National Right to Life condemns yesterday's violence in Colorado Springs

For immediate release: Friday, November 27, 2015, 8:15pm EST For more information: Derrick Jones, mediarelations@nrlc.org, 240.432.5035 (mobile)   NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE CONDEMNS ACTS OF VIOLENCE IN COLORADO SPRINGS WASHINGTON - The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nation's oldest & largest pro-life group, condemned the shootings today at a Colorado Springs, Colo. Planned Parenthood facility. No motive has yet been assigned to the shooter, but conflicting news reports indicate that today's violence occurred at or near the Planned Parenthood clinic. The following statement may be attributed to National Right to Life President Carol Tobias:   "National Right to Life, which represents 50 state affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, unequivocally condemns  unlawful activities and acts of violence regardless of motivation.  The pro-life movement works to protect the right to life and increase respect for human life.  The unlawful use of violence is directly contrary to that goal." The National Right to Life Committee has always been involved in peaceful, legal activities to protect human lives threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia.  We always have and will continue to oppose any form of violence to fight the violence of abortion.  NRLC has had a policy of forbidding violence or illegal activity by its staff, directors, officers, affiliated state organizations, and chapters.  NRLC's sole purpose is to protect innocent human life.   NRLC will continue to work through educational and legislative activities to ensure the right to life for unborn children, people with disabilities and the elderly.  NRLC will continue to work for peaceful solutions to aid mothers and their unborn children. These solutions involve helping women and their children and do not involve violence against anyone. Founded in 1968, National Right to Life, the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation's oldest and largest grassroots pro-lifeorganization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-lifemovement, NRLC works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Yesterday's tragedy in Colorado Springs is not a reason to back off in defending life!

Yesterday's tragedy in Colorado Springs is indeed a tragedy.  Without any real knowledge of the assailant or his motives I think we can all agree he was wrong.  Tragically, 3 innocent people are dead including a police officer.  Beyond any shadow of any doubt you can't solve the issue of pre-born murder by murdering human beings, even human beings involved in the abortion industry.  As evil and heinous as abortion is, as evil and heinous as Planned Parenthood is, and make no mistake, abortion and Planned Parenthood is evil, you don't solve the problem of evil with evil.  You can't be pro-life by murdering anyone.  You can't be pro-life by bombing an abortion facility.  You can't even be pro-life by wanting/wishing harm and evil come to any personally involved in the abortion industry.  In fact, to be 100% pro-life, among many other things, you must pray for the conversion of these folks and hope they see the light, like an Abby Johnson as an example.

Beside the obvious concern for the victims of yesterday's tragedy and the aftermath the many survivors now deal with, my other concern is that pro-lifers, real, faith-based pro-lifers, will be concerned to be as adamant about being pro-life.  Rest assured, the abortion machine, the well connected politically Planned Parenthood, buoyed by an accommodating media and at least one major political party, will paint all of us who fight for life and work to end abortion as nut-jobs, right wing fanatics and even terrorists like the ilk that is ISIS.  In fact today there has already been one major story referring to pro-lifers as ISIS.  How ironic this claim.  ISIS, well known because of the practice of beheading human beings compared to pro-lifers by the abortion industry.  Correct me if I'm wrong, the only on-going beheading of human beings in the United States every day is pre-born babies, real human beings in the wombs of their mommies, being beheaded by abortionists, including the Planned Parenthood cabal. 

Look, yesterday was so wrong and no one ever better condone to me on this blog, my facebook page or to my face that violence against abortionists is ok or ordained by God.  No, hell no!  Murder is killing.  Revenge can lead to killing.  Hate can lead to killing.  Let's be clear, we must hate the sin of abortion but we can't stoop to such a hatred of the abortionist that anyone, absolutely anyone, can feel justified to do what was done yesterday.

For all of us who hate the sin of abortion, we should still speak out, we should still protest, honorably and respectfully and we should pray and pray and pray.  Don't feel any guilt about this one murderer did yesterday.  Pro-lifers, legitimate pro-lifers, are not wrong to defend life in the womb; within the means and guidelines of both the law and guidelines of our faith!

Prayers for all on this Saturday morning!

