So as you guys know I headed to New York a couple months back to greet the Pope on his first trip to the US. I went because I wanted to see him for myself and because I have quite a few friends who mean a lot to me back there that I wanted to share the experience with. He amazes me. John Paul showed me how to love the Church and Benedict continues to show me why I should. For instance, this man came here to tell us one thing and one thing only, that Christ is our Hope. Not politics, not a bigger salary, not technology or lower taxes, or good grades at the University, but Christ. Who says something like that, and with such certainty? 
After seeing him it was clear to me that I wanted whatever it is that he has, I want that sense of certainty, that kind of faith, that kind of concrete relationship with Christ. He tells us that Christ is the only answer to our humanity, and when I saw him in New York you could see that he knew that to be true in his own life in the way he lives, he was so happy, so loving! For him Christ is real, someone that accompanies him as a friend in the here and now. That is why I follow him and why every chance I get I read what he writes or speaks about. We are truly blessed to have him as our shepherd. While I was there I got the chance to hear him speak at the youth rally in Yonkers. What impressed me most was how spry he was at 81. Also, everyone (the media specifically) before he came was calling him things like the enforcer, and saying he was too German and too stern, but the Benedict I saw was incredibly happy and loving, he looked at us like a father should. In the end we were all very excited to see him, and he was clearly excited to see us, it was very much of a mutual thing. 
The church I saw and that he saw that day is alive, and being there verified what I have seen to be true for the last five years, that even though the church may be smaller now, it is stronger and more aware of herself and of the task at hand: to proclaim Christ as our only Hope to a world that has reduced Him to a figment of our imagination. For my friends that were there with me to greet the Pope, and for me, Christ is the only response to our humanity and our desire for truth. Seeing the Pope helped to reassure us of this fact.
