Pope Benedict Calls Catholic Students to Sanctity

In a recent Vatican News Brief regarding Pope Benedict XVI's visit to England, there is a very moving speech where he urges Catholic students to sanctity:

"It is not often that a Pope", said Benedict XVI, "has the opportunity to speak to the students of all the Catholic schools of England, Wales and Scotland at the same time. And since I have the chance now, there is something I very much want to say to you. I hope that among those of you listening to me today there are some of the future saints of the twenty-first century".

"Perhaps some of you have never thought about this before. ... Let me explain what I mean. ... When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others. ... Happiness is something we all want, but one of the great tragedies in this world is that so many people never find it, because they look for it in the wrong places. The key to it is very simple - true happiness is to be found in God. We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success, or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only He can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.

"Not only does God love us with a depth and an intensity that we can scarcely begin to comprehend, but He invites us to respond to that love", the Pope added. "And once you enter into friendship with God, everything in your life begins to change. ... You are attracted to the practice of virtue. You begin to see greed and selfishness and all the other sins for what they really are, destructive and dangerous tendencies that cause deep suffering and do great damage. ... You begin to feel compassion for people in difficulties and you are eager to do something to help them. ... And once these things begin to matter to you, you are well on the way to becoming saints".

The Holy Father went on: "In your Catholic schools, there is always a bigger picture over and above the individual subjects you study, the different skills you learn. All the work you do is placed in the context of growing in friendship with God, and all that flows from that friendship. ... Never allow yourselves to become narrow. The world needs good scientists, but a scientific outlook becomes dangerously narrow if it ignores the religious or ethical dimension of life, just as religion becomes narrow if it rejects the legitimate contribution of science to our understanding of the world. We need good historians and philosophers and economists, but if the account they give of human life within their particular field is too narrowly focused, they can lead us seriously astray".

Students Pray the Mercy Chaplet in Munich

When we took our school trip to Munich, several of the students decided to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet during the hour of mercy in the main Marienplatz, dedicated to our Lady in the mid 1600's in Thanksgiving for the expulsion of the Swedish invaders. Ever since, the Marienplatz has been the beginning of countless prayers, devotions, and ever a place of protest as in WWII. It also happens to be a favorite devotional place of Pope Benedict XVI.

BENEDICT XVI BECOMES HONORARY CITIZEN OF MARIAZELL

Later in the semester, we will hopefully make a pilgrimage on foot to the famous Marian pilgrimage shrine of Mariazell. The hike is approximately 26 kilometers through the backwoods of Austria's pristine woodlands. It is a beautiful and exhilirating hike which is usually a highlight of the semester for all who participate.

In fall of 2007, Pope Benedict made a pilgrimage to Mariazell where he preached and said Mass to a crown of over 25,000. In recent Austrian -Vatican news, the Pope was just named an honorary citizen of Mariazell:

VATICAN CITY, 22 JAN 2009 (VIS) - At midday yesterday, during a brief ceremony held in a room of the Paul VI Hall, the Pope was made an honorary citizen of the Austrian town of Mariazell, home to one of the most important Marian shrines in Europe.

Among those present at the ceremony, which was held following the Pope's weekly general audience, were Helmut Pertl, town mayor; Bishop Egon Kapellari of Graz-Seckau, and Fr. Karl Schauer O.S.B., rector of the Shrine of Mariazell.

In his remarks, the Holy Father expressed his joy "at being a citizen of Mariazell and at being able to live so close to the Mother of God". The Pope visited the town in September 2007.

"Mariazell is much more than just a 'place'", he said. It also represents "the living history of a pilgrimage of faith and prayer down the centuries", in which "a real answer is also present: ... that God exists and that, through His mother, He wishes to remain close to us. ... For this reason I am happy to be at home in my heart and now, so to say, also by law, in Mariazell".

After highlighting how Our Lady of Mariazell "has such impressive names as: 'Magna Mater Austriae', 'Domina Magna Hungarorum', 'Magna Mater gentium slavorum'", Benedict XVI explained that the Virgin "is above all 'Magna Mater' yet", he said, "her greatness is evident precisely in the fact that she addresses herself to the smallest, that she is present for them, that we can turn to her at any moment ... just with our hearts".