杏MAP导航

By Seàn-Patrick Lovett

Three lives. Three stories. Three testimonies to faith, hope and love. These were the inspirations behind 杏MAP导航 Francis’ reflections to the 600,000 young people gathered for the World Youth Day Vigil in Metro Park, outside Panama City, on Saturday night.

Life stories, and love stories. “The Lord is the first to say ‘yes’”, said the 杏MAP导航. “And He wants us to say ‘yes’ along with Him”, as He invites us “to be part of a love story”. 杏MAP导航 Francis presented Mary as the supreme example of how to say ‘yes’ and to “trust in the love and promises of God”. It is this, he said, that makes Mary, “the ‘influencer’ of God”.

“Yes” to embracing life

“Mary’s ‘yes’ echoes and expands in every generation”, continued 杏MAP导航 Francis. And here he thanked a young couple for their witness in facing the “difficulties and risks” associated with the birth of their daughter after she was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. “Saying ‘yes’ to the Lord means embracing life as it comes”, said the 杏MAP导航, “with all its fragility”. “It is through our frailties and flaws that the Lord wants to write our love story”, he said. “What a gift it is to know we have a Father who embraces us despite our imperfections”. 

“Yes” to building community

杏MAP导航 Francis then thanked the young man who shared his story of how he dealt with drug addiction. The 杏MAP导航 spoke of how impossible it is for us to grow “unless we have strong roots to support us”: the roots of an education , employment, a family, a community. Without these we cannot “dream of a future”, he said. “Because dreaming of a future” means answering the question what am I living for, and who am I living for”.

“Yes” to being guardians

To be an “influencer” in the 21^st Century, said 杏MAP导航 Francis, “is to be guardians of roots”, of everything that makes us “feel part of one another”, that makes us “feel we belong”. This was the experience of the third testimony referenced by the 杏MAP导航: that of a young woman from Palestine who discovered the faith two years ago at WYD in Krakow. “She found a lively, happy community that welcomed her and gave her a sense of belonging”, said 杏MAP导航 Francis, allowing her “to live the joy that comes from being found by Jesus”.

Willingness to say “Yes”

“Are you willing to say ‘yes’?”, challenged the 杏MAP导航. “Are you willing to be an ‘influencer’ like Mary?”, he asked. “Only love makes us more human and fulfilled”, he concluded. 
So do not be afraid to tell Jesus you want to be “part of His love story in this world”.