A prayer encounter entitled A thousand roads to Rome between His Holiness, Pope Francis and youth from various parts of Italy began today. This gathering was organized by the Italian Bishops Conference in preparation for the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which has for its theme: Youth, faith and vocational discernment. The Synod will take place from 3 to 28 October 2018 at the Vatican.
At 4:30pm today, after tens of thousands of young people had arrived from approximately 200 dioceses across Italy and having been welcomed in the Circus Maximus in Rome, the young people enjoyed music and a time of fraternal gathering prior to the arrival of the Holy Father.
At 6:30pm, Pope Francis arrived at the Circus Maximus to meet the young people and to pray with them. After circulating among them aboard the popemobile and having been officially greeted by a few of the Italian youth, the Pope began a dialogue with some of the young people. Then, following a moment of singing, prayer and testimony, Pope Francis shared a reflection with them to set the stage for the night vigil which included an evening of celebration, music and testimonials and concluded with the transfer from the Circus Maximus to Saint Peter's Square, stopping along the way in various Roman churches to observe the White Night by participating in various spiritual moments which included the observance of art and culture, theatre and dance.
The gathering began with greetings offered by Elena from Modena in the name of all the Italian youth. At the conclusion of her remarks, a gift was presented to the Holy Father on behalf of all the youth as a sign of their gratitude for this special meeting.
First question
The question was asked by two young people: Letizia (23 years old) and by Lucamatto (21 years old). They expressed two aspects of the same question, which concerned the creation of a personal identity and of a person’s dreams.
Letizia
Dear Pope Francis, my name is Letizia, I am 23 years old and I am studying at university. I want to say a word about our dreams and about how we see the future. When I had to make the important choice about what I would do at the end of my fifth (senior) year, I was afraid to think about what I was truly dreaming about becoming because it might signify complete surprises in the eyes of others and in my own understanding.
I had decided to entrust myself to the opinion of some adults who I admired because of their professions and their choices. I turned to the professor that I most respected, my Art professor, the one that teaches the most exciting things for me. I told him I wanted to follow his path, become like him. And he responded that now life was not as it used to be, that times had changed, that there was a crisis, that I would not find work, and that instead, I should choose a field of study that better responds to the needs of the market. Choose economics, he told me. I felt great disappointment and fear; I felt that the dream I had confided in him had been betrayed when I had been looking for encouragement from the figure I wanted to imitate. In the end, I chose my path, I chose to follow my passion and I study Art.
Then, one day, in a classroom where I am a teacher, one of my girls told me to trust myself, to value my choices. She told me that I was a model for her and that she wanted to do what I did.
It was then, in that moment that I consciously decided that I would be fully committed to being a teacher: I would not be that traitorous and disappointing adult, but I would give time and energy, with all the burdens that it could entail, because a person was entrusted to me.
Lucamatteo
Holy Father, when we look at our future we are used to imagining it dyed with gray, dark, threatening colors. To tell you the truth to me, I seem to see a white slide, where there is nothing ...
Sometimes I tried to draw it, my future. But in the end I see something that does not satisfy me. I try to explain myself: I think we are the ones who design it, but we often start with great plans, a kind of great fresco from which, in spite of ourselves, we take away some details, we take away some pieces. The result is that projects and dreams, for fear of others and their judgment, end up being smaller than what they were in the beginning.
And above all, it ends up that I create something with which I am not happy.
Response by the Holy Father
Good evening. I tell you the truth: I knew the questions and I have done a draft of a response, but also – hearing the questions now – I would add something spontaneously. Because the way they asked the questions goes beyond what is written.
You, Letizia, you said a very important word, which is dream. And you both said another very important word: fear. These two words will enlighten us a little.
Dreams are important. They keep our eyes wide open, help us to embrace the horizon, to cultivate hope in every daily action. And the dreams of young people are the most important of all. A young man who cannot dream is an anesthetized youth; he will not be able to understand life, the strength of life. Dreams wake you up, bring you in, dreams are the brightest stars, they indicate a different path for humanity. Behold, you have in your heart these shining stars that are your dreams: they are your responsibility and your treasure. Let them be your future too! And this is the work you must do: transforming today's dreams into the reality of the future, and this requires courage, as we have all felt. An idol said to this girl: No, no: study economics because you will die of hunger with this, and to the boy: yes, the project is good but we will take away this piece and this and this ..., and in the end there is nothing left. No! Go forward with courage, courage in the face of resistance, difficulties, everything that makes our dreams go out.
