"I pray that you will all benefit from the assistance offered by the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Social Services Agency, and that the good work being done here will continue long into the future", said the Pope at the start of his speech at his meeting with a group of youth undergoing treatment at the Rehabilitation Community run by the University of Notre Dame in Sydney. After recalling the words of Moses ("I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse…"), Benedict XVI declared that "sometimes people worship ‘other gods’ without realizing it. False ‘gods’, whatever name, shape or form we give them, are nearly always associated with the worship of three things: material possessions, possessive love, or power". To resist these three temptations, which he called "the path that leads towards death", the Pope proposed instead "the way to choose life", which consists in the "worship of the one true God". "A vivid illustration of what it means to turn back from the path of death onto the path of life explained Benedict XVI is found in a Gospel story that I am sure you all know well: the parable of the prodigal son". (to be continued)
