Perry Can't Defend Abstinence Education

Perhaps the reason abstinence education may not be working in Texas is because the state doesn't have a political leader who can articulate why it is important and respond to questions like the following.  Abstinence education is working in much of America.  As the following makes painfully obvious, America doesn't need a national leader who will make George W. Bush look like the smart President from Texas!

"Quintessentially Unfashionable" Young Catholics - Two Million of Them

"After the storm ceased, the Pope thanked the two million for their ‘joy and resistance’. Then they knelt in the mud before the Blessed Sacrament. That’s the meaning of the Catholic faith"

 

From The Catholic Herald (UK)

By William Oddie

I begin with an email I received this morning from a priest who has just returned from the World Youth Day:

Just back from WYD – amazing joy and colour swamped Madrid. Yet the Pope’s Saturday night attack on Spanish hedonism was stopped by a freak and frightening gale, sand storm, thunder and dramatic lightning.

Why Are We Baiting the Bear?

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Is the Senate trying to reignite the Cold War?

If so, it is going about it the right way.

Before departing for a five-week vacation, the Senate voted to declare Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be provinces of Georgia illegally occupied by Russian troops who must get out and return to Russia.

World Leaders Address Developments in Libya

Following is British Prime Minister David Cameron's statement this morning in which he hailed the Arab Spring, promised to support the new Libyan government and praised the bravery of the Royal Air Force.

Meanwhile, President Barack Hussein Obama ordered at the takeout window of Nancy's Restaurant on Martha's Vineyard ...

and prepared to putt.

Pope Benedict's Comments at the WYD Departure Ceremony

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

DEPARTURE CEREMONY 

 

International Airport of Madrid Barajas
Sunday, 21 August 2011

Your Majesties,
Distinguished National, Autonomous Regional and Local Authorities,
Your Eminence the Archbishop of Madrid and President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference,
Your Eminences and Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear Friends,

The time has come for us to say good-bye. These days spent in Madrid, in the company of so many young people from Spain and from throughout the world, will remain deeply etched in my mind and heart.

Your Majesty, the Pope felt at home in Spain! And the young people who were the heart of this World Youth Day found a warm welcome here and in the many cities and towns of the country, which they were able to visit in the days before these celebrations.

I thank Your Majesty for your gracious words and for your presence at my arrival in Spain and now at my departure. I thank the national, autonomous regional and local authorities for the helpfulness and understanding which they showed before this international event. I also thank the thousands of volunteers who ensured the orderly unfolding of the many activities of this meeting: the various literary, musical, cultural and religious events of the Festival joven, the catecheses given by the Bishops and the main events in the presence of the Successor of Peter. I thank the police and security forces, and all those who helped by providing a wide variety of services: from the music and the liturgy to the details of transportation, health care and meals.

Spain is a great nation whose soundly open, pluralistic and respectful society is capable of moving forward without surrendering its profoundly religious and Catholic soul. In these days, it once more made this clear, revealing its technical and human resources in the service of an undertaking of immense consequence and promise: that of helping young people to become more deeply rooted in Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

A particular word of gratitude is due to the organizers of World Youth Day: to the Cardinal President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and all the personnel of that Office, to the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, his Auxiliary Bishops and the whole Archdiocese, and in particular to the General Coordinator, Monsignor César Augusto Franco Martinez, and the many generous members of his staff. The Bishops worked generously and diligently in their Dioceses to prepare for the celebrations, together with their priests, consecrated persons and the lay faithful. To all I express my gratitude and I pray that the Lord will bless your apostolic labors.

Nor can I fail to offer heartfelt thanks to the young people for having come to the World Youth Day and for their joyful, enthusiastic and intense presence. To them I say thank you, and I congratulate you for the witness which you gave in Madrid and in the other cities of Spain in which you stayed. Now I ask you to spread throughout the world the profound and joyful experience of faith which you had here in this noble country. Share your joy especially with those who would have liked to come but were unable to do so for various reasons, with all those who were praying for you and with all those whose hearts were touched by these celebrations. By your closeness and your witness, help your friends to discover that loving Christ means living life to the full.

