Father, we have been having an amazing summer for sports in Toronto.
After 20 years of fighting against all odds,
the only Canadian NBA team has won the biggest title in basketball.
Our Father spoke at great length of this, the need to have a sporting attitude in the spiritual life,
setting goals, persevering in the effort to achieve them,
without giving up if we face apparent failures.
So it's about giving ourselves. He talked a lot about that yesterday as well.
Shows can make us smaller people and lock us off from others.
Also, his love for the Pope helps us to realize how much we really do need
to pray for the Pope and love the Pope.
I insist, pray a lot for the Pope.
We have the obligation to pray for him, who is the sole Father of the whole
Church. And the Pope needs our prayer. He often asks for it expressly, because
he has many problems to solve, many difficulties to face, many initiatives to develop.
And he counts a lot on prayer, because it has a real impact, because he has faith in prayer.
My journey starts with very secular parents. No religion. No church.
I told him the story of my conversion.
Hi Father. My name is Karina. I'm from Brazil.
- Don't worry. - My parents are Buddhist.
However, they enrolled me in a Catholic school when I was 15 years old.
There I learned how to pray every morning but I never got interested in the faith.
It was through my boyfriend that I got reintroduced to the Catholic faith.
There is nothing more beautiful than being touched by the Gospel, by Jesus Christ.
And to pass on the knowledge of him to other people.
I had a lot of questions for her and also for the numeraries I was working with.
And then, I started going to church more regularly and that's how I received the light of God.
That baptism was my faith.
We are not the ones who went out looking for Jesus. He is the one who looked for us and took us for his own.
I know these Catholics have really thought carefully about things.
Maybe I should open my mind to the idea that there may be something more here than
I've given it credit for.
After meeting your daughters I'm much happier because
I'm able to find meaning in what I do. I have experienced that God is helping me
and leading me to a much happier life.
The Lord is seeking us, out of love,
because he loves us madly.
And I said, Hilary, I am going to say something. I don't want to
alarm you but I'm thinking maybe we should become Christian.
He has taken hold of us.
I don't know if someone here is not Christian, maybe He hasn't fully made you his own.
But He is certainly reaching out to you, because the love of God reaches everyone.
It's like what is going to affect me
in the future, I would say. And how everything that happens to me has a meaning.
Father, we are very fond of St. Josemaria's trait to love popular songs,
popular music. So this song we're singing for you is written by a Canadian,
a great Canadian artist: Bryan Adams.
Look into my eyes, you'll see
what you mean to me.
They'll tell the story of tonight.
Hello Father, I have a short question for you:
What made you want to join the Work?
For me, as for everyone else in the Work, and for you, if you join the Work,
or for the others here, what moves us forward is God's grace,
the push that God gives us. Of course, one's freedom also plays a role. So this
combination of human freedom and God's grace is the decisive factor.
You see, at Ernescliff we have a lot of activities,
and while we're there, we have different projects.
Hi Father, on Thursday we are going to Manitoba to spend ten days on a remote
First Nations reserve. We will do some manual labor for them and teach them
catechism. The young people there face many challenges: poverty, family
breakdowns and substance abuse. How can we make a difference in such a short time?
Let them see that you treat them with real
affection, with genuine interest, that you are not there simply to do something
good for you, or for the sake of doing something good, but that you are truly
interested, that you sincerely want what is good for them.
And also, let them see you happy, that serving and giving yourselves
makes you happy. And you will thus blaze a trail, you will produce real impact.
A long-lasting effect, deeper than what it might seem to be at first.
Because people will remember a young Christian who wasn't obliged to be there
but who was there because he was sincerely trying to help others.
And that is already a seed that you will be planting in their soul.
May our behaviour be that of Jesus Christ. And what is the behaviour of Jesus Christ?
It's love. We must love others. This is an essential feature of Christianity.
No one has been abandoned by God. Everyone is called to holiness.
Many are called and want to be called through us, through those who have received the faith.