If You Wrote a Speech For The Pope - What Would It Say?

This is a neat contest and a way to get people thinking deeply and seriously.

My Hero

His Words - Which Challenge Me
I dare you to read all of this and meditate on these wise words:

Dear young people, in such a world is it hard to believe? Is it hard to believe in the Third Millennium? Yes! It is hard. There is no need to hide it. It is hard, but with the help of grace it can be done, as Jesus explained to Peter: "Neither flesh nor blood has revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 16:17).

This evening I will give you the Gospel. It is the Pope's gift to you at this unforgettable vigil. The word which it contains is the word of Jesus. If you listen to it in silence, in prayer, seeking help in understanding what it means for your life from the wise counsel of your priests and teachers, then you will meet Christ and you will follow him, spending your lives day by day for him!

It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness, he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fulness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.

Dear young people, in these noble undertakings you are not alone. With you there are your families, there are your communities, there are your priests and teachers, there are so many of you who in the depths of your hearts never weary of loving Christ and believing in him. In the struggle against sin you are not alone: so many like you are struggling and through the Lord's grace are winning!

His Witness - Which Inspires Me

What About the Bad Popes?

So, does a bad Pope disprove Catholic teaching?

Friday Round-up

Some news to check out:

**A 17 year-old sold his kidney for an iPad. Pray for him.

**The valedictorian at Medina Valley High School, here in TX, wants to say a prayer during her speech. A judge said she can't. Seems to me this is a violation of free speech. Are they going to write the rest of her speech for her too?

**As a fan of Praise and Worship music (not all of it, but the good stuff), I thought this article which is quite critical of using it in liturgy was very thought-provoking.

**I grew up collecting comic books. My favorite series was X-Men. The new movie is getting rave reviews, including one from my favorite movie critic - Steven Greydanus. I can't wait to see it.

**Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who helped bring euthanasia into the mainstream, has died (naturally). Please pray for his soul. Related to this story - the USCCB is preparing a document on euthanasia.

**China still continues to abort girls at a very high rate. This is due to China's one-child policy and the fact that many families want a boy. This has created an unnaturally high number of men-to-women ration that is causing all kinds of social unrest. The sad thing is that radical feminists in the USA support this attack on women and girls - because it supports abortion.

**VP Joe Biden visited the Pope in a meeting that was kept out of the public eye. Some are speculating that the Pope might have given him the shake-down on abortion, as Benedict XVI did with Pelosi when she visited. Pray for our leaders.