I leave Spain very happy and grateful to everyone. But above all I am grateful to God, our Lord, who allowed me to celebrate these days so filled with enthusiasm and grace, so charged with dynamism and hope. The feast of faith which we have shared enables us to look forward with great confidence in Providence, which guides the Church across the seas of history. That is why she continues to be young and full of life, even as she confronts challenging situations. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who makes Jesus Christ present in the hearts of young people in every age and shows them the grandeur of the divine vocation given to every man and woman. We were also able to see how the grace of Christ tears down the walls and overcomes the barriers which sin erects between peoples and generations, in order to make all mankind a single family which acknowledges its one Father and which cultivates, by work and respect, all that he has given us in creation.

Young people readily respond when one proposes to them, in sincerity and truth, an encounter with Jesus Christ, the one Redeemer of humanity.  Now those young people are returning home as missionaries of the Gospel, “rooted and built up in Christ, and firm in the faith”, and they will need to be helped on their way.  So I urge Bishops, priests, Religious and Christian educators in particular, to care for those young people who want to respond enthusiastically to the Lord’s call.  There is no reason to lose heart in the face of the various obstacles we encounter in some countries.  The yearning for God which the Creator has placed in the hearts of young people is more powerful than all of these, as is the power from on high which gives divine strength to those who follow the Master and who seek in him nourishment for life.  Do not be afraid to present to young people the message of Jesus Christ in all its integrity, and to invite them to celebrate the sacraments by which he gives us a share in his own life.

Your Majesty, before returning to Rome, I would like to assure the people of Spain of my constant prayers, especially for married couples and families who are facing various kinds of difficulties, the needy and the infirm, the elderly and children, as well as those who have no work. I pray in particular of the young people of Spain. I am sure that they will contribute the best they have to offer through their faith in Christ, so that this great country can face the challenges of the present hour and can continue along the paths of peace, solidarity, justice and freedom. Along with these intentions, I entrust the sons and daughters of this noble land to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, our heavenly Mother, and to them all I willingly impart my blessing. May the joy of the Lord always fill your hearts. Thank you.

World Youth Day Angelus

BENEDICT XVI

ANGELUS

 

Cuatro Vientos Air Base, Madrid
Sunday, 21 August 2011

Dear Friends,

You are now about to go back home.  Your friends will want to know how you have changed after being in this lovely city with the Pope and with hundreds of thousands of other young people from around the world.  What are you going to tell them?  I invite you to give a bold witness of Christian living to them.  In this way you will give birth to new Christians and will help the Church grow strongly in the hearts of many others.  

During these days, how often I have thought of the young people at home who are waiting for your return!  Take my affectionate greetings to them, to those less fortunate, to your families and to the Christian communities that you come from.  

Let me also express my gratitude to the Bishops and priests who are present in such great numbers at this Day.  To them all I extend my deepest thanks, encouraging them to continue to work pastorally among young people with enthusiasm and dedication.

[Spanish] I greet the Archbishop of the Forces affectionately and I warmly thank the Spanish Air Force, which very generously permitted Cuatro Vientos Air Base on this, the centenary of the foundation of the Spanish Air Force.  I place all Spanish Air Force personnel and their families under the maternal protection of Our Lady of Loreto. 

In this context, I recall that yesterday marked the third anniversary of the grave accident at Barajas Airport which caused many deaths and injuries, and I express my spiritual closeness and my deep affection for all those touched by that unfortunate event, and well as for the families of the victims, whose souls we commend to the mercy of God.

I am pleased now to announce that the next World Youth Day will be held in 2013, in Rio de Janeiro.  Even now, let us ask the Lord to assist all those who will organize it, and to ease the journey there of young people from all over the world, so that they will be able to join me in that beautiful city of Brazil.  

