Hello everybody,

Today that blog will be about Pope Francis Blessing a boy with cerebral palsy. Before I start in on the actual blog I want to fair warn you that I do not normally talk about religion or anything having to deal with religion including blessings that is just how I feel.

As you all know Pope Francis came to Philadelphia this past weekend, it was a big deal. I mean they made it impossible for people to drive just so that this guy could come and visit. Did you see any of it on TV? Today I am going to talk to you about my thoughts on a specific event.

On Saturday, the Pope was driving in his motorcade and he saw out of the corner of his eyes a boy in a wheelchair. Pope Francis told the Secret Service to stop the car that he was in. He got out of the car and went over to the boy and blessed him. But the boy he blessed had CP. Obviously the mother was very surprised and started to tear up and she said thank you to the Pope multiple times. That is a moment that the mother will never forget for the rest of her life. Neither will the young boy. Being blessed by the Pope, which is the highest person in the Catholic community, is a great honor. I know my grandmother, who is very religious, would be jumping for joy if that was me. To tell you the truth I would probably be jumping for joy as well if I could. The boy also has a twin brother just like me. I’m not sure if his twin has CP or not by looking at pictures we are not sure.

What are your reactions on the Pope blessing a boy with a disability? Just curious, I heard on the radio this morning that people were passing their infants through a crowd of people so that they could get their infants blessed by the Pope. What do you think about that and would you do it? I can tell you I would. But I want to know what you think. And what did you think of the World Meeting of Families? I thought it was pretty cool to see all those people out on the Parkway. Tell me if you were there. What were your reactions or maybe if you just watched it on TV. Oh, and did you stay out of Philly or were you brave enough to go into the city.

My grandmother is a very brave person, she went into Philadelphia. Not me! I would not have done that if somebody paid me $1 million. Maybe 2 million but, that’s beside the point ha-ha. I also have some teachers from where I go to school that live in Philly. I felt bad for them having to drive home on Friday. My history teacher from last year came in on Friday. I thought he was crazy to say the least. Another person I would not want to be is a guy in the cleanup crew. They had a lot of work yesterday. They better have been paid a lot of money, they deserve. There was a lot of preparation and it was a big undertaking but, the take down most of been even bigger. The Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a really big place and to build a stage on it must have cost a lot. But, to most of the volunteers and the people that organized this event I bet you it was all worth it. I know it would be to me.

My grandmother was a volunteer; she was in the red zone, along with my grandfather. They were directing people where to go on Sunday. The mass was very beautiful. I watched it on TV.  I especially liked the music. Speaking of music that marching band, that got to play for the Pope as he was leaving, was very lucky. That is a once in a lifetime experience. And hey, they can now put “played for the Pope” on their college resume. If that doesn’t get them in the college I don’t know what will. Do anything else over the weekend I want to know about it. The Pope’s visit was a great event and brought joy to people everywhere especially the ones he personally touched. What I liked most about it is that it brought communities that are most of the time far away from each other closer together. Those are my reactions on the Pope’s visit and the blessing of that handicap boy.

That’s about it. I will talk to you soon. Be kind to one another and always have a smile on your face and remember it only takes one person to change the world.

Chandler. 🙂 🙂