Pope Benedict

I am on the train home from work as I write this piece; I picked up a daily evening newspaper and on the first couple of pages is the story of Pope Benedict admonishing school children who came from across the country to see him. I found what he said to them interesting to say the least and powerful in the bigger picture. Here’s the excerpt:

“I hope there are future saints among you. I hope that among those of you listening to me today there are future saints of the 21st century.

What God wants most of all for each of you is that you should become holy. He loves you much more than you could ever imagine and He wants the best from you. And by far the best thing for you is to grow in holiness.

When you are young, we can usually think of people that we look up to, people we admire, people we want to be like. It could be someone we meet in our daily lives that we hold in great esteem. Or it could be someone famous. We live in a celebrity culture and young people are often encouraged to model themselves on figures from the world of sport or entertainment.

Being highly skilled in some activity of profession is good but it will not make us happy unless we aim for something greater still. It might make us famous but it will not make us happy- true happiness is to be found in God.”

Wow!!! I am not Catholic but those felt like the word of God in my spirit (and it is) and it left me praying once more, that those schoolchildren will take these words to heart. ‘Cos if they do, their lives will never be the same!

Key lessons? God first; He will dictate what follows. Period.

Many blessings!!!