Brooke Paris: Not Your Average Millennials

As a Communion volunteer, I was in McGivney Hall for most of the day. In the morning and early afternoon I was able to roam the Basilica lawn and be a part of all the excitement, but once it came close to the time the Holy Father was to arrive, the Communion volunteers had to gather into the lobby of McGivney.

We all crowded around the small windows on the first floor of McGivney that overlook the Basilica lawn in hopes that we might get to see Pope Francis drive by in the Popemobile. As I stood at the window with about fifteen people standing around me, all of us way closer together than humanly comfortable, something profound happened amidst our little group. As we waited for Pope Francis to drive by our small window, we all put our phones away. We decided that we wanted to simply be in this moment, and fully take it in.

Ironically, one of the older Priests towards the back of our group asked us to take a picture for him of the Pope when he drove by; we hesitantly told him that we weren’t going to be taking any pictures. He gave us a confused look and muttered something about “us kids always being on our phones,” to which I replied: “I guess we aren’t your average Millennials.”

– Brooke Paris  is a member of The Catholic University of America, majoring in theology and religious studies.