Of course, dreams must be made to grow, to be purified, tested and shared. But have you ever wondered where your dreams come from? My dreams, where do they come from? Are they born while I am watching television? Listening to a friend? Daydreaming? Are they big dreams or small, miserable dreams that are content with as little as possible? Dreams of comfort, dreams of well-being: No, no, I'm fine like that, I'm not going any further. But these dreams will make you die; they will rob you of life! They will make your life not a big thing! Dreams of tranquility, dreams that make young people fall asleep and make a young man lie down on a sofa. It is sad to see young people on the sofa, watching life passing them by. Young people - I've said it before - without dreams, who retire at 20, 22: what a bad thing, a retired young man! Instead, the young man who dreams big things goes on, he does not retire early. I got it? This is what young people are meant to be.
The Bible tells us that great dreams are capable of bearing fruit: great dreams are those that give fruitfulness, capable of sowing peace, of sowing fraternity, of sowing joy, like today; behold, these are great dreams because they think of everyone in terms of us. Once, a priest asked me a question: Tell me, what is the opposite of 'I'?. And I naively slipped into the trap and said: The opposite of me is 'you' - No, Father: this is the seed of war. The contrary of 'I' is 'us'. If I say: the opposite is you, I make war; if I say that the opposite of egoism is we, I make peace, I make the community, I carry forward the dreams of friendship, of peace. Think: true dreams are the dreams of us. Great dreams include others, involve others, are extroverted, share, generate new life. And the great dreams, in order to remain such, need an inexhaustible source of hope, of an Infinite which blows in and dilates them. Great dreams need God in order not to become mirages or delirium of omnipotence. You can dream great things, but alone, such dreams are dangerous, because you can fall into the delirium of omnipotence. But with God, do not be afraid: go forward. Dream big.
And then, the word you two used: fear. You know? Young people’s dreams are a little scary to adults. They are scary because when a young man dreams he goes far. Perhaps young people are afraid because they have stopped dreaming and taking risks. So many times life causes adults to stop dreaming, stop risking; perhaps because your dreams undermine their life choices, dreams that lead you to criticize, to criticize them. But do not let yourselves be robbed of your dreams. There is a boy here in Italy, twenty years old, twenty-two, who began to dream and to dream big. And his father, a great businessman, tried to stop him and he said: No, I want to dream. I dream of that which I feel inside. And in the end, he's gone, stopped dreaming. And dad followed him. And that young man took refuge in the bishop’s house, stripped off his clothes and gave them to his father: Let me go on my way. This young man, an Italian from the 13th century, was called Francesco and he changed the history of Italy. Francesco risked everything in order to dream big; he did not know any limits and he completed his life still dreaming. We think: he was a young man like us. But how he dreamed! They said he was crazy because he dreamed so much. And he has done so well and continues to do well. Young people are a little afraid of adults because adults have stopped dreaming, they have stopped risking, they have settled down. But, as I told you, you should not allow others to steal your dreams. And what should I do, Father, so as not to allow my dreams to be stolen?. Look for good teachers able to help you understand them and make you concrete, slowly and with serenity. You too, be good teachers, teachers of hope and trust in the new generations that are pressing in on you. But how can I become a teacher?. Yes, a young man who is capable of dreaming becomes a teacher by sharing his testimony. Because it is a testimony that shakes people up, that moves hearts and shows ideals that current life tries to cover up. Do not stop dreaming and be masters of dreaming. Dreams are sources of great strength. Father, and where can I buy the tablets that will make me dream? No, not those! Those do not make you dream: those kinds of pills put your hearts to sleep! They burn out your neurons. They ruin your life. And where can I buy dreams?". You cannot buy dreams. Dreams are a gift, a gift from God, a gift that God sows in your heart. Dreams are given to us free of charge, but because we also give them freely to others. Offer your dreams: no one can take them from you and make you poor by doing so. Offer your dreams to others for free.
