TAKE COURAGE !

Pope Benedict XVI spoke on a wide range of subjects during his recent visit to the U. S. The Holy Father discussed the responsibility of developed countries vis-a-vis the third world. He enjoined us to welcome poor immigrants to our shores. He apologized to the victims of the scandal which has shaken the Catholic church in America.

The successor of St. Peter came across - to Catholics and non-Catholics alike - as kind, honest, sincere, and erudite. It was impressive that he wrote the

speeches himself. Given his many years of academic experience, that should not have been too much of a surprise.

In Yonkers, New York, Pope Benedict delivered a special message to 26,000 young men and women gathered at St Joseph's Seminary and College. It was a message which may well apply to all of us, young and old alike, and senior citizens too!

Pointing to the lives of six saints, the Holy Father remarked that we too can
certainly aspire to, if not achieve, that kind of life and attain to that level
of holiness.

He noted that "Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Saint
John Neumann, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Venerable Pierre Toussaint, and Padre Felix Varela (are) ...six ordinary men and women who grew up to lead extraordinary lives.....each responded to the Lord's call to a life of charity and each served Him here, in the alleys, streets and suburbs of New York.....what a remarkably diverse grouo they are: poor and rich, lay men and women - one a wealthy wife and mother - priests and sisters, immigrants from afar, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior father and Algonquin mother, another a Haitian slave, and a Cuban intellectual. ......

Any one of us could be among them, for there is no stereotype to this group, no single mold. Yet a closer look reveals that there are common elements. Inflamed with the love of Jesus, their lives became remarkable journeys of hope. .....

For each there was an act of abandonment to God, in the confidence that He is the final destination of every pilgrim.....

Through orphanages, schools and hospitals, by befriending the poor, the sick and the marginalized, and through the compelling witness that comes from walking humbly in the footsteps of Jesus, these six people laid open the way of faith, hope and charity to countless individuals....."

Sainthood for us, frail ordinary mortals? Was Pope Benedict kidding? Was the Holy Father just trying to be nice and to make us feel better about ourselves?

Apparently not. The Pope was reiterating a message that dates back to Apostolic times. A message that has faded through the centuries so that Vatican II and Pope John Paul the Great, dusting it off, have put it back on center stage.

The call to holiness is God's invitation to each and everyone of us. It is not
an exclusuve invitation that is reserved only to bishops and priests, to nuns
and monks and deacons.

Admittedly, it is no cakewalk. The ascent to Mt Carmel, as the great theologian and mystic, St John of the Cross calls the spiritual journey to which all of us are encouraged to take is the hardest trip to embark on.

However, Pope Benedict, echoing the spirit of Vatican II, says that it comes
down to one simple task and one thing only:: Follow Christ!

Training to become a saint does not necessarily mean traveling to India
and working in the slums of Calcutta, as Mother Teresa did. Nor does it strictly obligate you to offer your life in exchange for one condemned to execution, as St Maximilian Kolbe did.

Each of us are invited to seek our own unique pathway back home to our heavenly Father and Creator. Spiritual writers point to the life of St Therese, "the little flower" as a model of this challenging quest.

As Therese studied the lives of the saints, she wondered how she could ever
duplicate their heroic achievements. She was "a small speck of sand" compared to the lofty mountains that martyrs and selfless missionaries appeared to be.

Since she was too small and to weak to make the arduous climb, Therese asked God to carry her. The "little way of spirituality" which St Therese describes in her autobiography, "The Story of a Soul" not only made "the ordinary Carmelite nun" one of the Doctors of the Church, but also one of the greatest saints in modern times.

Therefore, it is understandable for Pope Benedict XVI to say to the youth gathered in New York:: " Take courage! Fix your gaze on the saints.....Let your imaginations soar freely along the limitless expanse of the horizons of Christian discipleship".