towards the Square to take our seats.

We entered the Square from the “front” and words can’t really properly surmise the experience.  As we walked in, the altar was on our left; thus the “upper level” was buzzing with all of the dignitaries taking their seats.  We walked along the front of the audience in making our way to our seats and it was a surreal visual seeing hundreds of thousands of people there for the Mass.  And we got to sit in front of 99% of them. :p

We found seats on the right side about 75 meters from the altar and I quickly sent a text home to a few people to show-off…er…share the good news about our good seats.  In the midst of me sending the text, a certain vehicle entered the Square from the back: Pope Francis was making his way through the crowd.  Caught unprepared, I quickly retrieved my camera and started to snap away.  In hindsight, I wish that I had my longer lens attached but I didn’t want to risk missing the moment completely.  Thankfully, the pictures turned out well enough.

Pope Francis enters St. Peter's Square

Prior to the Mass, Pope Francis received both his pallium and fisherman’s ring.  Then, the Mass began and the liturgy guide became my best friend; without it I would have been rather lost.  While I understand the flow of the liturgy, the actual text of the songs and prayers would have been challenging for me.  The Mass was primarily in Latin, while certain Mass parts and readings were done in other languages including English, Spanish, Greek, Russian, Arabic, French, Mandarin, and Swahili.

Pope Francis did his homily in Italian so I didn’t understand any of it.  I remained observant and attentive and did my best to applaud and nod when everyone else did.  The priest I was sitting next to gave me a quick one-minute recap after Pope Francis was done.  Later on, the homily was transcribed on many websites such as here.  I was really struck by how easily Pope Francis compared the role of St. Joseph as protector of Mary and Jesus and the Church to our role as Catholics to protect Christ is our lives so that we can protect others such as the poorest, the weakest, and the least important among us.  Wow…powerful stuff there.

The distribution of communion was pretty efficient given the hundreds of thousands of people in attendance.  In our own section, we had to be creative by moving chairs around to ensure a proper flow of traffic.  Thankfully, our section went relatively quickly and I was able to spend quality time in prayer.  I offered up my own intentions as well as the many intentions that I brought from family and friends.  I was equally proud and blessed to be at the historic event representing Catholics and Canadians.

Prior to the final blessing, Pope Francis spent some time in the front of a statue of Mary, undoubtedly asking Our Lady to intercede for him and for all those in attendance.  The Mass soon ended prior to 11:30am making it less than two hours.  Pope Francis stayed true to his intentions of keeping the Mass as simple yet reverent as possible.  In fact, I was very impressed by the overall reverence of the congregation.  Sure enough there were a few distractions such as people taking pictures or even chatting on their cell phones.  But overall there was a really spirit present.

There wasn’t really an “aha” moment of the Mass; something that will stand out for me life-changing.  Rather it was the entire experience that I will remember most.  Many times throughout the liturgy I would catch myself staring at Pope Francis, at the hundreds of cardinals and bishops, at the statues, or at the crowd, and simply be in awe.  “It is good to be here,” I would repeat to myself in thanksgiving.  After all, a week prior, I had no idea I was going to be here!

When Mass concluded I said farewell to my counterparts in the Canadian delegation. While they made their way to the bus, I stayed and soaked in the sights and sounds when I was politely interrupted by a priest who noticed my credentials.  Turns out that he is from the Archdiocese of Toronto and he is there to study for a few years.  After getting to know each other for a few minutes, I asked Father Michael if he understood Italian.  When he answered yes, I asked him if he could explain to me what Pope Francis said in his homily.

Just as he started with his answer, his cell phone rang.  It was a media outlet asking for Fr. Michael’s take on the Mass.  I stayed alongside him and paid particular attention (eaves-dropped) when he answered a question about the homily.  As he hung up, we laughed that he did indeed answer my question…just not to me directly.

I asked a couple of guards what time they anticipated St. Peter’s Basilica to open.  One of them said 3pm, another said 1pm.  Things were obviously up in the air, as Pope Francis was meeting dignitaries inside of the Basilica after the Mass.

