"Welcome Vicar of Christ!"

As I sit in front of my PC typing on my iBook I am very moved. On my PC I am watching the live feed via EWTN.com of the Holy Father arriving at St. Joseph Seminary ("Dunwoody"). It is not the pope himself that has moved me but the seminarians and youth present. A number of seminarians have spoken about their call to the priesthood and the importance of prayer. I will not attempt do reproduce their words. Go to the EWTN archived videos and watch it for yourself.

Perhaps even more moving are the images of young people running in masses from one place to another, jumping up and down trying to catch a glimpse of the Holy Father. One shot showed young adults climbing to the top of port-a-potties to see the Pope-Mobile pass by.

Hope! It always brings me hope, as it should all of us, to see how much young people love the Holy Father and the Papacy.

As B16 spontaneously comes down from the stage to walk among the youth and seminarians I believe that he has taken on the role that JPII created - the young people's pope. It is like watching a mantle being passed. As they embraced John Paul, they now embrace Benedict; they embrace Peter; they embrace the Catholic Church. May the Lord use this Vicar of Christ to inspire lives of holiness and a reawakening of vocations here in the United States.