His first words to them after a welcoming address by the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Ruoco Varela, were “I hope you were able to sleep a little last night”, to the young people’s applause. Then with the procession of bishops and priests to the sweeping white stage, upon which a simple altar was shaded by the outstretched branches of an artificial golden tree, the closing ceremony of this week of prayer, song, meditation and encounter begun.
“We cannot encounter Christ and not want to make him known to others.” Pope Benedict told them in his homily. “So do not keep Christ to yourselves!”. The entire homily was drawn from the Sunday Gospel, Mathew 16, from Christ’s question to the apostles: “But who do you say that I am?”.
“Faith is more than just empirical or historical facts; it is an ability to grasp the mystery of Christ’s person in all its depth”, he said. And then looking out on the horizon of young men and women, religious and lay, that extended before his gaze, the Pope said to them , “today Christ is asking you the same question”. “Respond to him with generosity and courage, as befits young hearts like your own”.
What a great Pope we have!
And [url=http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/08/world-youth-day-pilgrims-mocked-harassed-spit-on-threatened-by-leftists-in-madrid/ ]the tolerant left spitting on World Youth Day participants who were praying the rosary[/url]. (See pictures.) The pope is wonderful but the courage and faithfulness of these young participants is amazing. Don’t look for mainstream media to print any of these pictures.
God bless Benedict XVI and grant him a long pontificate to complete his work of reforming the RCC. What a blessing he is, not just to the RCC, but to the world.
Amen!
Robroy, agreed. The ability of the MSM to ignore major events such as this and the March for Life earlier this year is remarkable (not to mention dishonest, IMHO).
In the coverage I had seen so far which was virtually all of the events beginning Thursday evening, live, except for the last ones on Sunday afternoon, none of those protest pictures came up, #2, so that adds a dimension. A classmate of our son, whose mother is perhaps my closest Catholic friend, was at WYD so I really look forward to hearing his take on it all when he returns – and am hoping he wasn’t one of the 7 (out of >1 million) injured when some temporary chapels improvidentially collapsed in the Cuatro Vientos ‘viento’ (Spanish for wind, coincidentally). The live coverage did give the best view of the Pope’s delivery, and it was a marvelously evangelical, liturgically grounded series of events in which he gave everything in him to plant and nurture the catholic Christian faith in young adults, young religious, young professors, and anyone else listening and young enough at heart to hear Christ’s message.
#3 [i]”..complete his work of reforming the RCC”[/i] ??
You’d have us endure yet another reformation? ;o