Just prior to noon, I lined up at the entrance along with a dozen other people.  I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to get much in terms of personal space as the crowd grew rapidly over the next 90 minutes.  While it wasn’t the most comfortable experience, it actually helped me once as I actually fell asleep on my feet. When I took a step forward (think of when you fall asleep in class by having your arm slip off the desk…same feeling), I actually bumped into the person in front of me.  I sheepishly apologized and pretended that I myself was bumped by someone behind me. :p

The doors opened at 1:30pm and I quickly made my way through security.  With some stealth manoeuvring, I was second into the Basilica trailing only a Chinese couple (more on them later).  I immediately made my way to the famous cupola and examined the pricing options:

• 7 Euro to take the elevator to the roof level (and walk 320 steps to the dome)
• 5 Euro to walk both from the ground to the roof AND then from roof to dome (551 steps)

I ended up choosing to walk the entire thing.  It started off fine as the steps were quite wide and short.  A few minutes in the steps started to become more narrow and taller.  I made it to the roof with relative ease and psyched myself up for the more difficult second part.

The staircase seemed to narrow with every step making it much more challenging.  I lamented not locking up my camera and man-purse downstairs as they added a few pounds of extra weight to carry.  The fact that I was in my suit and nicest pair of shoes didn’t help.  As I approached the end, my cell phone rang.  I didn’t answer for fear of falling all the way down as I fumbled with my things to answer it.  Finally, I made it to the top – very relieved and quite sweaty.

The narrow, winding stairwells

The only other people up there were the Chinese couple.  “You guys are really fast” I told them as I took out my camera.  The sight was absolutely magnificent as you could see miles upon miles of Rome.  The most amazing part was looking down at St. Peter’s Square and thinking that I was witnessing history there just a few hours prior.   My cell phone rang again and this time I answered it.  It was a Catholic newspaper asking for my thoughts on attending the Mass.  At that moment I was very grateful that I had listened in on Father Michael’s interview earlier as it gave me ideas for my answers.  I just hope that the reporter was able to decipher my answers between my heavy breathing.

Happy to have made it to the top

St. Peter's Square from up above

After about half an hour of soaking in the view, I made my way back down which was obviously a lot easier than going up.  Although, there were a couple of times I thought I was going to crash into a side wall with my forward momentum.

I spent another 3 hours in the Basilica alternating between praying, taking pictures, and marvelling at the relics, the tombs, and the artwork.  In particular, I was touched seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta, the chapel containing the remains of Blessed John Paul II, and the tombs in the Vatican grotto beneath the Basilica.

Michelangelo's "Pieta"

The tomb of Blessed John Paul II

I knew that I had made the right decision to stay behind after the Mass.  My only regret was not being able to see the Sistine Chapel as it was closed for the day.  I just wished I had known that before I started the 15 minute walk to get there.

By the time I got back to the hotel it was 5:30pm and proceeded to fire up yet another bubble bath.  I was quite tired physically but energized emotionally and spiritually – so much so that I didn’t even notice that I hadn’t eaten since 7am.

After posting a few of my pictures from the Mass, I connected with my reality TV partner Josh for dinner at around 7:30pm and was back to the hotel by 9:30pm.  I packed, started this blog, and prepared to watch yet another 3am Canucks game online.

Most of all, I spent time in prayer, thanking God for his abundant generosity and for transforming me through this experience.  I look forward to returning home a better person because of it

After breakfast I made my way to the office that was set up to assist the Canadian delegation.  I pulled out my hastily-written notes of recommended stores provided to me by Msgr. Smith and I punched all of the names into Google maps.   A few printouts later and I was off to the metro station to experience my first train-ride in Rome.

I took extreme caution in choosing the correct metro line; being directionally-challenged already (more on that later), the last thing I wanted was to wind up going the opposite direction than required.  Six stops later I got off at the correct station and made my way in the pouring rain to St. Peter’s Square.