Dear friends, before we say good-bye, and while the young people of Spain pass on the World Youth Day cross to the young people of Brazil, as Successor of Peter I entrust all of you present with this task: make the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ known to the whole world!  He wants you to be the apostles of the twenty-first century and the messengers of his joy.  Do not let him down!  Thank you very much.

[French] My dear young people of the French-speaking world, today Christ asks you to be rooted in him and with him, to build your lives upon him who is our rock.  He sends you out to be his witnesses, courageous and without anxiety, authentic and credible!  Do not be afraid to be Catholic, and to be witnesses to those around you in simplicity and sincerity!  Let the Church find in you and in your youthfulness joyful missionaries of the Good News of salvation!  

[English] I greet all the English-speaking young people present here today!  As you return home, take back with you the good news of Christ’s love which we have experienced in these unforgettable days.  Fix your eyes upon him, deepen your knowledge of the Gospel and bring forth abundant fruit!  God bless all of you until we meet again!

[German] My dear friends!  Faith is not a theory.  To believe is to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus and to live in friendship with him in fellowship with others, in the communion of the Church.  Entrust the whole of your lives to Christ and bring your friends to find their way to the source of life, to God.  May the Lord make you happy and joy-filled witnesses of his love.  

[Italian] My dear young Italians!  Greetings to all of you.  The Eucharist that we have celebrated is the risen Christ present and living in our midst: through him, your lives are rooted and built upon Christ, strong in faith.  With this confidence, depart from Madrid and tell everyone what you have seen and heard.  Respond with joy to the Lord’s call, follow him and remain always united to him:  you will bear much fruit! 

[Portuguese] Dear Portuguese-speaking young people and friends, you have met Jesus Christ! You will be swimming against the tide in a society with a relativistic culture which wishes neither to seek nor hold on to the truth.  But it was for this moment in history, with its great challenges and opportunities, that the Lord sent you, so that, through your faith, the Good News of Jesus might continue to resound throughout the earth.  I hope to see you again in two years’ time at the nest World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Till then, let us pray for each other, witnessing to the joy that brings forth life, rooted in and built upon Christ.  Until we meet again, my dear young people!  God bless you all!  

[Polish] Dear young Poles, strong in the faith, rooted in Christ!  May the gifts you have received from God during these days bear in you abundant fruit.  Be his witnesses.  Take to others the message of the Gospel.  With your prayers and example of life, help Europe to rediscover its Christian roots.  

Pope Benedict's Final Mass with WYD Pilgrims

WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION 

 

Cuatro Vientos Air Base, Madrid
Sunday, 21 August 2011

Dear Young Friends:

I have been thinking a lot about you during this time in which we have been separated.  I hope you have been able to get some sleep in spite of the weather.  I am sure that since dawn you have raised up your eyes more than once, and not only your eyes but above all your hearts, turning this occasion into prayer.  God turns all things into good.  With this confidence and trusting in the Lord who never abandons us, let us begin our Eucharistic celebration, full of enthusiasm and strong in our faith.

HOMILY

Dear Young People,

In this celebration of the Eucharist we have reached the high point of this World Youth Day.  Seeing you here, gathered in such great numbers from all parts of the world, fills my heart with joy.  I think of the special love with which Jesus is looking upon you.  Yes, the Lord loves you and calls you his friends (cf. Jn 15:15).  He goes out to meet you and he wants to accompany you on your journey, to open the door to a life of fulfilment and to give you a share in his own closeness to the Father.  For our part, we have come to know the immensity of his love and we want to respond generously to his love by sharing with others the joy we have received.  Certainly, there are many people today who feel attracted by the figure of Christ and want to know him better.  They realize that he is the answer to so many of our deepest concerns.  But who is he really?  How can someone who lived on this earth so long ago have anything in common with me today?

The Gospel we have just heard (cf. Mt 16:13-20) suggests two different ways of knowing Christ.  The first is an impersonal knowledge, one based on current opinion.  When Jesus asks: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”, the disciples answer: “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets”.  In other words, Christ is seen as yet another religious figure, like those who came before him.  Then Jesus turns to the disciples and asks them: “But who do you say that I am?”  Peter responds with what is the first confession of faith: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”.  Faith is more than just empirical or historical facts; it is an ability to grasp the mystery of Christ’s person in all its depth.    