In Uganda 2 million flock to Mass with Pope Francis' remembers the Ugandan Martytrs

Legacy of Ugandan Martyrs Isn't to Remain 'Enshrined as Precious Jewel in Museum,' Suggests Pope

During Mass With 2M Ugandans, Pontiff Reminds Faithful Earthly Pleasures Don't Bring Lasting Joy or Peace and Shares What Does

    

Uganda, November 28, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Deborah Castellano Lubov              

 

The witness of the martyrs shows to all that worldly pleasures and earthly power do not bring lasting joy or peace, but rather, fidelity to God, honesty and integrity of life, and genuine concern for the good of others, do, in a way that the world cannot.
During his homily during his first Mass in Uganda, the Pope made this point to the some 2 million faithful gathered at the Sanctuary of the Ugandan Martyrs at Namugongo after having visited Namugongo's Catholic and Anglican shrines first thing this morning. The Namugongo Anglican Shrine stands on the site of the martyrdom of 25 Ugandan Catholics and Anglicans, whose relics are preserved in a chapel adjacent to the sacred building, not far from the Catholic Shrine.
Pope Francis visited the shrines to recall those Christians murdered for their faith between 1885 and 1887, when King Mwuala II had 23 Anglicans and 22 Catholics executed in the historical kingdom of Buganda, which is now part of Uganda.
The Pontiff began his homily acknowledging that today, we recall with gratitude the sacrifice of the Uganda martyrs, "whose witness of love for Christ and his Church has truly gone “to the end of the earth,'” and remember also the Anglican martyrs "whose deaths for Christ testify to the ecumenism of blood." All these witnesses, he observed, nurtured the gift of the Holy Spirit in their lives and freely gave testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ, even at the cost of their lives.
Francis reminded the Africans that all of us received the gift of the Spirit, not only to make us sons and daughters of God, but also for us to bear witness to Jesus and make Him loved and known everywhere known. Every day, he encouraged, we are called to deepen the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life, to “fan into flame” the gift of his divine love so that we may be a source of wisdom and strength to others.
Pope Francis stressed that the gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift which is meant to be shared and that unites us to one another as believers and living members of Christ’s mystical Body. "We do not receive the gift of the Spirit for ourselves alone, but to build up one another in faith, hope and love," just as Saints Joseph Mkasa and Charles Lwanga did, he said.
"If, like the martyrs, we daily fan into flame the gift of the Spirit who dwells in our hearts, then we will surely become the missionary disciples which Christ calls us to be. To our families and friends certainly, but also to those whom we do not know, especially those who might be unfriendly, even hostile, to us." This openness to others, the Pope explained, begins first in the family, in our homes, and also finds expression too in our care for the elderly and the poor, the widowed and the orphaned.
Pope Francis stressed that this does not diminish our concern for this world, as if we only look to the life to come, but rather gives purpose to our lives in this world, and helps us to reach out to those in need, to cooperate with others for the common good, and to build a more just society which does three things: promotes human dignity, defends God’s gift of life and protects the wonders of nature, his creation and our common home.
This is the legacy which you have received from the Uganda martyrs, he told the Ugandan faithful, "lives marked by the power of the Holy Spirit, lives which witness even now to the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
"This legacy is not served by an occasional remembrance, or by being enshrined in a museum as a precious jewel. Rather, we honor them, and all the saints, when we carry on their witness to Christ, in our homes and neighborhoods, in our workplaces and civil society, whether we never leave our homes or we go to the farthest corner of the world," he said.
The Pope concluded, praying that the Uganda martyrs, together with Mary, Mother of the Church, intercede for us, and may the Holy Spirit kindle within us the fire of his divine love, and saying 'God bless you' in Swahili.
The Holy Father is making an Apostolic Visit to Africa, Nov. 25-30. He arrived in Uganda's capital of Kampala yesterday, after having been in Kenya's capital of Nairobi. Tomorrow, he leaves for Central African Republic's capital of Bangui, where he will visit a refugee camp and open the Jubilee Year.
***
On ZENIT's Web page:
Full Text: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/full-text-pope-s-homily-at-sanctuary-of-the-ugandan-martyrs-at-namugongo

The Saint of the Miraculous Medal

St. Catherine Laboure

  

 

Facts

Feastday: November 28
Beatified By: May 28, 1933 by Pope Pius XI
Canonized By: July 27, 1947 by Pope Pius XII

---

St. Catherine Laboure, virgin, was born on May 2, 1806. At an early age she entered the community of the Daughters of Charity, in Paris, France. Three times in 1830 the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Catherine Laboure, who then was a twenty-four year old novice.
On July 18, the first apparition occurred in the community's motherhouse. St. Catherine beheld a lady seated on the right side of the sanctuary. When St. Catherine approached her, the heavenly visitor told her how to act in time of trial and pointed to the altar as the source of all consolation. Promising to entrust St. Catherine with a mission which would cause her great suffering, the lady also predicted the anticlerical revolt which occurred at Paris in 1870.
On November 27, the lady showed St. Catherine the medal of the Immaculate Conception, now universally known as the "Miraculous Medal." She commissioned St. Catherine to have one made, and to spread devotion to this medal. At that time, only her spiritual director, Father Aladel, knew of the apparitions. Forty-five years later, St. Catherine spoke fully of the apparitions to one of her superiors. She died on December 31, 1876, and was canonized on July 27, 1947. Her feast day is November 28.

