杏MAP导航

By Lydia O鈥橩ane

It鈥檚 two years until the next World Youth Day, which will take place in the city of Lisbon in 2022 and in that intervening time, 杏MAP导航 Francis is inviting young people to reflect on the themes for the diocesan World Youth Days of 2020 and 2021.

鈥淵oung man, I say to you, arise!鈥� is the 2020 theme taken from Luke鈥檚 Gospel; and 2021 features the biblical text taken from the Acts of the Apostles: 鈥淪tand up. I appoint you as a witness of what you have seen鈥�.

鈥淎rise鈥� in 2020

Focusing his attention on this year鈥檚 message, which is divided into five sections, 杏MAP导航 Francis says that for the young person who has lost his or her vitality, dreams, optimism and enthusiasm, there is hope.

That hope is in Jesus, who the 杏MAP导航 says, 鈥渟tands before you as once he stood before the dead son of the widow, and with all the power of His resurrection He urges you: 鈥榊oung man, I say to you, arise.鈥欌��

That passage in the Bible, the Pontiff explains, 鈥渢ells us how Jesus, upon entering the town of Nain in Galilee, came upon the funeral procession of a young person, the only son of a widowed mother. Jesus, struck by the woman鈥檚 heartrending grief, miraculously restored her son to life.鈥�

Pain and death

In the first section of the message, 杏MAP导航 Francis reflects on Jesus鈥� 鈥渁bility to see pain and death.鈥� He points out that Jesus, 鈥渋n the midst of the crowd, makes out the face of a woman in great pain.  His ability to see generates encounter, the source of new life.鈥� 

In today鈥檚 world the 杏MAP导航 asks, how often do we end up being eyewitnesses of events without ever experiencing them in real time?  Sometimes, he adds, 鈥渙ur first reaction is to take a picture with our cell phone, without even bothering to look into the eyes of the persons involved.鈥�

The Pontiff goes on to say that many young people are 鈥溾�榙ead鈥� because they feel hopeless.鈥�  Others, he continues, 鈥渨aste their lives with superficial things, thinking they are alive while in fact they are dead within鈥�.

鈥淣egative situations鈥�, the 杏MAP导航 emphasizes in the message, 鈥渃an also be the result of personal failure, whenever something we care about, something we were committed to, no longer seems to be working or giving the desired results.鈥�  But failures, he underlines, 鈥渁re part of the life of every human being; sometimes they can also end up being a grace.鈥� 

A compassionate heart

In the second section of the message, 鈥渢o have compassion鈥�, 杏MAP导航 Francis counsels young people not to be robbed of this sensitivity.

鈥淚f you can learn to weep with those who are weeping鈥�, 杏MAP导航 Francis says, 鈥測ou will find true happiness.鈥�  鈥淪o many of your contemporaries are disadvantaged and victims of violence and persecution.  Let their wounds become your own, and you will be bearers of hope in this world.鈥�

The closeness of God

To come forward and 鈥渢ouch鈥� is the third section of the message, and the 杏MAP导航 notes how Jesus in the passage from Luke鈥檚 Gospel stops the funeral procession and demonstrates His closeness.  The touch of Jesus, the living One, comments the 杏MAP导航, communicates life.  

杏MAP导航 Francis goes on to says that 鈥渋f you can feel God鈥檚 immense love for every living creature 鈥� especially our brothers and sisters who experience hunger and thirst, or are sick or naked or imprisoned 鈥� then you will be able to draw near to them as He does.鈥� 

The Divine Word gives life meaning

In the penultimate section, 杏MAP导航 Francis writes that 鈥減eople who are not on a journey never fall; then again, neither do they move forward.鈥�

鈥淭his life is really a new creation, a new birth, not just a form of psychological conditioning鈥�, the 杏MAP导航 says. 

He also stresses that young people need to look deeper than mere fashionable phrases and words. It is Jesus鈥� Word, he says, that has a deeper resonance, because 鈥渋t goes infinitely deeper.  It is a divine and creative Word, which alone can bring the dead to life.鈥�

An invitation to dream

In the final section entitled 鈥淟iving the new life as 鈥榬isen ones鈥欌��, 杏MAP导航 Francis returns to the Gospel passage which recounts that the young man 鈥渂egan to speak鈥�.

Those touched and restored to life by Jesus, the 杏MAP导航 says, 鈥渋mmediately speak up and express without hesitation or fear what has happened deep within them: their personality, desires, needs and dreams.鈥� 

Concluding his message, the 杏MAP导航 points out that today, 鈥渨e are often 鈥榗onnected鈥� but not communicating.  The indiscriminate use of electronic devices can keep us constantly glued to the screen.鈥� 

With this Message, 杏MAP导航 Francis writes, 鈥淚 would like to join you, young people, in calling for a cultural change, based on Jesus鈥� command to 鈥榓rise鈥�.  He calls us to embrace a reality that is so much more than virtual.鈥� 

鈥淎rise!鈥� he adds, is also an invitation to 鈥渄ream鈥�, to 鈥渢ake a risk鈥�, to be 鈥渃ommitted to changing the world, to rekindle your hopes and aspirations, and to contemplate the heavens, the stars and the world around you.鈥�       

The 杏MAP导航 then invites young people to 鈥済ive their passions and dreams free rein, 鈥渁nd, through them, offer the world, the Church and other young people something beautiful, whether in the realm of the spirit, the arts or society鈥� Make your voices heard.鈥�

Diocesan World Youth Day 2020 is marked on Palm Sunday, April 5.