Give us our daily bread

Today, I witnessed something remarkable.

His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George, is president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the first Chicago native to become Archbishop of Chicago. He visited BYU campus today and spoke to a full Marriott Center on the topic of "Catholics and Latter-day Saints: Partners in the Defense of Religious Freedom."

Who would have thought that Catholics and Latter Day Saints would be coming together to discuss philosophic and moral matters, on which they agree? Today was a landmark, in my opinion.

President Samuelson noted the attendance of Elders Ballard and Cook as well as two Catholic Bishops from Salt Lake in support of our honored guest. They opened the forum with an opening prayer in a manner that is familiar to Catholics. The BYU professor, a lifelong Catholic, stood and explained a little of the manner of their prayer. She then invited us to stand and repeat the prayer with her.

"Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen."

Honestly, I was in awe. The sound of these hundreds of students repeating these words almost brought me to tears. God's children, under one roof, recognizing His hand, admitting the need to involve Him more than we have been.

Politics and religion can exist in the same arena. Currently, they don't. It would be unfathomable to see Congress standing together today singing "God Bless America." However, nine years ago, they stood together after a national terrorist attack, and recognized God. Why is God being pulled out of everything?

Francis Cardinal George talked about same-sex marriage and abortion and that the Catholics and Latter Day Saints are working together to combat these issues.

I'm excited for the transcript to be posted online - I would encourage everyone to read it and watch it when they post the video online.

I applaud Cardinal George for his actions and words. He received a standing ovation from the attendees in the Marriott Center, which I feel he entirely deserved.