I navigated my way through the busy streets of Rome and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.  As I approached the columns tears started to form in my eyes: I couldn’t believe I was finally here for the first time in my 38 years.  I entered the Square and cried out “Thank you, Lord…You are worthy to be praised.”  I ensured that I took the time to savour – and saviour – the moment.  A moment I will remember for the rest of my life.

I scanned the entire area and noticed the massive line-up to enter St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.  Given the relatively short amount of free time I had, I made the decision not to line up despite how much I wanted to.  I spent much of my time walking throughout the grounds and picturing where I had seen all of the Square’s features on TV.

St. Peter's Square

I had people take pictures of me in my Canucks jersey (I was wearing it…not them…haha) and this led to some very interesting – and often entertaining – discussions.  My favourites were the ones where I had to explain that the Canucks’ logo is a whale jumping out of the ice shaped like a “C”.  I would pray that the person wouldn’t ask me why it’s a whale.  It was already hard enough to communicate to people who didn’t speak English – and some would say that my English isn’t great either. :p

As the rain continued to pour down, I was also able to shoot a quick Clay’s Canucks Commentary (video blog).  Later in the day, I tweeted a couple of my pictures (the ones in this post) to the Vancouver Canucks and they re-tweeted them out to their 360,000 followers. Now that’ s a creative way to evangelize!

Repping the Luongo jersey

I left St. Peter’s Square excited at the prospect of returning the next morning, albeit with hundreds of thousands of other people.  Armed with my directions from Google, I found Msgr. Smith’s favourite store and I proceeded to buy some prayer cards, rosaries, keychains, and medals.

I made it back to our hotel in time for an afternoon briefing in which we learned about the plans for the rest of our stay in Rome.  After the briefing, we agreed to meet in the lobby in 30 minutes to make our way to Mass at the Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore (Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major).  At the thirty minute mark, everyone had gathered in the lobby except for my new friend and Survivor alliance partner Josh.  I told the group to go ahead first and that Josh and I would be just a few minutes behind them.  What followed was among the craziest 45 minutes of my life.

Josh came down just a couple of minutes later and we made our way across the street to what we thought was the correct church.  Upon entering the church at 3:05pm (Mass was scheduled for 3:15pm) we started looking for the “Crucifixion Chapel” – a side chapel where priests from our delegation were going to celebrate Mass for us.  We started to get puzzled and worried when we couldn’t find the chapel and no one in the Basilica knew what we were talking about.

We went outside and ran around the building looking for a side or back entrance.  As we ran, we asked people if they knew where the Crucifixion Chapel was but no one seemed to have a clue.   When we ended up in a garden behind a museum, we knew we weren’t getting anywhere.  We were about to leave when we noticed that the gate we had just entered through was now closed!  In a scene reminiscent of a horror movie, we were trapped inside (cue scary music here).

Thankfully we were able to find an employee to open the gate for us but it was now 3:15pm.  We decided that we would still try to find the group even just to be with them in prayer and community.  We sprinted back to the entrance of the Basilica and we agreed that we had now moved on from Survivor to The Amazing Race (stay tuned tomorrow to see what reality TV show we are).  We entered the Basilica now huffing and puffing and still couldn’t find the group.  Then it dawned on us:

We were at the wrong church.

We quickly left the church – now it was 3:20pm and we were getting more anxious.  “That’s what you get for doing a good deed, Clay” Josh said as we consulted our map.  It turns out that we were at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs (and not the Basilica of Saint Mary Major) and we were likely a good 10 minutes away from the proper church.  As we sprinted towards the proper destination, I said to Josh that perhaps the Mass hadn’t started yet for whatever reason.  Josh agreed and said that our difficulty in finding the church was actually a good way to prepare ourselves for Mass…if we ever got there.

Mass in a side chapel at the Basilica of Mary Major

Finally, at 3:40pm we entered the doors of St. Mary Major and within two minutes we found the rest of the group (who had actually been moved from the Crucifixion Chapel they originally had booked).  Sure enough, they hadn’t started Mass yet but not because they were waiting for us.  Rather, they were waiting for one of the Canadian archbishops to join us.  Josh and I grinned as we quickly took our pews – very sweaty yet very relieved that weren’t late after all.

