A slight break from liberalism and conservativism, how about some Good News: A little boy asks the Pope a question.
Jun 26, 2018 04:53:38 #
With all the fighting in this world of insanity, I thought both the liberals and the conservatives on this forum can take a break and watch this moving story. I have included the website with the video below.
ROME (CNS) — After circling a massive, crumbling public housing complex on the outskirts of Rome, Pope Francis had an emotional encounter with the neighborhood’s children.
Question-and-answer sessions with youngsters are a standard part of Pope Francis’ parish visits. And, at St. Paul of the Cross parish April 15, there were the usual questions like, “How did you feel when you were elected pope?”
But then it was Emanuele’s turn. The young boy smiled at the pope as he approached the microphone. But then froze. “I can’t do it,” Emanuele said.
Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza, a papal aide, encouraged the boy, but he kept saying, “I can’t.”
“Come, come to me, Emanuele,” the pope said. “Come and whisper it in my ear.”
Msgr. Sapienza helped the boy up to the platform where the pope was seated. Emanuele was sobbing by that point, and Pope Francis enveloped him in a big embrace, patting his head and speaking softly to him.
With their heads touching, the pope and the boy spoke privately to each other before Emanuele returned to his seat.
“If only we could all cry like Emanuele when we have an ache in our hearts like he has,” the pope told the children. “He was crying for his father and had the courage to do it in front of us because in his heart there is love for his father.”
Pope Francis said he had asked Emanuele if he could share the boy’s question and the boy agreed. “‘A little while ago my father passed away. He was a nonbeliever, but he had all four of his children baptized. He was a good man. Is dad in heaven?'”
“How beautiful to hear a son say of his father, ‘He was good,'” the pope told the children. “And what a beautiful witness of a son who inherited the strength of his father, who had the courage to cry in front of all of us. If that man was able to make his children like that, then it’s true, he was a good man. He was a good man.
“That man did not have the gift of faith, he wasn’t a believer, but he had his children baptized. He had a good heart,” Pope Francis said.
“God is the one who says who goes to heaven,” the pope explained.
The next step in answering Emanuele’s question, he said, would be to think about what God is like and, especially, what kind of heart God has. “What do you think? A father’s heart. God has a dad’s heart. And with a dad who was not a believer, but who baptized his children and gave them that bravura, do you think God would be able to leave him far from himself?”
“God is the one who says who goes to heaven,” the pope explained.
“Does God abandon his children?” the pope asked. “Does God abandon his children when they are good?”
The children shouted, “No.”
“There, Emanuele, that is the answer,” the pope told the boy. “God surely was proud of your father, because it is easier as a believer to baptize your children than to baptize them when you are not a believer. Surely this pleased God very much.”
Pope Francis encouraged Emanuele to “talk to your dad; pray to your dad.”
Earlier, a young girl named Carlotta also asked the pope a delicate question: “When we are baptized, we become children of God. People who aren’t baptized, are they not children of God?”
“What does your heart tell you?” the pope asked Carlotta. She said, they are, too.
“Right, and I’ll explain,” the pope told her. “We are all children of God. Everyone. Everyone.”
The nonbaptized, members of other religions, those who worship idols, “even the mafiosi,” who terrorize the neighborhood around the parish, are children of God, though “they prefer to behave like children of the devil,” he said.
“God created everyone, loves everyone and put in everyone’s heart a conscience so they would recognize what is good and distinguish it from what is bad,” the pope said.
The difference, he said, is that “when you were baptized, the Holy Spirit entered into that conscience and reinforced your belonging to God and, in that sense, you became more of a daughter of God because you’re a child of God like everyone, but with the strength of the Holy Spirit.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=I9CctWgR690
Now this story brought tears to my eyes, especially when Pope Francis, related to the child as Christ would.
Yes, it is true that only those who believe in Christ will achieve heaven. However, this story proves just once again, that the mercy and forgiveness of God, knows no bounds. I believe that because of the son's faith, the father was baptized by the angels and is welcomed into heaven.
Impossible you say?, "For nothing is impossible for God"
This story reminds me of the Gospel, when the Centurion came up to Jesus. He asked Jesus to heal his servant, who was a good servant. And Jesus asked the Centurion to bring the servant to him. The Centurion said, "Just say the word and it shall be done. For I have soldiers underneath me and if they say it is done, then it is done." Jesus was so amazed at the Centurion's faith, that Jesus responded, "Your Faith has healed your servant". At that moment the servant was healed. Now, if the faith of the Centurion can heal a servant, so too can a son, save his father. What a great story! Share and enjoy this, all of you!
ROME (CNS) — After circling a massive, crumbling public housing complex on the outskirts of Rome, Pope Francis had an emotional encounter with the neighborhood’s children.
Question-and-answer sessions with youngsters are a standard part of Pope Francis’ parish visits. And, at St. Paul of the Cross parish April 15, there were the usual questions like, “How did you feel when you were elected pope?”
