June 20,1992
On Saturday evening, 20 June, near the shrine of Our Lady of the
Fountain in Caravaggio, the Pope met the young people of the three Dioceses and
spoke to them about some topics they had proposed. During his address the Holy
Father made frequent reference to the three symbols the youth had chosen for
their prayer vigil, namely, water, the cross and fire. This is a translation of
the Pope's talk, which he gave in Italian.
Dear Young People,
1. It is truly a gift from God to be able to meet you this evening in the
shadow of the beautiful shrine of Caravaggio, a place of prayer and meditation,
a temple of living faith and Marian devotion. Other significant meetings I have
had with your peers in Italy and in other countries of the world come to my
mind. Most of all, I often recall the unforgettable Marian vigil at Jasna Góra
on 14 August last, on the occasion of the sixth World Youth Day. I was able to
pause near the tender image of the Black Madonna, listening to the Holy Spirit,
together with the young men and women coming from every continent, but
especially from Eastern and Western Europe.
We prayed and kept watch together; together, and with courage, we paused
to reflect on the many challenges facing the Church and humanity in this age of
enormous, rapid social change.
Today's meeting can be seen as another one of these youth rallies, and is
meant to be another important step towards a deepened understanding of
the meaning and sense of being young today, at the dawn of the year 2000.
In this atmosphere of joy and prayer I am pleased to turn my thoughts
first of all to Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, Archbishop of Milan, whom I
heartily thank for the words of homage he expressed in the name of all present.
I also greet Bishop Assi of Cremona and the Prelates from the other Lombard
Dioceses present here.
I affectionately greet each of you present here, dear boys and girls, and
through you, I would like to embrace every young person in your region.
Christ responds to whoever calls upon him
2. In your name some of your friends - an engaged couple from
Cremona, a young man from Crema and a young lady from Lodi asked me several
questions that touch closely upon the problems of today's young people.
I am grateful for their frankness and the confidence they have placed in
me. I would like to add that these meetings with young people always bring up
some questions, but they provide even more answers. It is good that these
questions come from the answers, but it is also necessary that the answers come
from the questions. This is the logic behind our meetings. I will simply try to
answer their questions, although I realize that I cannot be exhaustive. I would
like to meditate together with you on the important topics that have been
proposed, in an atmosphere of listening and meditation, so that Christ can speak
to each person in the depths of his or her heart. He knows our secrets; he is
ready to respond to whoever calls upon him and he even foresees our deepest
needs.
Open your hearts to Christ, dear young people. Through his
resurrection he proved that life is stronger than death.
Illuminated by this certitude, our existence becomes an extraordinary
adventure which is worth facing with enthusiasm, without, however, forgetting to
pay attention to God's plan and his message of salvation. "If you live according
to my teaching", Jesus says, "you are truly my disciples; then you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free" (Jn 8:31-32).
Remain in Christ: this is what is essential for each of you.
Remain in Christ, listening to his voice and following his precepts. Thus you
will know the truth which will set you free; you will encounter the Love which
transforms and makes holy.
Everything, in fact, has new meaning and value when considered in the
light of the Redeemer's person and teaching.
3. Now let us turn to your questions and begin with that of the young
fiancés from Cremona who ask how to deepen the authentic reasons and demands
of love which is open to life without becoming conditioned by the dominant
culture of consumerism.
Dear friends, love is not merely something spontaneous or instinctive;
it is a choice which needs constant confirmation. When a man and woman are
united in true love, each assumes the other's destiny - his future - as his own,
though it involves hard work and suffering, so that the other "may have life and
have it to the full" (Jn 10:10). These words of Jesus refer to all true love.
In this way alone does one love "seriously", and not just lightly, nor
only for a time. When the other hears you say: "I love you", he or she
understands that these words are true and he too will take the experience of
love "seriously".
It is necessary to love like Jesus. The most profound reason for
Christian love is found in the words and example of Christ: "Love one another as
I have loved you" (Jn 15:12). This is true for every type of human love; it
holds true for the love between two engaged persons, the love in preparation for
marriage and a family.
Love, then, which is preparing for marriage, is also preparing to
generate new life. This task should be considered as a gift from God and a
great act of trust on the human being's part.