After Mass we met up with our mutual friend Auravelia and together we walked back to the hotel to get ready for our evening function: the official reception for Canadian delegates at the Canadian Pontifical College (CPC). This was our first formal event of the trip and it was great to see everyone dressed up – especially the PMs and other government officials.

Josh and Auravelia

Upon arriving to the CPC we were greeted with the most awesome receiving line I’ve ever been received in.  As I went down the line I was greeted by Cardinal Collins of Toronto, Cardinal Ouellet of Quebec, Cardinal Turcotte of Montreal, Archbishop Lepine of Montreal, Archbishop Lacroix of Quebec, and Archbishop Smith of Edmonton.  I was able to make small talk more easily with the ones I knew (Collins, Ouellet and Smith).  Emphasis on “small” and not “talk” as there were many people behind me in line.

with Cardinal Ouellet

Throughout the evening I was able to catch up with old friends, make new ones, arrange media interviews, eat some food, and listen to speeches from the Governor General and others.  In particular, I cherished the time speaking with Neil MacCarthy, Fr. Tom Rosica, and Fr. Matthew To who is currently studying in Rome.  In fact, Fr. Matthew and I were able to spend some quality time together as he took me on a quick tour of his living quarters (complete with mosquito net) and I brought him up to speed with developments in my office and in the Archdiocese of Vancouver as a whole.

with Father Matthew

We left the reception and a few of us went out for a late dinner.  City police were busy securing the streets for the Mass making it a tad more difficult to get to where we wanted.  We ended up at an Italian restaurant (surprise surprise) and two hours flew by with our conversation touching on everything from the conclave to Catholics Come Home to inappropriate tweeting.  As we walked back to the hotel we noticed that even more streets had been blocked off and there was a growing police presence.

I took a quick nap before waking to write this blog and watch the Canucks game online.  As I post this, it’s approaching 5am meaning we’ll be leaving for St. Peter’s Square in just over a couple of hours.

I can’t wait to witness history and be a part of Pope Francis’ Mass of Inauguration.

Things got off to an auspicious start as I prepared to take a shower at Ted’s place.  His three year-old daughter knocked on the bathroom door and was absolutely shocked when I opened it.  Obviously she was expecting to see her dad so I’m not sure what she thought when an Asian guy opened the door.  To her credit, she didn’t cry (although she was about to) and I was able to blurt out “Hi…I’m one of your dad’s friends” before escorting her down the stairs to a smiling Ted.

We made it to the appropriate meeting place on the outskirts of Ottawa’s Macdonald-Cartier International Airport in good time. Upon arriving, it was appropriate that the first person to greet me was my new friend (and bearer of good news) Ian.  He asked me how things went in Regina and I thanked him for remembering.  I thanked Ted for the ride and made my way into the hangar.

The delegation organizer gave me my credentials while government of Canada officials tagged my luggage.  Then, I was invited to the reception area where over the next two hours I met many members of the delegation.  I learned that I am one of 14 representatives from throughout the country chosen to go on this special trip.  I began chatting with Josh (a campus minister from the University of Toronto) and we quickly hit it off realizing we had a few things in common.  I joked to him that it was like Survivor…we had made our alliance in the first hour.

After a quick briefing in which we received our itineraries, we boarded the plane at 9:30am.  The plane is one of five 757s that the Government of Canada uses.  I found out that the one we were on is the back-up to the VIP plane – the one that the Prime Minister or Governor General usually fly on.  Still, this plane was quite nice and I was happy to see that I had a centre row of four seats all to myself.  We were given a few documents to read and then I fell asleep pretty much after take-off.

I thankfully awoke just in time for lunch – a delicious (especially by airplane standards) meal of steak, mashed potatoes, fruits, and veggies.  After lunch, I was interviewed by CTV National News about my thoughts heading into the trip. I shared with them how I found out the good news about the trip and a few insights on what this crucial time of transition means for the Catholic Church.

