Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Reflections on WYD and a cry for peace

Today’s General Audience began at 10:30am in Saint Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and faithful who were present from various parts of Italy and every part of the world.  In his discourse, spoken in Italian, the Pope focused on his recent Apostolic Voyage to Brazil for the World Youth Day celebration.

After the syntheses of the catechesis were presented in various languages, Pope Francis voiced particular greetings to groups of the faithful who were present.  He then invited all those present to live the upcoming day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East and the whole world as an intense demonstration of faith.  A special program of prayer is being prepared and will take place in Saint Peter’s Square on Saturday evening from 7:00pm to 11:00pm local time.

The General Audience concluded with the singing of the Pater Noster and the bestowal of the Apostolic Blessing.


Catechesis of His Holiness, Pope Francis
for the General Audience

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

First of all, I want to thank the Lord, because He was the one who guided everything with his Providence.  For me, coming from the Americas, it was a wonderful gift!  And for this I also thank Our Lady of Aparecida, who accompanied the entire journey: I made the pilgrimage to the great Brazilian National Shrine, and her venerated image was always present on the stage at the World Youth Day.  This made me very happy because Our Lady of Aparecida is very important in the history of the Church in Brazil, but also in the history of the church throughout Latin America; in Apaecida, the Bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean participated in a General Assembly with Pope Benedict: a very significant part of the pastoral plan for that part of the world where the majority of the population is Roman Catholic.

Even if I have already done so, I want to renew my gratitude to all the civil and ecclesial authorities, to the volunteers, the security staff, to the parish communities of Rio de Janeiro and other cities in Brazil where the pilgrims were welcomed with great joy.  In fact, the welcome extended by Brazilian families and parishes was one of the most beautiful aspects of this World Youth Day.  The Brazilians are wonderful people.  Wonderful!  They really have big hearts.  A pilgrimage always involves discomfort, but a warm welcome helps the pilgrims to overcome their discomfort and it also transforms the experience into an occasion of getting to know one another and becoming friends.  Ties of this kind then remain, especially in prayer.  Also, the Church grows throughout the world, as a network of true friends in Jesus Christ, a network that enwraps you even as it frees you.  Therefore, welcome: and this is the first word that emerges from the experience of the voyage in Brazil.  Welcome!

Another summarizing word might be festival. The World Youth Day is always a festival because when a city is filled with young men and women who run through its streets carrying flags from all the countries of the world, greeting one another, embracing one another, this is truly a festival.  It is a sign for all people, not only for believers.  But then there is an even greater feast, the festival of faith, when everyone praises God together, they sing, they listen to the Word of God, they adore in silence: all of this is the culmination of the World Youth Day, the real purpose of this great pilgrimage, and it is lived in a particularly significant way during the great Vigil of Saturday evening and during the final Mass.

This is the great festival, the festival of faith and of fraternity, which begins in this world and has no end.  But this is possible only with the Lord!  Without the Lord’s love, there is no such thing as a true festival for man!  Welcome, festival.  But we shouldn’t forget the third element: mission.  This World Youth Day was characterized by a missionary theme: Go and make disciples of all nations.  We heard Jesus’ word: and the mission that he gives to everyone!  And the command given by the Risen Christ to the disciples: Go! – go outside of yourselves, from every enclosure and take the light and the love of the Gospel to everyone, even to the extreme limits of existence!  And this was truly the command of Jesus that I entrusted to the youth who filled Copacabana beach, as far as the eye could see.  Copacabana was a symbolic place, on the seaside, which made me think of the beaches at the edge of the Sea of Galilee.  Even today, the Lord repeats: Go … and he adds: I am with you always … This is fundamental!  Only with Christ can we announce the gospel.  Without him, we can do nothing – he told us so himself (cf Jn 15:5).  With him, however, united to him, we can do so much.  Even a young man, a young woman who in the eyes of the world might count for little or nothing, in the eyes of God is an apostle of the Kingdom, a source of hope for God!  I want to ask all the young people, but I’m not sure if today there are young people in the Piazza: are there young people in the Piazza?  There are a few!  I want to ask all of you: do you want to be a sign of hope for God?  Do you want to be a sign of hope? (the youth answer ‘Yes!’)  Do you want to be a sign of hope for the Church?  (the youth answer ‘Yes!’)  A young heart, which welcomes the love of Christ, can be transformed in hope for others, is an immense force!  But you, young men and women, all the youth, you must transform and be transformed in hope!  Open the doors to a new world of hope.  This is your task.  Do you want to be signs of hope for all of us? (the youth answer ‘Yes!’)  Let us think about the significance of the multitude of young people who encountered the risen Christ in Rio de Janeiro, and who now carry his love in their daily lives, we see it, we communicate it.  They won’t end up in the newspapers, because they won’t commit violent acts, or scandalous actions, so they won’t end up in the news.  But if they remain united to Jesus, if they build his Kingdom, construct bonds of friendship, share with one another, work for mercy, they will be a powerful force to make the world more just, more beautiful, to transform it!  Now I want to ask the young men and women who are here in the Piazza: do you have the courage to accept this challenge? (the youth answer ‘Yes!’)  Do you have the courage, or not? I heard a few voices … (the youth answer ‘Yes!’) Do you really want to be a source of love and of mercy that has the courage to want to transform the world? (the youth answer ‘Yes!’)

Dear friends, the experience of the World Youth Day reminds us of the greatest news in history, the Good News, even if it doesn’t appear in the newspapers or on television: we are loved by God, who is our Father and who has sent his Son Jesus to be close to all of us and to save us.  He sent Jesus to save, to forgive everyone, because He always forgives: He always forgives, because He is good and merciful.  Remember: welcome, festival and mission.  Three words: welcome, festival and mission.  These words are not only a memory of what happened in Rio, but they are the soul of our life and the lives of our divine communities, helping us to build a world of justice and solidarity.

Following the syntheses of this catechesis which were presented in various languages, the Holy Father greeted the pilgrims and visitors from various parts of the world.  Here is the text of his greeting to English-speaking visitors:

I offer an affectionate greeting to all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from England, Wales, Malta, Ethiopia, Australia, South Korea, Canada and the United States. May your stay in the Eternal City confirm you in love for our Lord and his Church. God bless you all!

After the greetings to pilgrims of various linguistic groupings, the Holy Father issued a special call for prayer:


Next Saturday we will live together a special day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, in the Middle East, and throughout the whole world.  We will pray also for peace in our hearts, because peace begins in the heart!  I renew my invitation to the whole Church to live intensely this day, and even now, I express gratitude to other Christian brothers, to our brothers from other religions and to men and women of good will who want to be united with us, according to their own ways and means at this time.  I exhort particularly the faithful of Rome and the pilgrims and participants in the vigil of prayer, here in Saint Peter’s Square at 7:00pm (on Saturday) to pray to the Lord for the great gift of peace.  Let all the lands of the earth cry out for peace!

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