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| Me in front of Westminster |
I walked into the huge stone vaulted ceiling, and it seemed like I
was stepping back in time. Hard to believe what this hall had
seen in the previous centuries, but my mind went back to November 14, 1581.
Edmund Campion stood his ground as he was convicted for treason. But in his own words, “The plain reason of our standing
here is religion and not treason.”
Edmund Campion was an incredible Catholic, Christian, but
above all, he was an incredible man. We need figures like this today. So often
we look to musicians, athletes, or movie stars that aren’t even worth our
admiration.
But I can hear the words of another man also spoken in England echoing in my ears:
When I invite you to
become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. Having money
makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own,
it is not enough to make us happy.
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. 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.
God wants your friendship. And once you enter into
friendship with God, everything in your life begins to change. (17 September
2011)
Benedict XVI said this to the youth on September 17, 2010. What
the world needs today are men and saints! What we need are men and saints! This might sound crazy, but this is what we need to think about, talk about and live out if we are going to be happy.