In the funniest part of the segment (I hope it makes it to air), the reporter asked me if I’ve ever been to Rome before.  I told her that I hadn’t, and that I was thrown off when I realized that all of the Euro bills are different sizes.  When we were done, I apologized “if I talked too much.”  The cameraman replied without missing a beat, “Don’t worry…it makes for good TV.”

Before returning to my seat, I told the reporter to come find me anytime during the trip if they wanted to speak to a good-looking Asian.  As she laughed, I then added that I would help find her one.

On the plane I was able to meet more members of the delegation.  I had the honour of meeting His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston – Governor General of Canada – and we actually had a pleasant, albeit quick, conversation.  I thanked him for having me and then he thanked me for accepting the invitation and accompanying him.  I stopped short of thanking him for thanking me.

I also met Her Excellency (David’s wife Sharon) and many members of parliament including Jason Kenney (Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism).  It was a virtual who’s who on the plane: the Governor General and his wife, a Senator, government Ministers, commissioners, presidents, national heads, and one good-looking OYYAM director.

We arrived in Rome at 11:15pm…exactly as our itinerary had stated we would. As we disembarked we were met by many officials and then we were whisked away to our waiting motorcade.  It was quite a remarkable experience racing through the streets of Rome while being escorted by local police.

We got to our beautiful hotel at midnite and after a bit of trouble figuring out how to turn on the lights in my room (I needed to insert my room key into another key reader), I started to unpack while trying to FaceTime Gail and the kids.  I realized that I needed to obtain the Wi-Fi password from the front desk.  As I approached the desk the employee didn’t even bother trying to speak Italian to me, instead asking “How may I help you?” in perfect English.  Is my language deficiency that obvious?

A few of us took a quick walk around town and then I ended the night off with a quick drink with my new friend Josh in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

It’s now 4am (8pm Vancouver time) as I post this and we have breakfast available to us from 7am to 11am later this morning.  Looks like another night of little sleep.

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

“Yes, Mr. Imoo.  I can assure you that it is definitely legit.”

I wasn’t sure what astounded me more: the fact that I had been invited to Rome or how I made a government official use the word “legit” in a sentence.

Just after 5pm on Wednesday I checked my work email from St. Paul Parish, where I usually am on Wednesday afternoons and evenings for PREP.  Upon my first reading of the email sent to me at 4:30pm from the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, I thought it was spam.  Then, I checked my work voicemail and a similar message was there.  Thus, I anxiously called the number provided to confirm its legitimacy.

Indeed, I had been invited by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada (who had been asked by the Prime Minister of Canada) to attend the Inaugural Mass of Pope Francis on behalf of Canada.  According to the email, the Governor General would be bringing a small delegation of Canadians with him and would be thrilled if I was able to accompany him as a member of the delegation.  I had to be in Ottawa by 8am Sunday morning – no exceptions.

My heart was racing as I hung up the phone.  Who in his right mind would nominate me of all people for such an honour?  And what was the criteria?  Surely it wasn’t looks.  Or intellect.  Maybe it was ability to blog about a local hockey team.

The first people I saw, appropriately, were Gail and the kids.  Needless to say, Gail was thrilled for my opportunity and encouraged me to take it.  Sean and Jake concurred while Kayla innocently asked me if I would be driving or flying there.

Still, I had a couple of major considerations, namely my speaking engagement for the Archdiocese of Regina (scheduled for Saturday and Sunday) and how to get from Regina to Ottawa in time for Sunday morning.  I looked up some flight options and knew it was going to be tricky.

I called Michelle Braden, youth ministry coordinator for the Archdiocese of Regina, as she was the one who invited me to come keynote her youth rally.

“Michelle…I have some good news and some bad news.”

I proceeded to explain that in my years of speaking I have never asked to leave a speaking engagement early, let alone cancel altogether.  I told her that I was firmly resolved to honour my entire speaking commitment.

To which she replied:  “Clay, go ahead.  It’s an opportunity of a lifetime.  We’ll figure something out.”

