By Rita McInerney

As it had been Friday morning on the trip to Columbia, the mood was happy in the lead bus bringing parishioners back to St. John the Evangelist parish in Hapeville Saturday morning.

Their faith had been well nourished during the long afternoon and evening in the Williams-Brice Stadium. Now, back on the bus, the pastor, Father Michael Woods, was leading them in the joyful mysteries of the rosary, reflecting at each decade upon the words Pope John Paul II had spoken on strengthening the family and reaching out from the home to others in the parish and community.

Before saying the rosary, Father Woods shared morning newspapers reporting on the pope's day in Columbia with fellow passengers. He had reacted with resigned amusement to a front-page headline, "Pope Skirts Catholic Doctrine," which captioned an article on the pope's message stressing the values of love and family, and faith in eternal redemption through the cross of Jesus Christ.

He was just beginning to assimilate the pope's message, Father Woods said. He had been impressed and moved by the prayer service but had one regret: that there had been no communication between the pope on the platform decked out in yellow and white banners and blooms and the people in the stands.

A brief attempt had been made when a chant of "We love you, John Paul II," rose from high in the east stands and was picked up around the stadium. Any response by the pope was stifled when a voice from the platform requested the audience to join in a hymn.

When someone expressed disappointment that the popemobile hadn't carried him around the sidelines of the field so people could have a closer look, Father Woods reminded that John Paul II was part of an ecumenical gathering of religious leaders and such action would not have been seemly.

Passengers traveled home with memories, deeper love and renewed commitment.

Mrs. Rose Cook, one of the founding members of St. John in 1954, was delighted that a chain and cross given her by her husband now had another special meaning. She had taken it to Columbia with her, this cherished memento bearing the mark bite of a baby grandson, and held it high when the pope blessed the crowd.

Nancy Esker, mother of four, a member of the worship committee and a Eucharistic minister, said she was strengthened by the ecumenical service. "It really brought home to me that were working for the same goal. Let's put aside the pettiness. I liked the theme of the family. We can take this home and work within this context and let it spread out from there."

An Atlanta elementary school teacher, Emily Matthews, had converted to the Catholic faith while still in high school. One of her most memorable experiences, before traveling to Columbia, had been in seeing Pope John XXIII at St. Peter's in Rome. She had prayed then, and later when she traveled to Assisi and Lourdes that "God would make me a good Catholic."

She signed up for the trip with St. John's parishioners after reading about it in The Georgia Bulletin. "I wanted to be a part of it. St. Paul told us we have to witness to our brothers. I wanted to be part of this community, to support the pope."

It was important to her, she said, because of all the groups planning to protest the visit. "I figured if they could get up and go, I could too." And as for the polls so prominently reported on last week, she had one question: "I wonder who they're asking?"

John Bialoglow said what he heard in the pope's homily was a call to "death to self and the material values of America … He started off with marriage, then went on to family, church family and community. To forget about yourself and concern yourself with family." He and his wife Gloria have seven children, two of whom, Cristina and Cathy made the trip with their parents.

"I have compassion for all the dedicated nuns and sisters who want to do more and I personally feel they could do it. My feeling would be positive, let them do it. But if the pope is indeed my pope, the vicar of Christ, I accept him. I was there to give him support," he said.

For Sergio Snider, 16, the trip was an experience he will cherish all his life. One of a handful of Catholic students at Hapeville High School, he will be able to respond to the questions of fellow students curious about his faith with new insight and confidence.

The overnight trip to Columbia was organized by St. John parishioner Gloria Boatman. Approximately 130 people made the excursion in three buses.