Francis to young people: don’t “get ahead”, choosing God makes you happy

Fausta Speranza – Vatican City

“I am there – says Jesus – where the dominant thought, according to which life is fine if it suits me, is not interested. There I am, Jesus also tells you, a young man who tries to fulfill life’s dreams ”. Thus the Pope addresses young people in Holy Mass for the passage of the Cross of World Youth Day on the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe. Commenting on the last page of the Gospel of Matthew before the Passion, he emphasizes that “before giving us his love on the cross, Jesus gives us his last will.” Francisco clarifies: “He tells us that the good that we will do to one of his younger brothers, hungry, thirsty, foreigner, needy, sick, prisoner, will be done to him.” (Listen to the report with the voice of the Pope)

Two essential questions

The Pope asks two questions: “Do I help someone who cannot give me back? Am I a friend of a poor person? ”. The Pope asks these questions and then gives the answer of Christ: “I am there, Jesus tells you, I wait for you there, where you cannot imagine and where perhaps you would not want to look, there in the poor.” The Pope recalls the figure of Saint Martin: as a young, unbaptized soldier, one day he saw a poor man who “asked the people for help, but did not receive it, because everyone passed by.” Francisco explains that “seeing that the others did not sympathize, he understood that the poor man was reserved for him.” He wore nothing, only his work uniform, so he cut off his cloak and gave half to the poor man, “suffering – he emphasizes – the mocking laughter of some of those there.” Then he dreamed of Jesus, dressed in the part of the cloak with which he had wrapped the poor man. He had that dream – the Pope adds – “because he had lived it, even without knowing it, like the righteous in today’s Gospel.”

The invitation not to stay parked on the sides of life

And hence the strong encouragement of the Pope: “Dear young people, dear brothers and sisters, let us not abandon big dreams. Let’s not settle for what is due. The Lord does not want us to narrow our horizons, he does not want us to be parked on the side of life, but in the race towards high goals, with joy and audacity ”. The reference to the present and to the convictions that seem to prevail is very incisive: “We are not made to dream of vacations or weekends – says the Pope – but to fulfill God’s dreams in this world. It allowed us to dream to embrace the beauty of life ”. Hence, the deep conviction: “Works of mercy are the most beautiful works in life. If you have dreams of true glory, not the glory of the world that comes and goes, but the glory of God, this is the way. Because works of mercy give glory to God more than anything else. ” And the Pope stops at this phrase, repeats it.

Great options for big dreams

The Pope gives voice to an important question: “But where do we start from to make the big dreams come true?” He asks himself and then answers: “From the great elections.” It is the Gospel that makes it clear, remember: “At the moment of the final judgment, the Lord is based on our choices. He almost seems not to judge: he separates the sheep from the goats, but whether it is good or bad is up to us. He just brings out the consequences of our choices, brings them to light and respects them. For young people, the message is clear and powerful: “Life, then, is the moment of strong, decisive and eternal choices. Trivial choices lead to trivial life, great choices make life great. ” Pope Francis puts it bluntly: “We, in fact, become what we choose, for better or for worse. If we choose to steal we become thieves, if we choose to think about ourselves we become selfish, if we choose to hate we get angry, if we choose to spend hours in front of the cell phone we become addicted ”. With a certainty that illuminates: “If we choose God we become more loved every day and if we choose to love we become happy”.

Don’t hold on to the whys in life

“Yes, because – he adds – the beauty of elections depends on love.” And this statement also Pope Francis decides to repeat, thus underlining all the importance. Jesus knows that “if we live closed and indifferent we remain paralyzed, but if we spend ourselves for others we become free”. That is why the Pope “gives” the secret of life to young people: “The Lord of life wants us full of life and gives us the secret of life: it can only be possessed by giving it.” “But there are obstacles that make the choice difficult”: Francisco recalls, citing “often fear, insecurity, unanswered whys”. Here, too, a clear indication: love asks us to go further, “not cling to the whys of life waiting for an answer from Heaven.” And, therefore, “love pushes us to go from why to whom, from why I live to who I live for, from why this happens to whom I can do good. For whom? Not just for me: life is already full of choices we make for ourselves, having a title, friends, a home, fulfilling our hobbies and interests.

Consumer fever and obsession with fun

Among many reflections, the Pope reveals the risk that we all go through: “We risk spending years thinking about ourselves without beginning to love.” And he quotes Manzoni underlining that he “gave good advice”, when in I promessi Sposi wrote: “You should think more about doing it well than feeling good: and thus you would end up feeling better too”. But “there are not only doubts and why undermine the great generous options, there are many other obstacles.” The Pope recalls “the consumer fever, which drugs the heart with superfluous things” and “the obsession for fun, which seems the only way to escape from problems and instead is only a postponement of the problem.” But also “there is a fixation for the right to claim, forgetting the duty to help.” And then he sums up “the great illusion of love” explaining that “it seems something that is lived through emotions, while loving is above all gift, choice and sacrifice.”

Defend originality against discard and the all-now mentality

Then two invitations to overturn the mentality that would like to impose itself: “Choosing – the Pope emphasizes – especially today is not being domesticated by homologation, it is not being anesthetized by consumer mechanisms that deactivate originality, it is knowing how to renounce appearances and appear “. In addition, “choosing life is to fight against the discard and the mentality of everything and now, to orient existence towards the goal of Heaven, towards the dreams of God”. In this sense, the Pope suddenly adds that the goal is to live and not get ahead, explaining that he heard this expression from a child. Francesco adds: “I would like to give you one last piece of advice so that you train yourself to choose well. If we look inward, we see that two different questions often arise in us. One is: what do I want to do? It is a question that is often misleading, because it suggests that the important thing is to think of yourself and to please all the desires and impulses that come. But the question that the Holy Spirit suggests to the heart is another: what do you want? but what is good for you? “. The Pope reiterates that” this is the daily choice, what do I want to do or what is convenient for me? “. And he affirms:” From this inner investigation trivial choices or life choices may arise. Let us look at Jesus, let us ask that he have courage to choose what is convenient for us, to walk after it, on the path of love. And to find joy “.

Step of the cross

At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the Pope cordially greeted all those present and those who followed media. And he addressed a special greeting to the young Panamanians and Portuguese, represented by two delegations, who immediately afterwards made the significant gesture of the passing of the Cross and the icon of Mary. Salvation of the Roman people, symbols of the World Youth Days. “It is an important step – said the Pope – in the pilgrimage that will take us to Lisbon in 2023.

Local WYD at the feast of Christ the King

Then, the announcement of Pope Francis’ decision with these words: “And as we prepare for the next intercontinental edition of WYD, I would also like to relaunch its celebration in the local Churches. Thirty-five years have passed since the creation of the WYD, after having listened to various opinions and the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, responsible for youth ministry, decided to move the diocesan celebration of WYD from Palm Sunday to Christ the King Sunday from next year ” The Pope explained that “at the center is the Mystery of Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man, as Saint John Paul II, initiator and patron of WYD, has always stressed.” Adding: “Dear young people, cry out with your life that Christ lives! and queen! If they are silent, the stones will cry! “