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Daijiworld Media Network

UK, Sep 23: “God wants each one of us to be Holy”, said Pope Benedict XVI addressing around 4,000 students gathered at the Sports Arena of St Mary’s University College in Twickenham, here.

It was the second day of his four-day state visit to the United Kingdom.  When the Pope addressed the Catholic school students of England, Wales and Scotland, he addressed them as the future saints of the 21st century.

The gathering, billed as ‘The Big Assembly’, was broadcast live via internet to all
the schools of England, Wales and Scotland, which gave the Pope a unique chance to address a large number of students of the region. "It is not often that a Pope, or indeed anyone else, has the opportunity to speak to the students of all the Catholic schools of England, Wales and Scotland at the same time," he quipped.

Pope told the students that he had an important message for them that God loves them much more than they could ever begin to imagine, and he wants the very best for them. And by far the best thing for them is to grow in holiness.

"Happiness is something we all want, but one of the great tragedies in the world is that so many people never find true happiness because they look for it in the wrong places." Benedict XVI said the key to happiness is actually very simple: "True happiness is to be found in God.

“Only he can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts. God wants your friendship.and once you enter into friendship with God; everything in your life begins to change. As you come to know him better, you find you want to reflect something of his infinite goodness in your own life. You are attracted to the practice of virtue. You begin to see greed and selfishness and all the other sins for what they really are, destructive and dangerous tendencies that cause deep suffering and do great damage, and you want to avoid falling into that trap yourselves. "You begin to feel compassion for people in difficulties and you are eager to do something to help them. You want to come kind and generous. And once these things begin to matter to you, you are well on the way to becoming saints” he advised.

Addressing the non-Catholic students present in the schools, the Pope said that he hoped that too will feel encouraged to practice virtue and to grow in knowledge and friendship with God alongside their Catholic classmates. "You are a reminder to them of the bigger picture that exists outside the school", he said, and indeed, it is only right that respect and friendship for members of other religious traditions should be among the virtues learned in a Catholic school. "I hope too that you will want to share with everyone you meet the values and insights you have learned through the Christian education you have received”, he added.