But then it was Emanuele’s turn. The young boy smiled at the pope as he approached the microphone. But then froze. “I can’t do it,” Emanuele said.
Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza, a papal aide, encouraged the boy, but he kept saying, “I can’t.”
“Come, come to me, Emanuele,” the pope said. “Come and whisper it in my ear.”
Msgr. Sapienza helped the boy up to the platform where the pope was seated. Emanuele was sobbing by that point, and Pope Francis enveloped him in a big embrace, patting his head and speaking softly to him.
With their heads touching, the pope and the boy spoke privately to each other before Emanuele returned to his seat.
“If only we could all cry like Emanuele when we have an ache in our hearts like he has,” the pope told the children. “He was crying for his father and had the courage to do it in front of us because in his heart there is love for his father.”
Pope Francis said he had asked Emanuele if he could share the boy’s question and the boy agreed. “‘A little while ago my father passed away. He was a nonbeliever, but he had all four of his children baptized. He was a good man. Is dad in heaven?'”
“How beautiful to hear a son say of his father, ‘He was good,'” the pope told the children. “And what a beautiful witness of a son who inherited the strength of his father, who had the courage to cry in front of all of us. If that man was able to make his children like that, then it’s true, he was a good man. He was a good man.
“That man did not have the gift of faith, he wasn’t a believer, but he had his children baptized. He had a good heart,” Pope Francis said.
“God is the one who says who goes to heaven,” the pope explained.
The next step in answering Emanuele’s question, he said, would be to think about what God is like and, especially, what kind of heart God has. “What do you think? A father’s heart. God has a dad’s heart. And with a dad who was not a believer, but who baptized his children and gave them that bravura, do you think God would be able to leave him far from himself?”
“God is the one who says who goes to heaven,” the pope explained.
“Does God abandon his children?” the pope asked. “Does God abandon his children when they are good?”
The children shouted, “No.”
“There, Emanuele, that is the answer,” the pope told the boy. “God surely was proud of your father, because it is easier as a believer to baptize your children than to baptize them when you are not a believer. Surely this pleased God very much.”
Pope Francis encouraged Emanuele to “talk to your dad; pray to your dad.”
Earlier, a young girl named Carlotta also asked the pope a delicate question: “When we are baptized, we become children of God. People who aren’t baptized, are they not children of God?”
“What does your heart tell you?” the pope asked Carlotta. She said, they are, too.
“Right, and I’ll explain,” the pope told her. “We are all children of God. Everyone. Everyone.”
The nonbaptized, members of other religions, those who worship idols, “even the mafiosi,” who terrorize the neighborhood around the parish, are children of God, though “they prefer to behave like children of the devil,” he said.
“God created everyone, loves everyone and put in everyone’s heart a conscience so they would recognize what is good and distinguish it from what is bad,” the pope said.
The difference, he said, is that “when you were baptized, the Holy Spirit entered into that conscience and reinforced your belonging to God and, in that sense, you became more of a daughter of God because you’re a child of God like everyone, but with the strength of the Holy Spirit.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=I9CctWgR690
Now this story brought tears to my eyes, especially when Pope Francis, related to the child as Christ would.
Yes, it is true that only those who believe in Christ will achieve heaven. However, this story proves just once again, that the mercy and forgiveness of God, knows no bounds. I believe that because of the son's faith, the father was baptized by the angels and is welcomed into heaven.
Impossible you say?, "For nothing is impossible for God"
This story reminds me of the Gospel, when the Centurion came up to Jesus. He asked Jesus to heal his servant, who was a good servant. And Jesus asked the Centurion to bring the servant to him. The Centurion said, "Just say the word and it shall be done. For I have soldiers underneath me and if they say it is done, then it is done." Jesus was so amazed at the Centurion's faith, that Jesus responded, "Your Faith has healed your servant". At that moment the servant was healed. Now, if the faith of the Centurion can heal a servant, so too can a son, save his father. What a great story! Share and enjoy this, all of you!
Jun 26, 2018 07:20:37 #
I say the father was a believer but believed himself not to be good enough for God. I call that humility. We all should be such believers. Even John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, said he was not worthy enough to latchet the shoes of Jesus. John, the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
Ranger7374 wrote:
With all the fighting in this world of insanity, I... (show quote)
Jun 26, 2018 07:33:55 #
Ranger7374 wrote:
With all the fighting in this world of insanity, I... (show quote)
This story is one of the many false narratives that this pope is eschewing that is doing nothing but leading people straight to hell.
The Romans Road to Salvation through Jesus Christ
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”
Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:13 “For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
If you, dear friend, have not yet come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior, I encourage you to give your life to Christ. Just say a prayer and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart, so that you might have eternal life and be “born again.”
Jun 26, 2018 14:26:57 #
mwdegutis wrote:
This story is one of the many false narratives tha... (show quote)
Then how was the Centurian's servant cured?
Jun 26, 2018 16:56:39 #
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