The Holy Father, Pope Francis has sent a video message to young people who are participating in a Youth Gathering which has been organized by the Episcopal Conference of the Antilles (AECYA). The Gathering is taking place in the Archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France (Martinique) from 10 to 23 July 2018.
Good morning,
I warmly greet all of you, young people who are seeking to transform the Caribbean family. Good work. I can see that you really want this. Keep going forward.
Yours is a good topic, you are young, but I ask you: Are you young or are you already growing old? Because if you are already growing old, you will not be able to do anything. You have to be youthful young people ... with all the strength that characterizes youth in order to transform. And the first thing you have to do is to see whether you are settled. No, if you are settled, things will not go ahead. You have to uproot those who have already begun to put down roots and start fighting. You need to transform, to go on ahead and to make your own the teachings laid out in the post-Synodal Exhortation on the Family in order to help your family, in order to transform the Caribbean family. Carry your family forward today for tomorrow: which is to say, in the present for the sake of the future. And today, in order to describe the present, you must know how to describe it, you need to know how to understand the face of tomorrow. And in your journey from today to tomorrow, you need the doctrine on the family and it is outlined in the fourth chapter of the Exhortation: that is the nucleus. Study it. Look there and you will find guidelines. That's for today and tomorrow, but we also have yesterday. We cannot look to tomorrow without also looking at yesterday. We cannot look at the future without reflecting on the past. You are preparing to transform something that has been passed on to you by your elders. You are receiving yesterday's history, yesterday's traditions. You have roots and I want to speak with you about this for a moment: you will never be able to do anything, either in the present or in the future, if you are not rooted in your past, if you do not know your history, your culture, your family; if you do not keep your roots well established within you. From your roots, you will be able to find the strength to move forward. All of us and all of you were not manufactured in a laboratory, we have a history, we all have roots. And everything that we do, the fruit that we bear and give to others, the beauty that we can accomplish in the future, everything comes from our roots.
A poet concluded his poem with this phrase: Everything that the tree brings forth in flower, comes from that which it holds underground. Look back toward your own roots too, look back to your grandparents, look back to those who are aged and talk with them, and then take what they say and keep going forward. Transformed, but in this way, you will still have the treasure of your roots, the strength to transform your families. This is a transforming tension. There can be no transformation without tension.
I told you that the nucleus of Amoris Laetitia is the fourth chapter. How to experience love. How to experience it in the family setting. Speak among yourselves about chapter four. You will have much strength to go on ahead and to effect transformation. And do not forget one thing: that love has its own strength. Love has its own strength. And love never ends. Saint Paul says: Faith, hope and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love (cf 1 Cor 13:13). You are transforming something that is for all eternity. That alone will remain forever. You have done very good work. Keep going. May God bless you, I am praying for you and please, don't forget to pray for me. Goodbye!
Transcription of the Video Message sent by the Holy Father, Pope Francis
to young people gathered in the Archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France
Good morning,
I warmly greet all of you, young people who are seeking to transform the Caribbean family. Good work. I can see that you really want this. Keep going forward.
Yours is a good topic, you are young, but I ask you: Are you young or are you already growing old? Because if you are already growing old, you will not be able to do anything. You have to be youthful young people ... with all the strength that characterizes youth in order to transform. And the first thing you have to do is to see whether you are settled. No, if you are settled, things will not go ahead. You have to uproot those who have already begun to put down roots and start fighting. You need to transform, to go on ahead and to make your own the teachings laid out in the post-Synodal Exhortation on the Family in order to help your family, in order to transform the Caribbean family. Carry your family forward today for tomorrow: which is to say, in the present for the sake of the future. And today, in order to describe the present, you must know how to describe it, you need to know how to understand the face of tomorrow. And in your journey from today to tomorrow, you need the doctrine on the family and it is outlined in the fourth chapter of the Exhortation: that is the nucleus. Study it. Look there and you will find guidelines. That's for today and tomorrow, but we also have yesterday. We cannot look to tomorrow without also looking at yesterday. We cannot look at the future without reflecting on the past. You are preparing to transform something that has been passed on to you by your elders. You are receiving yesterday's history, yesterday's traditions. You have roots and I want to speak with you about this for a moment: you will never be able to do anything, either in the present or in the future, if you are not rooted in your past, if you do not know your history, your culture, your family; if you do not keep your roots well established within you. From your roots, you will be able to find the strength to move forward. All of us and all of you were not manufactured in a laboratory, we have a history, we all have roots. And everything that we do, the fruit that we bear and give to others, the beauty that we can accomplish in the future, everything comes from our roots.
A poet concluded his poem with this phrase: Everything that the tree brings forth in flower, comes from that which it holds underground. Look back toward your own roots too, look back to your grandparents, look back to those who are aged and talk with them, and then take what they say and keep going forward. Transformed, but in this way, you will still have the treasure of your roots, the strength to transform your families. This is a transforming tension. There can be no transformation without tension.
I told you that the nucleus of Amoris Laetitia is the fourth chapter. How to experience love. How to experience it in the family setting. Speak among yourselves about chapter four. You will have much strength to go on ahead and to effect transformation. And do not forget one thing: that love has its own strength. Love has its own strength. And love never ends. Saint Paul says: Faith, hope and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love (cf 1 Cor 13:13). You are transforming something that is for all eternity. That alone will remain forever. You have done very good work. Keep going. May God bless you, I am praying for you and please, don't forget to pray for me. Goodbye!
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