The Autumn of my Discontent

Well, probably a strongly worded title but as far as autumns go I've had better!  That season of autumn that I long for all summer long has been with us now for over 2 months.  Of course football and back to school stuff usher in an unofficial kind of autumn since Labor Day.  Now that we have blown through one of the big holiday celebrations associated with autumn its time to take stock.

The first thing I look forward to is football.  I love football, including prep football that has already progressed to state playoffs.  Long behind us are those regular season match-ups and rivalries and homecoming festivities.  It's time to start sizing up who will make it to the final week championship games in a few weeks.  On a bigger level, LSU promised an exciting autumn and we would all have agreed as they breezed to that 7-0 start with a #2 national ranking.  Coming off the bye week, LSU promptly hit the skids with the almost annual butt-whipping by Alabama and the two more complete and improbable losses to Arkansas and Ole Miss.  Now LSU is ranked no-where, falling to the bottom of the SEC West standings and now anticipating the loss of Les Miles as the long-time head coach.  Leonard Fournette, the heads-up favorite for the Heisman Trophy is no longer even mentioned in contention for the prestigious award.  Oh my, LSU football for the autumn of 2015 has been a source of super discontent.  Then there is the Tulane Green Wave; wait a minute, nobody cares about Tulane football.  Let's just say like most years, they stink and they too are going to fire their head coach.  But, as I said, who cares?  Then we can talk about the Saints.  I avoided the hype to love the 2015 edition and looks like I will be proved a prophet.  The 2015 Saints stink.  At 4-6, they look like a fine candidate for a 6-10 team as every year since Super Bowl headiness as devolved into a worse and worse version of a professional football team.  Now that D-coordinator Rob Ryan is gone, is head coach Sean Payton not far behind?  Could we have a trifecta in gone coaches?  Oh my, Louisiana football for the autumn of 2015 has indeed been a source of great discontent.

Speaking of autumn, why the heck are we so damn hot.  My goodness we just celebrated a Thanksgiving Day rapidly approaching the 80's.  I mean I cut grass yesterday and today in this hot, humid weather.  We have had all of one, yes, count them, one cool snap.  We managed one morning at 32 degrees or less, just one.  And December is right around the corner.  Not only hot and humid, how about wet?  We went from drought conditions to being totally saturated as 2 consecutive October weekends were wiped out by rain.  By the way, November weekends have not been much better.  The so-called autumn weather in 2015 is also a big source of my discontent.

In the real world, my family faced a serious health scare/challenge for the mother-in-law as well as my own wife Wendy having even more stents inserted to help her blood flow and relieve dreaded blockages.  All things considered, we are weathering this storm but it certainly has made for some stress during this most favorite time of the year, autumn, which I look so forward to.

Discontent!  Maybe a strong word yes but it's a good summation of my experience in this autumn of 2015.  But things are not all woe is me; not by a long shot!  Since the beginning of autumn I've lost nearly 50 lbs., am trying to gain control of my health and have been enjoying the still newness of my ministry transfer back to St. Jane de Chantal Parish, my home parish.  Work has been hectic and rewarding as my bank is the only bank left to serve the people of Pearl River Louisiana!  And we still are counting down days to my daughter's grand wedding next April and we continue to Skype with our two beautiful grandchildren.

So all I need as we begin to transition to winter is the following: LSU please beat Texas A & M and whatever bowl opponent you get this year, Saints, just win, win some darn games.  It would be great if you want to prove me wrong.  And dear weathermen, can we get some seasonal and slightly cooler than seasonal weather?  And dear Lord, I hope I won't weary you as I continue to pray for Wendy's health and job situation as well.  Maybe it's not really discontent because the Lord is still in charge, sitting on His throne and He loves me unconditionally.  I am looking forward to December and winter and do so with great anticipation and joy.  Hey, we are starting Advent, my favorite season in the Church.  All will be well.  I'd just like some holy contentment!

