When John Paul made his first visit to these shores, in 1979, I was a “marshall” on the Washington mall — an usher, really, bused in with my parish — and vendors were selling tee shirts with that cute saying printed on the front. I imagine we’ll be seeing more like that when his successor hits the ground in April.

To get a jump on things, the Washington Times has started a blog on all things papal. You can drop by right here and catch up on all the plans and the latest itinerary. And to all those who have been dropping me e-mails: no. I don’t have extra tickets. The best advice I can give you to try and get a ticket is to pray.

As a backup, though, you might visit this website, “American Papist,” which seems to have the latest poop on the pope.

Good luck.