In such a view children are not something to be feared; they do not "rob"
you of freedom; they are not an intrusion which deprives you of time, energy and
money. Children are not unwelcome guests, but God's blessing which overcomes all
selfishness in the couple and helps them to experience reality with gratitude
and liberating love.
We die each day in order to rise
4. We could develop this topic and add many other considerations,
but you can do that by yourselves, helped by your teachers. Let us now go on to
the question of the young man from Crema who has brought up the topic of
death.
Today there are many ways to die: old age; illness; cancer, the dread of
so many people; drugs; AIDS. People die forgotten by this society of efficiency;
they die unexpectedly in traffic accidents or at work. There are even those who
die before birth because someone has claimed the right of deciding about human
life, which is sacred.
Death is appalling, especially when it strikes a young person. Death,
however, can be an experience of extraordinary solidarity. Death makes us
brothers and sisters: St Francis called death his "sister". In a world which
casts death aside and does everything to hide it, it is not futile, but rather
urgently necessary to recall the inevitability of an event which is part of the
"history" of man, of every man.
There is also, however, the solidarity of those who "are at the side of"
a "dying person" since death has its most tragic aspect in "being alone"; that
solitude which became Jesus' cry: "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
(Mk 15:34).
How many persons doing various types of volunteer work show their
solidarity with the person being touched by the experience of death! Thank you,
all you "good Samaritans".
You must be reconciled to death. No matter how long life may be,
death is inevitable: not as an end, but as the supreme, decisive act of the
human being in regard to his or her own future. Every season of life thus
becomes a simultaneous experience of life and death.
For us believers, however, we die each day in order to rise. This
is another dimension, a totally Christian one. At the centre of the Christian
experience, in fact, is the crucifix: the one who passed through the mystery of
death, opening up a shining way of resurrection. We die to rise again.
For each of us the great adventure of life as a process of gradual
transformation into the crucified and risen Christ began on the day of our
baptism. Being reconciled to death means thoroughly accepting life; it also
means sharing the bitter cup of solitude and suffering which so many of our
brothers and sisters are drinking. Such solidarity makes death more human and
life more authentic.
5. Dear young people, do not be upset by the thought of death; it should
rather help you appreciate youth as a time of grace and mission. It should help
you assume with Christ the task of loving and evangelizing life. Here we
have the other theme of our reflection. There are three conditions that help you
to fulfill your demanding mission; they are represented by the three symbols
of this evening's vigil: water, the cross, fire.
Young people of Lombardy, be as lively as a fountain of water;
cultivate a deep spiritual life. Like Christ, a fountain which springs up to
eternal life, your heart will thus be united with Jesus, it will become a
fountain which quenches all those who draw near to you and meet you.
Any young person who wants to love life cannot neglect a time of prayer,
silence, meditation and contemplation. He or she cannot fail to nourish a strong
and tender devotion to Mary, who here in Caravaggio is venerated as Our Lady of
the Fountain. This was expressed here last evening in a different way. He cannot
neglect the time to share his own faith experience with his brothers and
sisters: in the ecclesial community, the youth club (that sound, God-given
institution in this Lombard region), associations or movements. A profound
spiritual life is an indispensable requisite for a love called to the fullness
of the experience of marriage; it is the prelude to a generous, responsible gift
of self to God and neighbour; it is a preparation for a positive, decisive
response to charity in the consecrated life. All true love matures in prayer. We
must drink from these fountains, and the fountains can be reached through
prayer. Ultimately, Love is God. God is Love. This Love manifested itself,
revealed itself, became man in Christ Jesus. It is always at work through his
Spirit, this Spirit which has been poured out into our hearts. He is the mystery
of our hearts. The Holy Spirit has been poured out, but in order truly to be
poured out, in order to transform our "self", our hearts, through this
gratuitous outpouring, he must encounter us. How can this happen in the absence
of prayer? So, all true love matures in prayer, becomes deeper, more serious,
more complete.
Deepen your knowledge of the Church's teaching
6. The second condition is to learn what, according to St
Paul, is called the wisdom of the cross: the other symbol you have
proposed.
