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Pope offers a lesson on sainthood

John Thavis | Catholic News Service

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth stands with Pope Benedict XVI as they greet school children at the Royal Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 16. The pope was on a four-day visit to Great Britain.

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Pope Benedict XVI waves after celebrating Mass at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, Scotland, Sept. 16.

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Pope Benedict XVI waves as he celebrates Mass at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, Scotland, Sept. 16. The pope was on a four-day visit to Great Britain.

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LONDON – In a rousing encounter with some 4,000
schoolchildren, Pope Benedict XVI asked them to make
friendship with God the center of their lives.

“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,” the pope said Sept.
17 in Twickenham, a suburb of London.

He spoke to a cheering crowd of Catholic students who filled
a soccer field next to St. Mary’s University College, and via
Internet to the more than 800,000 young people who followed
the event from their classrooms at Catholic schools
throughout Great Britain.

The pope arrived a little late at the university, but he
paused to greet some of the uniformed young students one by
one, shaking their hands and accepting flower bouquets.

In a sense, Pope Benedict, a former university professor, was
back in his favorite milieu. But on this particular day, he
spoke more as a pastor than a theologian, offering a
straightforward lesson on the path of sainthood.

Wearing a blue batik stole sent by students watching via
internet in Gambia, the pope said he hoped that among his
listeners there would be “future saints of the 21st century.”

“What God wants most of all for each one of you is that you
should become holy,” he said, speaking from a giant red
throne on a stage built for the occasion.

The pope acknowledged that “perhaps some of you think being a
saint is not for you.” He reminded the students that the
contemporary “celebrity culture” encourages young people to
find models in sports or entertainment figures, but he
suggested they look at deeper qualities they would like to
have in their own lives.

Money and skill may make them famous, but it will not make
them happy, he said.

“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,” he
said.

The pope said growing close to God was not unlike meeting a
new friend, and hoping “they will find you interesting and
attractive, and want to be your friend.”

“God wants your friendship. And once you enter into a
friendship with God, everything in your life begins to
change,” he said. For one thing, he said, the practice of
virtue becomes important. Greed and selfishness are
recognized as destructive tendencies that cause great
suffering, and compassion is born, he said.

“And once these things begin to matter to you, you are well
on your way to becoming saints,” he said.

The pope urged the students to avoid an overly narrow focus
in their future studies, and to remember that the religious
and ethical dimension is always a part of education. He also
greeted the many non-Catholics studying in Catholic schools,
and said they help ensure that respect for members of other
religious traditions is among the virtues learned in
church-run schools.

The students presented the pope with three books to add to
his own library: a volume written by St. Bede, a book of
Scottish poetry and a book about the Catholic martyrs of
Wales.

The pope inaugurated a sports foundation named after Pope
John Paul II at the university, which will be used as a
training facility for the 2012 London Olympics.

Earlier, in the university chapel, he met with British
education authorities and about 300 men and women religious
who teach in Catholic schools. He paid tribute to the great
contribution of religious orders in education, especially
noting the work of Sister Mary Ward, whose beatification
cause has moved forward at the Vatican.

In the early 17th century, Sister Ward founded the
Congregation of Jesus and of the Institute of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, often known as the “English Ladies,” drawing the
ire of church authorities of that time for the unconventional
structure of the order.

“I myself as a young boy was taught by the ‘English Ladies,’
and I owe them a deep debt of gratitude,” the pope said. He
said real education is never simply a utilitarian exercise in
imparting information of skills, but is about imparting
wisdom.

The pope also told the school officials that he appreciated
their efforts to ensure that Catholic schools provide a “safe
environment” for children.

“Our responsibility toward those entrusted to us for their
Christian formation demands nothing less,” he said.

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