I was inspired by Michelle’s faith and trust that things would work out and I was most appreciative of her understanding – I knew that this change would send her and her planning team into controlled chaos less than 72 hours before the event.

Next, I had to figure out how to get to Ottawa by 8am Sunday as the flights into Ottawa from Regina would be too late.  I focused on flying into Toronto late Saturday evening and then finding a way to Ottawa for the morning.  There weren’t any trains or busses that ran overnight so I posted a desperate plea on Facebook and Twitter asking for a kind soul to volunteer to drive me five hours through the night from Toronto to Ottawa.  To my amazement, three different people (thank you Kristin, Mary Helen, and Ted) offered to help me and started to rearrange their schedules for me.  I was humbled by their generosity.

Then one of the PREP teachers (remember…I was still at the church) suggested that I fly into Montreal instead as it was only a couple of hours away from Ottawa (as opposed to the five from Toronto).  Given that Ted lived in Ottawa, this was a much better solution.  Faster than you can say “Patrick Roy is awesome…and so is Ted for driving me”, I had booked my flight from Regina to Montreal.

The next 48 hours were an absolute whirlwind as I finished my planning for my Regina talks while preparing for Rome.  I was in constant contact with my new friend Ian.  The fact that I was leaving from Vancouver on Friday afternoon as opposed to Saturday afternoon or evening complicated things as I needed the packing list urgently.  To his credit, Ian came through just in time.

Thus, Friday afternoon I was off to Regina (via Calgary) and I was at the rally venue before 8am on Saturday.  I had a wonderful day catching up with some older friends and making a lot of new ones, both young and old.

As for my two talks, they both went really well – at least from my perspective haha.  The young people were extremely attentive, polite, and engaged.  They seemed to really like the chocolate milk demonstration and the videos of my kids – the Disneyland Surprise one in particular.  They seemed to take a liking to smart Sean, cute Kayla, and comedian Jacob.  As part of my last talk, I shared with the participants my story of being invited to go to Rome and my excitement to go (despite having to leave early).  After a few more hours of visiting and meeting people, I was off to the airport just 18 hours after arriving.  Who do I think I am, anyway:  Matt Maher? :p

I flew from Regina to Toronto and then from Toronto to Montreal, arriving just before 1:30am.  After a slight miscommunication, Ted and I were able to find each other and start the long journey to Ottawa.  We left no topic untouched as we gabbed about religion, politics, sports, and family with a stop to McDonald’s to boot!  We arrive at Ted’s house at 4:45am and pledged to be ready to leave the house at 7am.  As I type this, I’m too excited to sleep.  So I’m going to finish this blog, shower, re-pack, and be on my way.

So many things had to fall into place over the past 48 hours and God certainly has had His hand over everything.  Among them:

•         The way that Michelle and her team in Regina were so accommodating and understanding.

•         How Ted unselfishly drove from Ottawa to Montreal (albeit after a youth ministry event) to pick me up, only to turn around and drive me back to his place in Ottawa for a couple of hours.

•         The fact that Gail and I didn’t have any formal spring break plans (though it was our intention to go away for a few days).  For whatever reason, we decided to stay in town this year; thus I didn’t have to cancel any vacation plans.

I was shocked, humbled, and grateful to be nominated to go (though I’m trying to find out who nominated me).  I have a feeling I know who it is.

I truly feel that this was a “team effort” from the standpoint that I was given this opportunity because of the good things we’re doing collectively in the Archdiocese of Vancouver.  So for everyone that I serve with and for everyone who has supported me in all facets, I humbly thank you.

Know (as sappy as it may sound) that I’m taking all of you with me!  It’s indeed an extreme honour to represent myself, the Archdiocese of Vancouver, and Canada on such an extraordinary trip.  I hope to blog a couple of times from Rome to share some of my experiences.

Pray for me as I will pray for you.  And please let me know if you have any specific prayer intentions.

Thank you for all of your love, support, and prayers.  I will return to Vancouver on Thursday evening undoubtedly a changed man.