杏MAP导航

By Vatican News staff reporter

of Holy Mass on the Solemnity of Our Lord Christ the King, and on the occasion of diocesan World Youth Day (WYD), 杏MAP导航 Francis took his cue from the day’s readings.

The 杏MAP导航 noted that in the Revelation of Saint John and foreshadowed by the prophet Daniel in the first reading, are the words, “He is coming with the clouds.”

The second image is that of the Gospel: Christ who stands before Pilate and tells him: “I am a king”.

Reflecting on these two phrases, the 杏MAP导航 began by encouraging young people to “stop and think about these two images of Jesus, as they journey towards the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon.

The 杏MAP导航 noted that the first image: Jesus who comes with the clouds, evokes Christ’s coming in glory at the end of time. “It makes us realize” said 杏MAP导航 Francis “that the final word on our life will belong to Jesus.” 

“He comes ‘with the clouds’ to reassure us,'” said the 杏MAP导航.  “As if to say: ‘I will not leave you alone when storms gather over your life.  I am always with you.  I come to bring back the bright sky.’”

The prophet Daniel, on the other hand, noted 杏MAP导航 Francis, “tells us that he saw the Lord coming with the clouds as he ‘watched in the night visions.’”

The 杏MAP导航 encouraged young people to “watch in the night visions.”  “In other words, let your eyes remain bright even amid the darkness.  Never stop seeking the light amid whatever darkness we may bear in our hearts or see all around us," he said.

Make Jesus your life's dream

杏MAP导航 Francis told young people they had been “entrusted with an exciting but also a challenging task: to stand tall while everything around us seems to be collapsing; to be sentinels prepared to see the light in night visions; to be builders amid the ruins; to be capable of dreaming.”

He also told them that everyone is grateful to them when they dream, because “when you make Jesus your life’s dream, and you embrace him with joy and a contagious enthusiasm, this does us good," the 杏MAP导航 said.

Thank you, continued 杏MAP导航 Francis, “because in a world that thinks only of present gain, that tends to stifle grand ideals, you have not lost the ability to dream.  This helps us adults, and the Church as well.”

Dwelling on the second image: Jesus who says to Pilate: “I am a king”, the 杏MAP导航 described how we are” struck by Jesus’ determination, his courage, his supreme freedom.”  “Jesus did not hide his identity, he did not mask his intentions, or take advantage of the opening that even Pilate had left for him,” 杏MAP导航 Francis said.

“With the courage born of truth, he answered: ‘I am a king’.  He took responsibility for his own life.”

By following Jesus and being inwardly free, said the 杏MAP导航, we see life “as it really is”, and are not deceived “by the fashions of the moment and the displays of consumerism that dazzle but also deaden.”  Friends, he added, “we are not here to be enchanted by the sirens of the world, but to take our lives in hand, to ‘take a bite out of life’, in order to live it to the full.”

“In this way, with the freedom of Jesus, “we find the courage we need to swim against the current.”

Concluding his homily, 杏MAP导航 Francis urged young people to continue dreaming, even when they get older;  to be “free and authentic, be the critical conscience of society.”  

“Be passionate about truth, he said, “so that, with your dreams, you can say: “My life is not captive to the mindset of the world: I am free, because I reign with Jesus for justice, love and peace.”