. >> bishop robert barron is with us.yeah, just a wonderful scene to watch. just so caught up in it. i was struck when the pope was putting his finger on the board, surprised by the computer graphic that came up. they say he's not very computer savvy. so the kids are more at home with that than he is. >> someone else runs his twitter feed. >> i think they were presented projects related to their first communion, but i couldn't hear clearly. >> i think they were trying to impress him on the left side, showing him that they understood how it works. >> and they were saying the prayer when he first came in. saint francis is a saint of the environment and brother sun and sister moon. struck by that, his name sake is the great pope of the environment. >> one of the girls he was talking to toward the end in spanish, said something about francisco and he said something, i couldn't quite hear what he said, but he said, are you something day and night? i think it might have been praying and she said, yes, yes, yes. >> good answer,

concludes this remarkable day and week, i'm joined by our nbc news vatican analyst beneficiary hop robert barron. thank you for being with us. we saw huge crowds through dramatic pictures. we would expect tens of thousands of catholics to come out for any pope. what did you see that this was different. >> pope benedict was a man of ideas. john paul was a dramatic figure, but this man knows how to use a provocative gesture to symbolize kindness. you've seen the steady line of babies, the pope reaching out to those who are disabled. they see in those gestures christ. you've seen it for about three years, from the very beginning when he bowed down, saying pray for me, paying for his own room, those are the ways he preaches the gospel. >> we think about the airport in philadelphia the other day, reaching out to the young child in the wheelchair, but again, that is something we would expect, that sense of compassion. what did we see in terms of moments? >> one that staying in my mind. i teared up, i'll confess, when he appeared before congress. here is an event that would have been unthinkable in the

as he does that, bishop robert barron of los angeles is with us. as a religious speech, what struck you? >> i was tearing up many times during the speech. i line them up, left wing and right wing issues. i think it was wonderful he structured it along the lines, and thomas merton as i sit in the middle of manhattan, he went to columbia university. walking down fifth avenue, seeing the books in the bookstore that changed his life, led him to become a trappist monk. i read his book when i was 17. it's major move for the priests and merton's openness to god. left and right, all part of catholic social teaching which is grounded in a sense of god. >> you gave a thumbs up, your work -- referring to the people in the room, is work that makes you reflect in many ways on the figure of moses. >> he pointed to the statue of moses in the chamber. i thought it was wonderful. one nation under god. it's a groundedness in the law. >> maria shriver, you were watching and listening as well. interesting to hear your perspective over the last day. what do you think?

i, too, was struck by that. >> bishop robert barron, thank you so much.you quietly raised up your fingers because you counted. >> i actually -- somebody said 14 earlier. that was great. this scene, we're seeing here, as well, the drop by at the prayer petitions that had been tied into kind of a rope line. >> right. >> it was really something. above all, the pope is the chief priest of the catholic church. >> right. >> he's not just the ceo. in fact, the last three popes have kind of down played the ceo role. >> mm-hmm. >> lifted up this priestly role. let me come back to the abuse thing for a second, if i may, because i think there was another gesture there today that we should not miss. that is that the victims the pope met were not simply the victims of bad clergy. they were victims of abuse in their own families, which as i think all the data indicates, is where the most of this horrible business takes place, and they were victims of teachers. in his own quiet way, without denying the horror of what had been a serious problem in the church, he was broa

. >> bishop robert barron, we'll be looking for the black fee -- fiat on the streets of philadelphia.> reporter: thanks. >>> busy week in washington, with a possible leadership battle shaping up, after john boehner's resignation. >>> hillary clinton struggling in the polls in the wake of an e-mail scandal that won't go away. chuck todd is the moderator of "meet the press." good morning. >> good morning. what a week. amazing. >> what a week. in the simplest form, boehner quit to avoid a government shut down. have we averted a government shut down? >> i think we've delayed a government shut down. i don't think we're fully averted yet. you'll see a three-month -- and congress will pass these things short-term at a time. there will be a short-term funding bill that will get us through the end of the year. republicans will have a new speaker in three months, then let's see where we go. i think some of the republican leadership, mitch mcconnell and the incoming speaker, i think, believe for the next three months, they'll have time to calm conservatives down and explain, if you want to defun

once we get that, everything >> bishop robert barron, we'll be looking for the black fiat on the streets of philadelphia today. thank you so much. >> thanks. >>> to politics now. a busy week in washington with a possible leadership battle shaping up after house speaker john boehner's resignation. and hillary clinton struggling in the polls in the wake of an e-mail scandal that just won't go away. chuck todd is the moderator of "meet the press." good morning to you. >> good morning. it has been -- what a week. it's been amazing. >> in its simplest form, boehner quit to avoid a government shutdown. with his resignation, have we indeed averted a government shutdown? >> we've delayed i think a fight for a government shutdown for now. i don't think we're fully averted yet. what you're going to see is basically a three-month -- and we've been through this before, where congress will pass these things sort of short term at a time. there will be a short-term funding bill that will get us through the end of the year. republicans will have a new speaker in three months. then let's see where we go.