Yet faith is not the result of human effort, of human reasoning, but rather a gift of God: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven”.  Faith starts with God, who opens his heart to us and invites us to share in his own divine life.  Faith does not simply provide information about who Christ is; rather, it entails a personal relationship with Christ, a surrender of our whole person, with all our understanding, will and feelings, to God’s self-revelation.  So Jesus’ question: “But who do you say that I am?”, is ultimately a challenge to the disciples to make a personal decision in his regard.  Faith in Christ and discipleship are strictly interconnected.  

And, since faith involves following the Master, it must become constantly stronger, deeper and more mature, to the extent that it leads to a closer and more intense relationship with Jesus.   Peter and the other disciples also had to grow in this way, until their encounter with the Risen Lord opened their eyes to the fullness of faith.

Dear young people, today Christ is asking you the same question which he asked the Apostles: “Who do you say that I am?”  Respond to him with generosity and courage, as befits young hearts like your own.  Say to him: “Jesus, I know that you are the Son of God, who have given your life for me.  I want to follow you faithfully and to be led by your word.  You know me and you love me.  I place my trust in you and I put my whole life into your hands.  I want you to be the power that strengthens me and the joy which never leaves me”.

Jesus’ responds to Peter’s confession by speaking of the Church: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church”.  What do these words mean?  Jesus builds the Church on the rock of the faith of Peter, who confesses that Christ is God.    

The Church, then, is not simply a human institution, like any other.  Rather, she is closely joined to God.  Christ himself speaks of her as “his” Church.  Christ cannot be separated from the Church any more than the head can be separated from the body (cf. 1 Cor 12:12).  The Church does not draw her life from herself, but from the Lord.  

Dear young friends, as the Successor of Peter, let me urge you to strengthen this faith which has been handed down to us from the time of the Apostles.  Make Christ, the Son of God, the centre of your life.  But let me also remind you that following Jesus in faith means walking at his side in the communion of the Church.  We cannot follow Jesus on our own.  Anyone who would be tempted to do so “on his own”, or to approach the life of faith with that kind of individualism so prevalent today, will risk never truly encountering Jesus, or will end up following a counterfeit Jesus.

Having faith means drawing support from the faith of your brothers and sisters, even as your own faith serves as a support for the faith of others.  I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ and which led you to discover the beauty of his love.  Growing in friendship with Christ necessarily means recognizing the importance of joyful participation in the life of your parishes, communities and movements, as well as the celebration of Sunday Mass, frequent reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation, and the cultivation of personal prayer and meditation on God’s word.

Friendship with Jesus will also lead you to bear witness to the faith wherever you are, even when it meets with rejection or indifference.  We cannot encounter Christ and not want to make him known to others.  So do not keep Christ to yourselves!  Share with others the joy of your faith.  The world needs the witness of your faith, it surely needs God.  I think that the presence here of so many young people, coming from all over the world, is a wonderful proof of the fruitfulness of Christ’s command to the Church: “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15).  You too have been given the extraordinary task of being disciples and missionaries of Christ in other lands and countries filled with young people who are looking for something greater and, because their heart tells them that more authentic values do exist, they do not let themselves be seduced by the empty promises of a lifestyle which has no room for God.

Dear young people, I pray for you with heartfelt affection.  I commend all of you to the Virgin Mary and I ask her to accompany you always by her maternal intercession and to teach you how to remain faithful to God’s word.  I ask you to pray for the Pope, so that, as the Successor of Peter, he may always confirm his brothers and sisters in the faith.  May all of us in the Church, pastors and faithful alike, draw closer to the Lord each day.  May we grow in holiness of life and be effective witnesses to the truth that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God, the Saviour of all mankind and the living source of our hope.  Amen.