[Gerish]

Thank you for all pings this week with regard to the Holy Father. I am slowly reading each one, they are all messages of hope and courage. What a marvelous shepard. My prayers always that his words will not fall on deaf ears!

[NYer]

You are most welcome! It is humbling to post the full text of the Holy Father's words. We live in a society of 'sound bites', where people only hear what the media has chosen. These threads provide opportunity for all to read everything the pope has said, not what the mainstream media says the pope said.

My prayers always that his words will not fall on deaf ears!

If you watched the coverage of this event, there was one mother clutching her disabled child who was unable to choke back tears when Pope Benedict XVI approached to bless the child. He gave the child a 2nd blessing when he departed.

What truly struck me, and I'm sure others who watched, was the expression on Benedict XVI's face as he watched the Archdiocesan Deaf Choir 'sing' their beautiful hymn. I hope someone (named Pyro7480) will post a photo of that to this thread!