Pope Benedict XVI

Dear Students, please read the following message from Pope Benedict XVI, and watch the video posted below. He spoke these words to Catholic students in the United Kingdom, children just like yourselves. As we continue to work on our Saint Name Activity, remember that the whole Catholic Church, even the Pope, is praying for you to grow in the Love of God!

“I hope,” he said, “that among those of you listening to me today there are some of the future saints of the 21st century. What God wants most of all for each one of you is that you should become holy.”

“He loves you much more than you could ever begin to imagine and he wants the very best for you. And by far the best thing for you is to grow in holiness.”

He told the children to think about what kind of people they would like to be, and in doing so, he asked them “not to be content with second best … not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others.”

One of “the great tragedies” in the world, he said, is that people never find happiness. It is not to be found in money or fame, but the “key to true happiness,” said the Pope, “is to be found in God.

“God wants your friendship. And once you enter into friendship with God, everything in your life begins to change. As you come to know him better, you find you want to reflect something of his infinite goodness in your own life. You are attracted to the practice of virtue.”

And, in doing so, they will begin to avoid selfishness and greed, to feel greater compassion and to act with charity, empathy, kindness and generosity, he told them, and they will be “well on their way to becoming saints.”