. >> as i said, bishop robert barron, thrilled to have you with us.ppreciate your time this morning. >> thank you. >> we'll have much more of the pope's historic visit to the u.s. and arrival at the white house. that's coming up, but first on this wednesday morning, a look queso dip ♪ ♪ haven't been this lost in years ♪ (gps) ♪ recalculating shortest route ♪ ♪ do i really look like this? ♪ ♪ never seen this one before ♪ chicken parm you taste so good ♪ i like it. ♪ mmm mmm mmm mm mmm mm mmmmmm who's worried about getting ttaken for a ride...r don't worry. the only rides you'll get taken on at carmax are the ones you take yourself. but just in case that absolutely 100 percent perfect choice... ...turns out to be... less than perfect... we give you five days to change your mind. sorry. to make peanut butter so deliciously creamy. ♪ it always makes the home team cheer. that's why choosy moms and dads choose jif. ♪ it always makes the home team cheer. ♪ and off you go, ♪ ♪ ♪ and off you go,♪ ♪ ♪ and off you go,♪ for every step, every stride, every start,

we're joined in the new york studio by bishop robert barron of los angeles, a man elevated to his positionbishop, your opinion of what we just watched transpire. >> it was very moving to me. i think as a catholic, as an american, and the juxtaposition of the two sets of values and the ingenious way he used those four figures, i found that most compelling. i was lining up as the talk went on, the more liberal issues, the more conservative ones, we all talk about that. catholic social teaching goes beyond left and right. and indeed, you could line the issues up. but what i found really intriguing was thomas merton. a great hero of mine. one of the reasons i'm a priest is thomas merton. great spiritual writer, new yorker, who comes from columbia university. he's on fifth avenue one day and sees this book in scrivener's bookstore. gets it. he was a complete skeptic at the time. read the book and began the process of his conversion to catholicism, eventually becoming a monk and the most influential spiritual writer of the 21st century. i think what he was saying was opening this secular society

. >> bishop robert barron here with us. to chris matthews' point to our conversation earlier in the broadcast, about lapsed catholics, you must already know, from the parish level, what the pope francis effect has been, as he raises his own likeness in a doll and makes the sign of the cross over someone's head. >> i think he's intentionally interested in the great work of evangelization, read hisler, joy of the gospel. he's come here as an evangelist. evangelists reach out to different audiences, reach out to committed catholics, lapsed catholics, secularists and use different tools and methods with the group. i think he's a genius at that. he knows how to use the provocative gesture, caught the attention of the whole world and he's the most significant moral and spiritual leader, bar none, in the world and uses different evangelical methods. i've heard him talk to groups of catholics and give you the high octane stuff. he can use a provocative gesture to reach an audience far from the center of catholicism but knows how to

roberts. i love you and miss you everyday, michael. >> gerard baptiste. >> walter barron.barkway. >> sheila barnes. >> evan baron. >> arthur berry. >> maurice barry. >> kenneth basnicki. >> stephen bates. paul battaglia. >> marlyn bautista. >> jasper baxter. >> michele beale. >> jane beatty. >> manette beckles. >> michael beekman. >> and my brother paul, your brothers and sisters, your nieces and nephews and we miss you. >> and michael cole and godfather robert michael to each other so much about loving and kind screwed up and i miss it every day. >> maria behr. >> nina bell. >> stephen belson. >> denise benedetto. >> brian greg bennett. >> eric bennett. >> oliver bennett. >> margaret benson. >> james berger. >> stephen berger. >> alvin bergsohn. >> michael berkeley. donna bernaerts. >> david bernard. >> william bernstein. >> david berry. >> joseph berry. >> timothy betterly. >> paul beyer. >> anil bharvaney. >> shimmy biegeleisen. >> william biggart. >> marc bingham. >> and my father, philip, we miss you if we try to make you proud every day. we know what you're looking d

roberts. i love you and miss you everyday, michael. >> gerard baptiste. >> walter barron.barkway. >> sheila barnes. >> evan baron. >> arthur berry. >> maurice barry. >> kenneth basnicki. >> stephen bates. paul battaglia. >> marlyn bautista. >> jasper baxter. >> michele beale. >> jane beatty. >> manette beckles. >> michael beekman. >> and my brother paul, your brothers and sisters, your nieces and nephews and we miss you. >> and michael cole and godfather robert michael to each other so much about loving and kind screwed up and i miss it every day. >> maria behr. >> nina bell. >> stephen belson. >> denise benedetto. >> brian greg bennett. >> eric bennett. >> oliver bennett. >> margaret benson. >> james berger. >> stephen berger. >> alvin bergsohn. >> michael berkeley. donna bernaerts. >> david bernard. >> william bernstein. >> david berry. >> joseph berry. >> timothy betterly. >> paul beyer. >> anil bharvaney. >> shimmy biegeleisen. >> william biggart. >> marc bingham. >> and my father, philip, we miss you if we try to make you proud every day. we know what you're looking d

roberts. i love you and miss you everyday, michael. >> gerard baptiste. >> walter barron.rkway. >> sheila barnes. >> evan baron. >> arthur berry. >> maurice barry. >> kenneth basnicki. >> stephen bates. paul battaglia. >> marlyn bautista. >> jasper baxter. >> michele beale. >> jane beatty. >> manette beckles. >> michael beekman. >> and my brother paul, your brothers and sisters, your nieces and nephews and we miss you. >> and michael cole and godfather robert