Florida Catholic | Ticket Approval For Papal Mass Greeted With Elation

Ticket approval for papal Mass greeted with elation

LAURA DODSON | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 04.18.08

Blessed Sacrament Father George Dunne and youth ministry director Caryl DeGrandi, back row, lead the teens of St. Stephen Parish, Winter Springs, in the Life in the Eucharist program and will lead them to Mass with Pope Benedict XVI in Yankee Stadium April 20. Middle row (l-r), are Thomas Franz, Kristen Covey, Caitlin McLarnon, Lauren Morgan and Tyler Suddeth. Front row (l-r), are Tyler Arcement, Jarrett Helm, Tyler Moose, Shannon Sullivan, Stephen Rodriguez and Gabriel Limonta.
COURTESY | RF PHOTOGRAPHY

ORLANDO | The long months of waiting and 11th-hour scrambling for airline tickets and accommodations now seem negligible to the Knapiks — Robert, Connie and 7-year-old daughter Katherine, parishioners at St. Teresa Parish in Titusville. They were elated with the news of ticket approval to attend the Mass to be celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at Yankee Stadium in New York on April 20.

“I was one of the first to register to go to New York, but then we didn’t hear and I contemplated whether we should spend the money,” said Robert Knapik. “I went to college in Arizona and I was in a group of only 300 people at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix in 1987 when Pope John Paul II visited. It was such an amazing experience that I told myself then that if I ever got a chance to see a pope again, I would do it. It was Connie who insisted we had to persevere.”

Connie Knapik explained further, “It was truly unbelievable timing how all this came together. I just felt it was going to happen and we had to plan it.”

Normal life continued through the wait. “Katherine’s birthday, April 5, was approaching and she wanted a ‘Just Like Me’ doll with matching outfits,” Connie Knapik continued. “I told her she needed to gather the toys she no longer played with and we’d have a tag sale to put the money toward the doll. Katherine collected seven bags of toys.

“Since we didn’t hear about New York, we planned a spring break trip to New Orleans. When I told Katherine that there were children still suffering from Katrina, she told me, ‘I want to give my toys to the kids who lost everything. It’s more important to give them away, than to sell them for a doll.’”

Of course, with Katherine’s heart so unselfish, her parents also had to change their plans. On April 5, Katherine celebrated her 7th birthday with a tea party for her friends and their favorite dolls and Katherine was surprised with her own “Just Like Me” doll. The family left for New Orleans the following day with seven bags of toys to distribute and returned in time to pick up their tickets at the chancery in Orlando to depart for New York on the 18th.

When asked about their trip to New York, Katherine said, “I think it’s going to be cool. There are a lot of different things to pray for in the world. I’m going to pray for my mom and dad and everyone in the whole world that they’re always going to be happy.”

Connie Knapik said, “When my dad heard we were going he asked me to pray for him. He works for the government — the Transportation Security Administration — training people in proper techniques to ensure terrorists don’t get on the airplanes.”

Robert Knapik said of the upcoming visit to see the pope, “I just can’t wait to share it with my family.”

WILDWOOD

Hannah Martin, 23, is the volunteer coordinator at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Wildwood. “I’ve never won anything, but when I gave my name and my age, I felt kind of funny, that my age might get me a ticket. God is definitely working this all out.”

“I graduated last May from Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington) and my stepdad was sick with cancer, so I moved here to be near my mom and him. I said, ‘God what am I going to do? I have a teaching certificate, but I don’t want to teach.’ I heard, ‘go to the church.’ I like the little church, so I applied and was hired. We get a paid half hour of prayer every day and I get to run over and say hello to Jesus in the tabernacle every time I go to the mailbox.”

Martin is discerning a vocation to the religious life, and the trip is part of that process.

“I’m considering a religious vocation and there are three orders, all in New York, (that) I’m particularly interested in. I think God worked out this trip so I could go visit. I’m staying with the Sisters of Life,” she said. When interviewed in advance of the trip, Martin didn’t know if she would also be able to make arrangements to visit the Missionaries of Charity or Sisters of the Divine Redeemer. “But I’m trying and if God wants me to, it will happen,” she said.

Martin will be in New York for a week and is looking forward to pizza and seeing some of the sites in New York. She saw the pope twice on a pilgrimage to Rome for her spring break last year, so “I’m most looking forward to my time with the Sisters of Life,” she said.

“I’ve been up and down with God since my freshman year of high school, but felt the calling after the consecration at a Mass three years ago,” Martin explained. “It was interesting because I knew it wasn’t from me or my own head, because I reacted to it. I said, I don’t want to do that, but he’s been working on me. He’s got me on this trip to New York.”

WINTER SPRINGS

There was rejoicing at St. Stephen Parish in Winter Springs. Ten teens from the Life in the Eucharist program and two adults — Blessed Sacrament Father George Dunne, parochial vicar, and high school youth ministry director Caryl Degrandi will join the pope for Mass in Yankee Stadium.

Tyler Suddeth, 16, spoke about the long wait, “It’s been stressful, nerve-wracking not knowing whether we’re going, but I’m really excited now. I know a chance like this doesn’t come often and I need to take advantage of it.”

The group will stay with the Blessed Sacrament Community at St. Jean Baptiste Parish in Manhattan and has Central Park on its list of must-visit places.

Tyler is particularly looking forward to “traveling with my friends and actually taking part in the Mass with the pope, our leader. It’s something I can look back on.”

There’s another interest that Tyler expressed as well. “I’m hoping to attend the University of Florida and get my degree in building construction. I’m excited to see Yankee Stadium — the house that Babe Ruth built — a national landmark. They’re tearing it down to build a new stadium. It will be cool to be there in its last days.”

Chaperones of St. Stephen Parish youth group excited by teens’ enthusiasm

WINTER SPRINGS | Chaperoning a group of 11 teens to New York City may seem daunting to some, but Caryl Degrandi, high school youth ministry director for St. Stephen Parish in Winter Springs, is “looking forward to it.”

“I’ve chaperoned this group before and they’re all responsible, delightful people,” she said. “My being able to go is giving them the opportunity to go and experience being with so many people who are fervent in their faith, to experience the outpouring of love. I’m excited to be in the presence of the Holy Father, but the teens will come away with a real power of faith and they’ll be able to come back and share that with others.”

Blessed Sacrament Father George Dunne, parochial vicar at St. Stephen and director of the Life in the Eucharist program to which the teens belong, is also looking forward to the trip. “These are the most astounding teens I have ever met in my life. I’m excited about bringing them because of their excitement to be a part of this historic moment, to be in prayer, to offer Eucharist. The teens’ commitment to the Eucharist is so great. As a priest, I am proud of their enthusiasm and the connection the youths feel with the Holy Father.”

The teens had already asked last year, before any news of this papal visit had been announced, if they could go to Rome. “Who would ever expect that the supreme pastor would make such a connection with our youths?” Father Dunne continued. “We saw it with Pope John Paul II and now with Pope Benedict XVI. Something is happening. The theme of this visit is ‘Christ our hope,’ and the pope is giving our young people tremendous hope.”

– Laura Dodson

Return to Diocese of Orlando Front Page

Ticket approval for papal Mass greeted with elation

Chaperones of St. Stephen Parish youth group excited by teens’ enthusiasm

Other Stories