It is not a question simply of intellectual learning, but of a knowledge
nourished by personal contact and dialogue with God: he is Life to meet and
experience; Truth to follow; a Way to be embraced without hesitation.
The Holy Spirit helps the baptized be conformed to Christ and ready to
defend and spread the Gospel. Remember it well: the Gospel is proclaimed with
your whole life. The Gospel is the proclamation of Christ "crucified and
risen". Thus, in daily contact with Jesus, you can learn the wisdom of the
cross, "a stumbling- block to Jews and an absurdity to Gentiles" (1 Cor 1:23).
Wanting to serve and evangelize life, therefore, means the constant,
generous effort to become familiar with the Gospel, to deepen your knowledge of
the Church's teaching, to know contemporary culture, vigorously exposing every
temptation to undervalue human dignity, subjecting it to fancy, instinct or the
abuse of one person by another.
7. Dear young people, do not be afraid to defend life and all of life.
Life in its germinal stage, as well as at its passing; the life of those forced
to the fringes, as well as of those who marginalize themselves, of those who
squander their own wealth on the road that leads to self-destruction, as well as
of those who waste it in banal ways and escapism.
Like the apostles, like the saints of this region of yours, and they are
many, like all those who have allowed the Lord Jesus to choose them, "nor should
you (young people) be silent" (Message for 1992 World Youth Day). You must
say and cry out that life is a wonderful gift from God, and no one is its
master; that abortion and euthanasia are horrible crimes against human dignity;
that drug addiction is an irresponsible rejection of the beauty of life; that
pornography impoverishes and dries up the heart. You must also remember that
sickness and suffering are not a punishment or condemnation, but rather an
opportunity to let the mystery of man enter your heart; that in the sick person,
the disabled person, the child, the old person, the adolescent, the young
person, the adult and in every person the image of God shines forth.
More especially, however, you must cry out to the world that life is a
fragile gift that is worthy of absolute respect; that God does not look at
appearances, but at the heart; that the life marked by the cross and suffering
deserves even more attention, care and tenderness.
Here is true youth: it is fire, your other symbol, which separates the
dross of evil from the beauty and dignity of things and persons; it is fire
which warms the coldness of the world with enthusiasm; it is the fire of love
which instills confidence and leads to joy. In order to be so, however, your
youth must be enriched by faithfulness and sacrifice, letting yourselves be
guided by the Holy Spirit who leads the Church towards a renewed Pentecost of
hope and charity. He is the fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit.
8. Dear boys and girls, be missionaries of life; follow Christ and
consecrate yourselves to his service wherever he calls you, and in whatever
condition he has put you. The family, the youth club, work, leisure, the groups
and associations to which you belong, are the places for your mission in the
broad context of the new evangelization.
Do not be afraid to be faithful to Christ
With your speech and your life proclaim what you "have heard" and
learned from the Lord. It is not always easy; at times it takes a great deal of
courage to be consistent with your faith and honestly to take up the truth of
the Gospel. Sometimes the price is even marginalization, but do not be afraid
to keep your fidelity to Christ intact. You can be sure that he will never
abandon you.
Dearly beloved, Christ is the surest of friends. He is a friend who does
not abandon, who never disappoints. His words in the Gospel are demanding, they
are difficult, but they are words that are full of Truth. This Truth makes us
free; this Truth is the true basis of friendship: "You are my friends. I no
longer call you servants. I have called you friends". He called us his friends
because he confided to us the whole mystery of his Father, the unfathomable
mystery, the divine mystery. He made us enter into this mystery, has shared it
with us, sealing it with his cross and resurrection. Crucified and risen.
Friend. Just as he is here before us this evening, his image must go with you
always. Crucified and risen, he must always go with you, repeating in every
situation, at every moment, in every trial: "I have called you my friend".
May the Virgin Mother of God, the Star of the new evangelization, help
you and sustain you in this often tiring, but always exhilarating task. May she
always help and sustain you and always be as she is here, at the foot of the
cross, to tell us: "Behold your son, your daughter". Behold, your son, your
daughter, all of us, pressed to this motherly heart of the Blessed Virgin.
