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North Dakota teenager creates video greeting for Pope Benedict XVI 

April 14, 2008 

Seventeen-year-old Nathaniel Sharpe of Bathgate, N.D., never imagined the movie he created for a contest in California would hit the big screen in such a big way.

Sharpe created “Wrinkles in Time” for a Cinema Vita Film Festival competition which focused on the dignity of life. The film, featuring his 77-year-old grandmother, Louise Carlson, and her great-grandson, Linus Carlson, received the first place award in the high school division. The prize was a camcorder and $250.
 


Nathaniel Sharpe, Bathgate, N.D.

Then, the Diocese of Fargo received a request for a video greeting to be shown prior to the Mass Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate April 17 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.  Sharpe’s video captured the diocese’s strong commitment to dignity of life issues, and Sharpe was asked to condense the five-minute video into a 90-second message that would include a “welcome” for the pope.

When I made the film for the contest I was worried mainly about producing a finished video which I felt good about. Whether or not the judges liked it was beyond my control,” Sharpe said. “The idea, however, of doing a video that communicated a message of greeting from our diocese to none other than Pope Benedict XVI was somewhat overwhelming.”

To read the entire press release, click here.

To see the welcome video, click here. (4.0 MB)

Youth group from Native American mission parish in North Dakota to attend Papal Mass in Washington, D.C.
April 11, 2008
 
Their destination may have changed, but their mission remained constant.

In 2006, when a newly formed Catholic youth group in the small community of St. Michael, North Dakota, located on the Spirit Lake Nation Indian Reservation, held its first fund raiser, their sights were set on Pope Benedict XVI. Their goal: to see the Holy Father at World Youth Day in Australia.

After numerous fund raisers and countless hours of work, the group realized raising enough money to travel to Australia would be out of their reach. Some of the elders of the Sioux tribe suggested they change their destination to Rome. After all, they said, that’s where the Pope is most of the time.

But not next week.

Next week, Pope Benedict XVI will be in Washington, D.C., and the St. Michael Youth Group will be there with him. When they heard the Holy Father was coming to the United States and that there was a possibility of getting tickets to attend the Papal Mass in Nationals Park, they submitted a request. Their tickets to the Mass will be waiting for them at the Fargo, N.D., airport on Monday, April 14.
 

WORKERS REMOVE CHRIST-FIGURE FROM CROSS AT MARYLAND CHURCH
Workers with Associated Builders, Inc., remove a figure of Christ from a 14-foot-tall cross suspended above the altar at St. Mark's Church in Hyattsville, Md., April 10. The figure, or corpus, will be reattached to the cross, and the crucifix will be part of the backdrop for the Mass Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate at Nationals Park in Washington April 17.
(CNS photo/Bob Roller)
 

On Monday, the 11 youth, aged 12 to 20, and five adults will board a plane in Fargo destined for Washington, D.C. And, on Thursday, April 17, their goal of seeing the Holy Father will be fulfilled as they, together with thousands of Catholic faithful, participate in the Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

To read the entire press release, click here.

We must discover and receive the love of the Trinity for us
 

 

 

In his March 17 Chrism Mass homily, Bishop Samuel Aquila told the priests of the Diocese of Fargo that when they know the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for them personally they are better able to help others understand God's love. Bishop Aquila's full homily is posted here.  You can access either an audio or a written version by clicking on the links below.

Audio version

Written version


 


Diocese of Fargo
5201 Bishops Blvd., Suite A
Fargo, ND 58104-7605
Phone: 701-356-7900
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