Pope Francis now in Uganda

Pope in Uganda: Africa Is Continent of Hope

Says Martyrs Are Reminder That All Must Seek Justice, Common Good
 

    

Uganda, November 27, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Kathleen Naab               

 

Pope Francis began his trip to Uganda this evening by encouraging leaders of the country to protect and help one another as members of one human family, regardless of different beliefs and convictions.
The Holy Father arrived in Uganda around 5 pm local time, just after concluding the Kenya leg of his three-country Africa visit. On Sunday, he flies to Central African Republic, before returning to Rome on Monday.
After a festive welcome at the airport in Entebbe, the Pontiff addressed members of government and the diplomatic corps at the State House.
Speaking in English, he said that his visit to Uganda is above all to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the canonization of the Uganda martyrs, but added that he hopes “my presence here will also be seen as a sign of friendship, esteem and encouragement for all the people of this great nation.”
Uganda is about 40% Catholic and 40% Protestant (mostly Anglican), with a significant (12%) Muslim minority.

National heroes

Pope Francis referred to the Uganda martyrs as “true national heroes.” They were both Catholic and Anglican and were executed between November 1885 and January 1887.
“They remind us of the importance that faith, moral rectitude and commitment to the common good have played, and continue to play, in the cultural, economic and political life of this country,” Francis said. “They also remind us that, despite our different beliefs and convictions, all of us are called to seek the truth, to work for justice and reconciliation, and to respect, protect and help one another as members of our one human family.”
The Holy Father said his visit is also meant to draw attention to Africa as a whole, the continent looked to by the world as, he said, “the continent of hope.”
In addition to its natural resources, the Pontiff reflected, Uganda has been “blessed in its people: its strong families, its young and its elderly.”
The elderly, he emphasized, are “the living memory of every people. Their wisdom and experience should always be valued as a compass which can enable society to find the right direction in confronting the challenges of the present with integrity, wisdom and vision.”

Solidarity

The Pope also praised Uganda for its welcome of refugees, noting that the world’s response to the unprecedented movement of people in various regions is a “test of our humanity, our respect for human dignity, and above all our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in need.”
“Although my visit is brief,” the Pope said, “I hope to encourage the many quiet efforts being made to care for the poor, the sick and those in any kind of trouble. It is in these small signs that we see the true soul of a people. In so many ways, our world is growing closer; yet at the same time we see with concern the globalization of a ‘throwaway culture’ which blinds us to spiritual values, hardens our hearts before the needs of the poor, and robs our young of hope.”
—-
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/full-text-pope-s-address-to-ugandan-authorities

Breaking news: Shooting, officers shot at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs

At least 3 officers, multiple civilians injured in ongoing active shooter situation at Planned Parenthood

Colorado Springs police spokeswoman says, "We still have a gunman that is out there."

By Jesse Paul and John Ingold
The Denver Post

Posted:   11/27/2015

At least three police officers and multiple civilians have been injured in an ongoing active shooter situation at or near a Colorado Springs branch of Planned Parenthood on Friday afternoon.
"We have confirmed that we have three officers that are injured. There are unknown number of civilians who have been injured," Police Lt. Catherine Buckley said. "The situation is still unstable, and the shooter is not contained."
At a news conference at about 1:30 on Friday afternoon, Buckley said police cannot confirm where the shooter is located and said the situation is "very active." She said officers don't yet know for sure whether there was a single shooter or multiple gunmen.
She said police have "brought all of our resources to bear" to the situation.
Earlier, Colorado Springs police Commander Kirk Wilson told media at the scene that police were still trying to get officers to the shooting area.
"We haven't been able to get in the scene yet," he said.
The city's fire department tweeted about the situation about 11:45 a.m. Buckley said the original call for service was at the Planned Parenthood address.The branch is located at 3480 Centennial Blvd., just north of West Fillmore Street.
"The area is NOT secure," police said in a tweet.
"We were looking out the window and we had an officer wave us back inside," said Brigitte Wolfe, who works at Jun Japanese Restaurant next door. "They have everything blocked off."
Wolfe said there are roughly a dozen police vehicles at the scene. She said officers have guns drawn and are facing the Planned Parenthood branch.
A photo from the scene showed officers in the area hiding behind their vehicles with their weapons drawn. SWAT officers have been called to the scene.
Cathy Alderman, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said the situation was fluid and the organization had little information to go on.
"We're monitoring the situation live like everyone else," she said. "Obviously the safety of our patients and staff is our greatest concern. We're hoping for the best."
Alderman was not sure yet if everyone associated with the clinic was safe.
"We believe people are sheltered in place, but we don't know all that for sure yet." she said.
Colorado Springs police have shut down Centennial Boulevard between Garden of the Gods Road and Fillmore Street. Some businesses in the area are being evacuated. Patrons and workers at a nearby shopping center have been told to shelter in place.
An employee who answered the phone at a nearby King Soopers said a few dozen customers were locked inside under police orders, but she had not seen a shooter or any other violence across the parking lot from the Planned Parenthood building.