Dear young people, say no to fear. What that professor told you! Was he afraid? Oh yes, maybe he was afraid; but he had arranged everything, it was quiet. But why did he not want a girl to follow her dream? He scared you. And what did he tell you? Study economics: you will earn more money. This is a trap, the trap of having settling into well-being and not being a pilgrim on the road to our dreams. Boys and girls, be pilgrims on the road of your dreams. Take risks on that road: do not be afraid. Take risks so that you can realize your dreams, because life is not a lottery: life is realized. And we all have the ability to do it.
Saint Pope John XXIII used to say: I never met a pessimist who did something good (interview between Sergio Zavoli and Mgr Capovilla de Jesus, number 6, 2000). We must learn this, because it will help us in life. Pessimism throws you down; it does not make you do anything. And fear makes you pessimistic. No pessimism. Risk, dream and go forward.
Second question
Asked by Martina – aged 24 years: it concerns discernment in life and the idea of commitment and responsibility towards the world that young people are creating at this time.
Martina
Holy Father, my name is Martina, I am 24 years old. A little while ago, one of my professors asked me to reflect on how our generation is not capable of choosing a programme on television, much less committing to a relationship for life ...
In fact, I find it hard to say that I'm engaged. Rather, I prefer to say I am: it's simpler! It involves less responsibility, at least in the eyes of others!
Deep down, however, I feel strongly that I want to commit myself to designing and building a life together now.
So I ask myself: why is the desire to weave authentic relationships and the dream of forming a family considered less important than others and why must they be subordinated in order to go after a professional career? I perceive that adults expect this from me: that first you must be established in a profession, then you can start being a person.
We need adults who remember how beautiful it is to dream together! We need adults who will be patient with us and who will come close to us, to teach us patience and how to be close to them: adults who will listen deeply and teach us how to listen, rather than insisting on always being right!
We need points of reference that are passionate and supportive.
Do you not think that the figures of truly stimulating adults are rare on the horizon? Why are adults losing their sense of society, of mutual help, of commitment to the world and to relationships? Why does this sometimes even involve priests and educators?
I believe it is always worth being mothers, fathers, friends, brothers ... for life! And I do not want to stop believing it!
Response by the Holy Father
Martina is courageous, no? Our stability shakes, and also speaks with fire! I would like to ask you, if perhaps she is the niece of Saint John Chrysostom for how she speaks, so strong, with so much strength! Choosing, being able to decide for oneself seems to be the highest expression of freedom. Choose and be able to decide for yourself. And in a sense it is. But the idea of choice that we breathe today is an idea of freedom without constraints, without commitments and always with some escape route: a case of I choose, however .... You put your finger in the wound: choose that for life, the choice of love ... Even there we can say: "I choose, but not now, only when I finish my studies, for example. I choose, however: that however stops us, does not let us go, does not let us dream, it takes away our freedom. There is always a but, which sometimes becomes larger than the choice and suffocates it. This is how freedom crumbles and no longer keeps its promises of life and happiness. And then we conclude that freedom is a deception and that happiness does not exist.
Dear young people, each person’s freedom is a great gift, a gift that is given to you and which you must keep in order to make it grow, to grow in freedom, to let it develop; freedom does not allow half measures. And you focused on the greatest freedom, which is the freedom of love: but why should I finish my university career before thinking of love? Love comes when it wants - true love. Is it a bit dangerous to talk to young people about love? No, it's not dangerous. Because young people know well when there is true love and when there is the simple enthusiasm made up by love: you distinguish this well, you are not stupid! And for this, we have the courage to talk about love. Love is not a profession: love is life and if love comes today, why do I have to wait three, four, five years to make it grow and to make it stable? In this I ask parents to help young people to mature when there is love, that love will mature, do not move it further away and say: No, because if you marry you now, then the children will arrive and you will not be able to finish your career, after so much effort we have done for you; we have all heard this story ... In life, on the other hand, we must always put love first, but true love: and there you must learn to discern, when there is true love and when there is only enthusiasm . Why do I struggle - she said - to say I'm engaged?. That is to say, to show, to show that new identity card in my life? Because this is the response of a world of conditioning. But there is another thing that is very important: But you, do you want to marry? - But, we do one thing: you go on like this, pretend not to love, study, and then start to live the double life. The greatest enemy of love is the double life: do you understand? Or should I be clearer? The greatest enemy of love is not only not to let it grow now, wait to finish the career, but to do this is to live a double life, because if you start to live a double life, love is lost, love goes away . Why do I say this? Because in true love, man has a task and the woman has another task. Do you know what is the greatest task of man and woman in true love? You know that? Totality: love does not tolerate half measures: all or nothing. And to make love grow you have to avoid the loopholes. Love must be sincere, open, courageous. In love you must put all the flesh in the fire: that’s what we say in Argentina.
