SDG here with a belated guest blog post from a 15-year-old who saw B16 at the youth rally. His excitement is palpable. The Church belongs to the young!
This weekend I was blessed to be able to visit the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, on his first Pastoral Visit to the United States. People flocked from the far corners of the Americas to see the Vicar of Christ. They came by the thousands hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pope. They stood on street corners in expectation of a momentary view as he drove by. Those who saw him will tell you that it is a meeting, even if for only a second, that they will treasure for all their lives.
But why did they come to see him? What did they see in the Vicar of Christ that inspired them to come from all around the globe to just to hear him?
The Pope made a visit to America, but those who watched on TV, or listened on the radio, or actually saw him, would say that they came to see him; that America came to see the Pope. People throughout the Western Hemisphere flocked to the Holy Father; it was not the other way around. The Pope came to bring the Truth to us; instead the Americas came to find the Truth in him. People have always been in search of happiness and many times they look in all the wrong places. They search for happiness and truth, for they are one, happiness is found only in the discovery of the Truth, and the discovery of the Truth begets happiness or more correctly joy and peace. Many, however, look for these two things in the world and fail to delve into the unknown glory of the realm of the Spiritual. People came to see the Holy Father because they saw in him both happiness and Truth.
In turn, the Holy Father was eager to share the Truth with us. He came with a message that called all Christians throughout the world to Holiness, a message that called us to Christ. He brought Hope to many who had lost Hope. At the Youth Rally he called the future Church of America to truly live their freedom. For freedom is not the right to choose between good and evil, but the ability to do good. He called the young people to silence, to meditation. He called them to find their vocation, to discover what God has planned for them to do in their life on Earth. He asked them to seriously consider the religious life.
And the young people of the Western Hemisphere responded with cheers of “We Love You Benedict”. They became so loud, that the Pope in his eagerness to get his message out, had to raise his hand and calm the crowd. Every time he stood up, or sat down, or spoke, he was greeted with cheers. The Pope showed how much he loved the children on the steps of Saint Patrick’s in his embrace of a small baby, and the youth showed their love for their Leader in their cheers and in their presence.
Benedict returned to Rome, the capitol of Christianity, on Sunday night, April 17th. However, his message and his image will be engraved upon the hearts and minds of all those who saw him forever. He now is thousands of miles away in Italy, but for those who saw him on TV, heard him on the radio, or were there with him, he will never leave.
Viva Le Papa!
SDG,
Relative of yours?
Nope. Kid at my church. I’ve got another one I’m going to post too.
Thanks for sharing that reflection, SDG.
+J.M.J+
>>>Viva Le Papa!
Isn’t it “Viva Il Papa”?
“Il” is the masculine singular definite article in Italian (“il Papa” = the Pope). “Le” is the feminine plural definite article (“le ragazze” = the girls).
In Jesu et Maria,
Yes.
Reminds me of that Spanish T-shirts printed with “Yo vi la papa!” rather than “Yo vi el papa!” The latter means “I saw the pope!”; the former translates as “I saw the potato!”
+J.M.J+
“I saw the potato!”
LOL!
The word “papa” also has two meanings in Italian, depending on how it is pronounced. With the stress on the first syllable it means “Pope.” With the stress on the second syllable it means “daddy” (in which case it is spelled “papà”). Both are masculine nouns though, despite the “a” ending which is more typical of feminine nouns in Italian.
That’s your Trivia for Today. 😉
In Jesu et Maria,
There is hope for our youth yet.
Vive le pape.
I’m pretty sure that, in order to mean “I saw a potato,” one would have to say “Yo vi una papa.” But I’m not a Spanish expert, so I’ll defer to anyone who knows better than I.
David S:
“Yo vi una papa” = “I saw a potato” (indefinite article)
“Yo vi la papa” = “I saw the potato” (definite article feminine)
“Yo vi el papa” = “I saw the Pope” (definite article masculine)
sigh
Isn’t English is hard enough? 😉
Esperante: Vivu La Papo!
(Vivu La Lingvo Internacia!)
“Yo vi el papa” = “I saw the Pope” (definite article masculine)”
Nope. The correct Spanish phrase would be “Yo vi AL Papa”. “Yo vi el papa” is incorrect no matter what “papa” you are talking about. 🙂
Sorry for being picky, but as a native Spanish speaker such things do get my attention. Anyway, thanks for the article, it is quite heartening to read.
Viva el papa!!! 🙂
SDG, you just got served… ;-D
Veronica is of course correct (and so is David B).
I was going by accounts of the T-shirt incident I found online, but of course you can’t trust most of what is on the Internet.
Even so, in my earlier post above I almost corrected the Internet error by simplifying the references above to “El papa” / “La papa,” without the “I saw.” “El papa” (emphasis on the first a) is “the pope.” But when you add “I saw” (“Yo vi”) you need “al Papa,” not “el Papa.”
My BIL is a native Mexican and my sister, who has lived in Mexico for years, teaches Spanish, so it was an easy check.
errrr…..just to clarify; “papa” does NOT mean potato in Italian! Maybe in Spanish, but not Italian!
‘Papa’ actually has 3 means in Italian…..
PAApa = ‘Pope’
PapAA = ‘Daddy’
Pa-Pa = generic word for baby food
God Bless,
An Italian
Hi Maria,
Thanks. Yes, we were talking about Spanish, there.
Christian art hasn’t always been so lame because the top quality artists were once hired to decorate the churches (especially in the Renaissance), and almost everyone (in Europe) was Catholic, and there were a lot of churches. So there was a lot of good Christian art.