Where is FrG?

Quote: SOOPOO

I think you have this one wrong, Padre. I am guessing most people meeting the Pope have been waiting a lifetime to do so, and likely consider it a highlight of their life. If you are the one they admire (the Pope), I think the small personal SACRIFICE you should make to make this meeting as special as possible for all the worshippers far outweighs him "not liking having people kiss his ring". If you can't accommodate ring kissers, then don't be the Pope!

Quote: SOOPOO

I think you have this one wrong, Padre. I am guessing most people meeting the Pope have been waiting a lifetime to do so, and likely consider it a highlight of their life.

Quote: aceofspades

Never meet your heroes

Quote: FrGamble

I met the Wizard and he was awesome!

Quote: FrGamble

Bob, I am speechless after such an impassioned rant against my religion and my savior. There are far too many errors and misunderstandings to address individually so I thought I would just respond about what I love about my faith and the way my Lord and God chose to intervene into the world. I'm sorry I don't have as much venom to spit as you do.

In the past God had spoken in various ways to His people. He led them to search for Him in various ways and the people longed to know God so they created stories of gods like men and demigods and gods that reflected nature and gods who would even visit their people in human form for a time. These myths and stories prepared the hearts of many. Then God chose a specific people and guided them slowly in new ways, like a gentle teacher. This people at first had no home, no kingdom, wandering in the desert. It was made up of imperfect people and broken families. They were enslaved and He heard their cry. He freed them and led them on a journey to establish a kingdom. He made covenant after covenant with them and every time the people broke the covenant He would forgive, teach, and establish a new one. They asked for a king and eventually once again they trusted in the world and not in God the kingdom fell. They were overcome, oppressed, and ruled.

Then a new and different kind of king was born. He was born into history, no longer was God distant or mythical, He was like us in all things but sin. He was born of a virgin, true God and true man. The fulfillment of the prophecies of old. He was humble and lived for most of His life in obscurity. I love this about Him. His hidden life is beautiful and speaks the dignity of everyone. He did not come to be famous or powerful or to serve, rather He came to serve. He spoke of a kingdom again, not a kingdom of this world, but one of eternal life and universal, for all people. He spoke of freedom from the law and its accusations against us and the guilt and shame. He did not want to plaster His name on billboards or become an emperor. If there was such a thing in His time he probably wouldn't even have been on facebook. He invested in His disciples and become close friends with them. Not the most efficient or effective way to spread His message, but exactly what He was after - relationships. This is how true change happens; slow and steady. Not with fantastic speeches or fleeting fame, but through lasting friendships. He died for us, paying the penalty for our sin and was raised from the dead. He showed us that love can never be defeated by violence and hate. These relationships continued through prayer and the Sacraments, especially the Church He left for us.

These friends of Jesus passed on His words and deeds and in a short time they were written down for us. There is no more attested ancient work than the Bible. It is more trustworthy than any ancient work. But more importantly than that; more and more people came to know the friendship with Jesus Christ and devotion to Him spread. All the Apostles except one was martyred and as hard as the mighty powers of the day tired to stop it, this new way continued to grow and grow. Slowly, one friendship at a time. Eventually it could not be stopped and the most powerful empire on earth fell by the wayside to the faith in the risen carpenter crucified to set us free. Christianity slowly spread around the globe changing society and culture for the better as it went. Spreading a new understanding of man, politics, human rights and dignity, art, music, and science. The world has never been the same since. Along the way there was corruption, greed, lust, and the slow recognition and unfolding of the full meaning of the Gospel. At every turn there were saints, friends with God, raised up from the most unlikely of places to call the Church established by Christ back to the Gospel values and reform and renewal. He was no myth, no powerful force demanding obedience; He was a gentle, patient, and loving friend.

His message of compassion and love moved the hearts of young and old and people of every culture and language. It still spreads and grows today even as the largest religion on Earth. It continues to move people not by force or coercion, but by a simple message and the story of Jesus Christ, God who became man. Someone we could know, who knows us and love us. A friend.