There is one thing in the Bible that strikes me so much: at the end of the creation of the world, the Bible says that God created man in his image and likeness: He created them male and female, both in his image and likeness. This is Love. When you see a marriage, a man and a woman going forward in the life of love, there is the image and likeness of God. What is God like? Like that marriage. This is the image and likeness of God. It does not say that man the is image and likeness of God, and that woman is image and likeness of God. No: both together are image and likeness of God. And then it continues, in the New Testament: For this reason, the man will leave his father and his mother, to become with his wife only one flesh. This is Love. And what is the task, of man in love? To make his wife, or the girlfriend, more of a woman. And what is the task of a woman in marriage? To make their husband, or boyfriend, more of a man. It's a two-way job that grows together; but man cannot grow alone in marriage, if his wife does not grow and the woman can not grow in marriage if her husband does not grow. And this is unity, and this is the meaning of one flesh: they become one, because one makes the other grow. This is the ideal of love and marriage.
Do you think that with such an ideal, when it feels true, when it is mature, you have to move further for other interests? No, it must not be so. We need to take risks in love, but in true love, not in love that is characterized by enthusiasm made up by love.
So we must ask ourselves: where is my love, where is my treasure? Where is the thing that I consider most precious in life? Jesus speaks of a man who sold all he had to buy a precious pearl of the highest value. This is the meaning of love: sell everything to buy this precious pearl of the highest value. Everything. This is why love is faithful. If there is infidelity, there is no love; or it is a sick love, or a limited love that does not grow. Sell everything for one thing. Think well about love, think about it seriously. Do not be afraid to think about love: but think about love that takes risks, think about faithful love, think about love that makes the other person grow and the love that makes both people involved grow. Think about fruitful love.
While I was travelling among you, I saw some children being embraced by their parents: this is the fruit of love, true love. Take risks in love!
Third question
Asked by Dario, aged 27 years and concerning the theme of faith and the search for meaning.
Holy Father, my name is Dario. I am 27 years old and I am a palliative care nurse.
In life, the moments in which I have been confronted with faith are rare and sometimes I have understood that doubts overcome certainties, the questions I ask have answers that are not concrete and which I cannot touch, sometimes I even think that the answers are not plausible.
I realize that we should spend more time: it is so difficult in the midst of the many things we do every day ... And it is not easy to find a guide that has time for comparison and research.
And there are important questions: how is it possible that a great and good God (as they have told me) allows injustice in the world? Why do the poor and the marginalized have to suffer so much? My work puts me daily in the face of death and when I see young mothers or fathers of families abandon their children, it makes me ask: why does God allow this?
The Church, the bearer of the Word of God on earth, seems increasingly distant and closed in its rituals. For young people the impositions from above are no longer sufficient, we need proof and a sincere witness of the Church that accompanies us and listens to us for the doubts that our generation poses every day. The useless glories and frequent scandals now make the Church hardly credible in our eyes.
Holy Father, with what eyes can we reread all this?