(Jordan Steffen, The Denver Post)

"Everybody here is safe," she said, declining to give her name. "That's all I know, but I'm in the back right now."
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
Staff writer Joey Bunch contributed to this report.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul

Pope Francis goes to and walks among Kenya's poorest

What you have is worth more than money – the Pope to Kenya's poor

Pope Francis meets with members and beneficiaries of the Community of Sant'Egidio in Nairobi Kenya on Nov. 26, 2015. Photo courtesy: Community of Sant'Egidio.

Nairobi, Kenya, Nov 26, 2015 / 11:41 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- During his tri-nation visit to Africa this week, Pope Francis made a stop at a slum in Nairobi and praised those he met for their love of and emphasis on community and relationships – over what he called a vacuous, “unbridled consumption” that often plagues the West.
“I want in first place to uphold these values which you practice, values which are not quoted in the stock exchange, are not subject to speculation, and have no market price,” the Pope said during the Nov. 27 meeting at a Jesuit church in the Kangemi neighborhood.
“I congratulate you, I accompany you and I want you to know that the Lord never forgets you. The path of Jesus began on the peripheries, it goes from the poor and with the poor, towards others.”
Your values, he added, are "grounded in the fact each human being is more important than the god of money. Thank you for reminding us that another type of culture is possible.”
The Pope was in Kenya Nov. 25-27 as part of a larger African tour that will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic later this week.
In addition to addressing the United Nations office in Nairobi during his stay in the country, the Pope also visited local priests, seminarians and religious. Tossing his prepared remarks to the latter aside, he issued a frank warning to them that if anything disgusts God, it’s the attitude of indifference.
He also gave some practical advice, such as keeping the Lord at the center of their lives through prayer and the sacraments, and stressed that the Church is not a business, but rather a mystery intended to serve others.
On the afternoon of Nov. 26, Pope Francis attended a gathering at the football field of the local St. Mary's School, where representatives of Community of Sant'Egidio came with those who've benefitted from the organization in different cities throughout Kenya.
The community has helped fight AIDS in the country, treating more than 11,000 people. According to Sant'Egidio, Pope Francis wanted to personally greet all of the children present who'd been born healthy, thanks to the program.
In his talk with the neighborhood on Friday, the Pope clarified that his praise for their valuing the most important things in life in “no way entails a disregard for the dreadful injustice of urban exclusion.”

“These are wounds inflicted by minorities who cling to power and wealth, who selfishly squander while a growing majority is forced to flee to abandoned, filthy and run-down peripheries,” he said.
“One very serious problem in this regard is the lack of access to infrastructures and basic services,” the Pope added.
“By this I mean toilets, sewers, drains, refuse collection, electricity, roads, as well as schools, hospitals, recreational and sport centers, studios and workshops for artists and craftsmen. I refer in particular to access to drinking water.”
“To deny a family water, under any bureaucratic pretext whatsoever, is a great injustice, especially when one profits from this need,” he said.
Pope Francis also lamented the “situation of indifference and hostility” experienced by poor neighborhoods, which he said is “aggravated when violence spreads and criminal organizations, serving economic or political interests, use children and young people as 'canon fodder' for their ruthless business affairs.”
“These realities which I have just mentioned are not a random combination of unrelated problems,” he noted. “They are a consequence of new forms of colonialism.”
In response to this, “we need to go beyond the mere proclamation of rights which are not respected in practice, to implementing concrete and systematic initiatives capable of improving the overall living situation, and planning new urban developments of good quality for housing future generations.”
“The social and environmental debt owed to the poor of cities can be paid by respecting their sacred right to the 'three Ls': Land, Lodging, Labour,” he emphasized. “This is not a question of philanthropy; rather it is a duty incumbent upon all of us.”
Francis then called for practical provision for every family, including: “dignified housing, access to drinking water, a toilet, reliable sources of energy for lighting, cooking and improving their homes.”
He also insisted “that every neighborhood has streets, squares, schools, hospitals, areas for sport, recreation and art; that basic services are provided to each of you.”
Pope Francis then concluded his remarks by calling on “all Christians, and their pastors in particular, to renew their missionary zeal, to take initiative in the face of so many situations of injustice, to be involved in their neighbours’ problems, to accompany them in their struggles, to protect the fruits of their communitarian labour and to celebrate together each victory, large or small.”

