Madison Square Garden, home to the Knicks and New York Rangers, which has played host to everyone from The Rolling Stones to Billy Joel, became a cathedral on Friday, as 19,000 parishioners filled the arena to hear Pope Francis celebrate Mass.
NEW YORK--The answer to Catherine McDonald's prayers came in a FedEx envelope delivered to her home in Bayonne last Saturday--two tickets from the Archdiocese of Newark to the papal Mass at Madison Square Garden.
"It was the best day of my life," declared the 68-year-old retired Jersey City school teacher, as she awaited the arrival of Pope Francis inside the arena on Friday evening.
Sitting to the left of the altar with her husband Jack--where she could see white bunting soaring high, framing a large crucifix far below the blue championship banners of the New York Knicks --she said any place the pope went was holy.
"They made it look like a church," she said.
Indeed, as the lights went down and the cross took on dominance, the arena became at once intimate, and the atmosphere deeply spiritual. Even before the arrival of the pope, prayers were being offered and confessional stations set up throughout the building for those seeking the sacrament of Penance.
A choir and organ filled the air with music and about 200 deacons and 150 volunteers were waiting to assist in giving Holy Communion.
Madison Square Garden, home to both the Knicks and the Rangers, which has played host to everyone from The Rolling Stones to Billy Joel, became a cathedral on Friday night, as about 20,000 faithful filled the celebrated arena to hear Pope Francis celebrate Mass.
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The liturgy capped a busy day that took the 78-year-old pontiff from an address at the United Nations, to a multi-religious service at the 9/11 Memorial, to a visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem, to a motorcade procession through Central Park where he greeted an enormous crowd of onlookers on his way to the Garden.
The pope arrived at the Garden shortly before 6 p.m., entering the arena to applause on a white golf cart, circling the floor slowly and waving to people as he often stopped. After one turn around, he took an unexpected second go-around, to the great delight of those in the crowd.
Moments later, with the flourish of trumpets, a resonant organ, and a full orchestra that suddenly transformed the hall, a dramatic procession of cardinals and bishops entered to the harmonies of Hallelujah by a white-robed choir, leading the way for the pope in green vestments.
"Peace be with you," he began.
Pope Francis sat on simple oak chair built by day laborers working for a charity. The crowd was a respectful and quiet throughout most of the Mass, rapt in attention and quick to applaud any smile on the pontiff's face.
In his homily, the pope took note of his unique setting.
"We are in Madison Square Garden, a place synonymous with this city," he said, in an English translation of his native Spanish provided by the Vatican. "This is the site of important athletic, artistic and musical events attracting people not only from this city, but from the whole world."
But he said living in a big city is not always easy.
"Big cities are a reminder of the hidden riches present in our world: in the diversity of its cultures, traditions and historical experiences," he said. Yet he said big cities also conceal the faces of all those people who don't appear to belong. The pope said these are "the foreigners, the children who go without schooling, those deprived of medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly."
God, he said, "frees us from anonymity, from a life of emptiness and selfishness," adding that "God is living in our cities," and so is the church.
Some of those he spoke about were not hard to find, even right outside the Garden, where many homeless sought help from those heading for Mass.
"I've been down on my luck a long time, I don't have a lot hope. If a miracle was every going to come, it might be today," said Thaddeus Wilson, 47, who lives in a Brooklyn shelter.
A man who only gave his name as Danny, 36, Jersey City, said he has been homeless since Hurricane Sandy. He thought the pope's visit was making many more generous.
"Maybe they're giving more than they normally would," he suggested.
Inside, before and after Mass, many who came for the pope said they felt lucky to be there. More than any rock show, the papal event was a hot ticket with only limited distribution, mostly through the Archdiocese of New York. About 100 tickets were shared with the Archdiocese of Newark, which distributed them based on the luck of a draw.
Marguerite McMahon (l) of River Edge with Catherine and McDonald of Bayonne, at Madison Square Garden for the papal Mass. (Photo courtesy of Catherine McDonald) "I was persistent," said Marguerite McMahon, 67, of River Edge. "I first wrote to Cardinal Dolan in New York and was told to get in touch with the diocese in Newark."
She got the tickets and came with her daughter, Lena.
It was not her first papal visit. Some 20 years ago, McMahon--an estate paralegal and congregant of Holy Trinity Church in Hackensack--was part of a crowd of nearly 83,000 who jammed Giants Stadium to see Pope John Paul II in a driving, freezing rain.
"I'm not lucky with the lottery, but with pope tickets I get lucky," she laughed.
Saddle River Mayor Sam Raia had also attended that 1995 service at Giants Stadium, and with his wife, Tina, was at the Garden marking his second papal Mass.
Saddle River Mayor Sam Raia and his wife Tina, who were at the papal Mass after receiving tickets from the Newark Archdiocese. (Photo courtesy of Sam Raia)"That was the experience of a lifetime. It was a rainy, rainy day and we were soaked, but we had goose bumps when we were done," he said.
A lector at St. Gabriel the Archangel Roman Catholic church in Saddle River, Raia, 67, said he was thrilled to be part of the Mass at Madison Square Garden.
"We're absolutely thrilled," he said. "This pope is the real people's pope. Hopefully he'll see what America is all about. He's going to see the compassion of our people."
Security for the pope was very tight, with long lines of people outside the Garden waiting to get in.
"It was a nightmare. It was two hours from start to finish," said Dennis Hoppin, 66, of Weehawken. "It looked like a million people out there."
He, too, received tickets through the Archdiocese of Newark. And once inside with his wife Marianne Colaneri, was only too excited to be there.
So too, was the pope, as New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan introduced him anew at the end of the Mass to a crowd that for the first time Friday, roared like sports fans at a championship game.
The pope beamed.
Concluding the service with the customary "go in peace and serve the Lord" he added, "And please, I ask you, don't forget to pray for me."
NJ Advance Media reporter Dan Ivers contributed to this story.Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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