surprise! yes! yes! yes!
It is true! The Pope is coming to the United States in September 2015! See the details below.
Surprise! No! No! No! This is not a real picture of him and me together! Sadly, it is just a cardboard cutout...
But do you want to know even bigger news than what was announced yesterday? Guess who you can meet with EVERY DAY that is even bigger than the Pope?
Jesus Christ! Yes! Everyday in the Eucharist! Yes, that is right! We can meet with Jesus Christ Himself-- not just a picture of Him, not just a symbol of Him, not just a representative of Him here on earth-- but JESUS CHRIST in sacramental form each and every day at any Catholic Church.
If you are a cradle Catholic, this may not seem like earth-shattering, ground-breaking, big news to you. But to some of us who did not grow up having this incredible treasure offered to us everyday, JESUS CHRIST PHYSICALLY PRESENT HERE ON EARTH IN THE EUCHARIST!!! THIS IS VERY BIG NEWS!
I pray that today, if you have not taken advantage of this blessed event-- Christ coming to earth, just for you, so that the two of you could be made One-- that today you will… that you will experience Him not only in His blessed word, but that you will take advantage of daily Mass and spend a little time with the BIGGEST DEAL in TOWN. You never know... you may just be SURPRISED!
"Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.'" John6:35.
Dear Lord,
Surprise me today! Give me Yourself in a whole new way. Show me Who You really are and the things You want to do in and through me today. Help me to throw open wide the doors of my heart and welcome You in. And thank You for this big news—that our wonderful Pope Francis is coming to the USA in September. Please continue to guard Him and keep Him safe and may your Holy Spirit pour through him each day as he represents You here on earth. Thank You for His godly example. May we all grow in holiness as we go deeper with You.
I ask this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
________
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Monday officially announced that he will visit the U.S. in September 2015, including a visit to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia and New York City.
“I wish to confirm, if God wills it, that in September of 2015 I will go to Philadelphia for the Eighth World Meeting of Families.” he announced at Vatican City’s Synod Hall Nov. 17 during his remarks at an international colloquium on the complementarity of man and woman.
The Philadelphia World Meeting of Families will take place from Sept. 22-27. Even before the Pope’s announcement, the meeting was expected to draw tens of thousands of people. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia had told a gathering of Catholic bishops last week that a papal visit would likely result in crowds of about 1 million.
A global Catholic event, the world meeting seeks to support and strengthen families. St. John Paul II founded the event in 1994, and it takes place every three years.
Archbishop Chaput had previously hinted that Pope Francis would attend the 2015 meeting, although he cautioned that the visit had not been officially confirmed. In March 2014, a Pennsylvania delegation including Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter visited the Vatican to help encourage the Pope to visit the U.S.
On Thursday, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the head of the Holy See’s permanent observer mission to the United Nations, told the Associated Press “if he comes to Philadelphia, he will come to New York.”
The 70th anniversary of the U.N.’s founding would be “the ideal time” for a papal visit, the archbishop said Nov. 13. Next year also marks the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s 1965 visit to the U.N., the first such visit from a Pope.
In August, on his return flight from South Korea, Pope Francis said he wanted to visit the U.S. in 2015 for the Philadelphia gathering. He also noted that he had received invitations from President Barack Obama, Congress and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, as well as from Mexico.
However, despite the anticipation of the Pope’s possible visit to New York and Washington while in the U.S., Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi told journalists shortly after the announcement that as of now nothing else is confirmed.
The Pope, he explained, “didn’t say anything about any other steps or moments in his trip to America. He guaranteed his presence to the organizers of the World Day for Families, but as for the rest, I have no concrete information.”
Pope Francis has visited the Holy Land and Albania as well as South Korea. He will visit France and Turkey in November, and Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January 2015. He will return to France for a longer visit in 2015.
In June, the Pope accepted an invitation to visit Mexico, though a date for the visit was not announced.
The World Meeting of Families will take place shortly before the October 2015 meeting of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, which will discuss the mission of the family in the Church and in the world.
At the last World Meeting of Families in Milan, Italy, in 2012, more than 1 million people representing 153 nations attended a papal Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.
The 2015 meeting’s theme is “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.” The meeting will include many speakers and breakout sessions. Keynote speakers include Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, Cardinal Robert Sarah, Professor Helen Alvaré, and Dr. Juan Francisco de la Guardia Brin and Gabriela N. de la Guardia.
The Philadelphia meeting will mark the first time that the event will be held in the United States.
Registration for the 2015 World Meeting of Families began on Nov. 10.
The World Meeting of Families website is www.worldmeeting2015.org. It is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WorldMeeting2015 and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/WMF2015.
Keep an eye on the National Catholic Register for more in-depth coverage of this exciting event.