Pope Francis challenges Kenya's youth to live life fully

Pope Gives Youth Choice: Do You Want to Overcome Challenges or Be Overcome by Them?

Throwing Aside Script, Pope Francis Asks Kenya's Young People If They'll Allow Difficulties Destroy or Use Them As Opportunities

    

Nairobi, November 27, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Deborah Castellano Lubov              

 

Pope Francis has asked Kenya's young people how they will respond to the challenges they face, including those of bad tribalism, corruption, and desperation.
Speaking to tens of thousands of young people gathered in Nairobi's Fanaticism Stadium, this morning, the Pope listened to the questions of a young man and woman and said that he asks himself something on the basis of all the questions they asked:"Why do divisions, wars and deaths occur? Fanatism, and divisions among young people? Why is there that desire to destroy?"
He recalled that in the first page of the Bible, after all those wonderful things that the Lord had done, a brother kills another brother, and observed that the spirit of evil takes us to destruction, lack of unity, tribalism, corruption and drugs. "It takes us to a destruction out of fanatism," he said.
The Pope underscored that a man or a woman loses the worst of their humanity when they forget how to pray," because they feel powerful, because they don’t feel the need to ask the Lord for help in the face of so many tragedies."
The Choice
Francis stressed that there are different ways of looking at life's many difficulties, noting you can see them as something that destroys or stops you, or as a real opportunity to overcome the difficulty.
"To all of you," he said, "the choice is open," calling on them to reflect, "'For me, is this a path of destruction or is it an opportunity to overcome this difficulty, for me, for a member of my family and for this country?'"
"Young people, we don’t live in heaven, we live on earth and earth is full of difficulties and not only of opportunities but sometimes invitations that will lead you astray towards evil. But there is something that all of you have which is big, the capacity to choose. Which path do you want to choose? Which of these two do I want? To choose the path of difficulty and division or the path of opportunity, opportunity to overcome myself and overcome difficulties."
"Do you want to overcome challenges or be overcome by them?" he said, stressing, "You have to choose."

We Are a Nation

The Pope acknowledged the difficulties of bad tribalism, and noted that it destroys, when it involves violence and power, rather than an ear, heart, and hand. “If you don’t dialogue with each other, if you don’t listen to each other, then you’re going to have the division like dust, like a worm that grows in society."

The Pontiff mentioned that yesterday was pronounced as a day of prayer and reconciliation. Francis then invited all gathered to hold each other’s hands, including those who had just spoken, to stand up as a sign against bad tribalism. In English, he said, ‘We’re all a nation.”
“We are all a nation! That’s how are hearts must be. Tribalism isn’t just raising our hearts today, it’s an expression of our desire, of our hearts and this tribalism is a work that we must carry out every day against this tendency, to overcome this tendency of tribalism, it is a daily endeavor . It’s a work of the ear, you have to listen to others, it’s a work of opening your heart to others and it’s a work of your hands, you offer your hands to others,” he continued.

Sweet as Sugar

The Holy Father warned that corruption can seem “sweet as sugar,” adding that even in the Vatican there has been corruption.
'Corruption is not a path to life, but to death!" he said, noting it robs faithful of joy and peace.
Acknowledging the difficulties youth face, the Jesuit Pope encouraged, 'When desperation hits you, look at the Cross.' He reminded them that this is hope because the story does not end there, but the Resurrection follows. The Pope also reminded the young people to pray and to pray very hard, for it will help them.
Recognizing many are abandoned, including those who do not experience love of their parents, he noted there is just one solution: Do or give what you haven't received. He explained that if you did not feel loved or understood, then love and be understanding, and if you felt alone, approach and be close to those who are lonely.
Responding to a question about ways of communication, especially through technology, the Pope stressed that gestures of closeness and friendship are what is needed, and that this intimacy and sharing will become contagious and bare many fruits.

Hungry?

As the Pope neared the end of his talk, he commented that it was almost noon and asked, 'Are you hungry?' to gauge if he could share one thing more, which the crowds enthusiastically welcomed. The Pontiff went on to tell them the two things he always carries with him: a rosary and Via Crucis.
Before concluding, the Pope asks all present to stand in praying an Our Father, after he had shared with them God's 'only' defect: He can't stop being Father.