Response of the Holy Father
Dario put his finger in the wound and repeated the word why more than once. Not all why’s have answers. Why do children suffer, for example? Who can explain this to me? We do not have the answer. Perhaps, the only place we might find something is by looking at Christ crucified and his Mother: there we will find a way to feel something in the heart that is an answer. In the prayer of the Our Father (cf Mt 6:13) there is a request: Lead us not into temptation. The Italian translation has recently been adjusted to the precise translation of the original text, because it could sound ambiguous. Can God the Father lead us into temptation? Can he fool his children? Of course not. And for this, the true translation is: Do not abandon us to temptation. Hold us back from doing evil, free us from bad thoughts ... Sometimes the words, even if they speak of God, betray his message of love. Sometimes we are the ones who betray the Gospel. And he spoke of this betraying the Gospel, and he said: The Church which is the bearer of the Word of God on earth, seems more distant and closed in its rituals. What he said is strong; it is a judgment on all of us, and also in a special way for - let us say - pastors; a judgment on us, the consecrated ones, the consecrated ones. He told us that we are increasingly distant and closed in our rituals. Let's listen to this with respect. This is not always the case, but sometimes it is true. For the young, impositions from above are no longer sufficient: We need proof and a sincere testimony that accompanies us and listens to us for the doubts that our generation poses every day. And he asks all of us - pastors and faithful - to accompany, to listen, to give testimony. If I am a Christian, a lay person, a priest, a nun, a bishop, if we Christians do not learn to listen to suffering, to listen to problems, to be silent and to let people talk and listen, we will never be able to give a positive answer. And so many times the positive answers cannot be given with words: they must be given by risking ourselves in sharing our testimonials. Where there is no testimony, there is no Holy Spirit. This is serious.
Concerning the early Christians it was said: Look how they love each other, because people saw their testimony. They knew how to listen, and then they lived as the Gospel says. Being a Christian is not a matter of life status, some kind of qualified status: I thank you, Lord, because I am a Christian and I am not like others who do not believe in you. Do you like this prayer? (They answer: No). This is the prayer of the Pharisee, the hypocrite; hypocrites pray like this. Poor people, they do not understand anything. They did not go to catechism classes, they did not go to a Catholic school, they did not go to a Catholic university ... they are poor people ... : is this Christian? Is such a person Christian or not? (They answer: No) No! This scandalizes! This is a sin. I thank you, Lord, because I am not like the others: I go to Mass on Sunday, I do this, I have an orderly life, I confess my sins, I am not like the others .... Is this Christian? (They answer: No) No. We have to choose our testimony. Once, while I was at lunch with young people in Kraków, a young man told me: I have a problem at university because I have a friend who is agnostic. Tell me, Father, what should I say to this agnostic companion to make him understand that ours is the true religion? I said, Dear child, the last thing you should do is tell him something. Begin to live as a Christian, and he will ask you why you live like that.
Dario continued: Useless glories and the frequent scandals now make the Church hardly credible in our eyes. Holy Father, with what eyes can we reread all this? The scandal of a formal Church is not a witness; it is the scandal of a closed Church because it does not come out of itself. Every day the Church must come out of herself, whether we are happy or sad, but we must go out to caress the sick, to care for palliative patients; that will make their transition to eternity less painful. And you know what it is to go beyond yourselves, to go out toward others, to go beyond the frontiers that give you security. In the Book of Revelations there is a passage in which Jesus says: I knock at the door: if you open the door to me, I will come in and I will dine with you: Jesus wants to come to us. But I often think of Jesus knocking on the door, but from inside, because we let him go out, because we often – without bearing witness to him - hold him a prisoner of our formalities, our closures, our selfishness, our clerical way of life . . And clericalism, which is not just for priests and clerics, is an attitude that affects all of us: clericalism is a perversion of the Church. Jesus teaches us this path of going out from ourselves, the path of witness. And this is the scandal - because we are sinners! – when we do not go out of ourselves to give testimony.
I invite you to ask - ask Dario or to someone else - to do this work, to come out of him- or herself, to give testimony. And then, reflect. When I say the Church gives no testimony, can I also say this about me? Do I give testimony? He can say it, because he gives testimony every day, with the sick. But can I say that? Can any one of us criticize that priest, that bishop or that other Christian, if he is not able to come out of himself to give testimony?
Dear young people – and this is the last thing I will say – the message of Jesus, the Church, without testimony is only smoke and mirrors.
Dear young people,
Thank you for this prayer meeting, in preparation for the upcoming Synod of Bishops.
I thank you also because this appointment was preceded by a mixture of many paths on which you have become pilgrims, together with your bishops and priests, along the roads and paths of Italy, amid the treasures of culture and faith that your forefathers left as an inheritance. You have traveled through the places where people live and work, full of vitality and marked by hardships, in cities as well as in villages and out-of-town villages. I hope you have deeply inhaled the joys and difficulties, life and faith of the Italian people.
In the gospel passage we have heard (cf Jn 20:1-8), John tells us about that unimaginable morning that changed forever the history of humanity. Let's imagine that morning: at the first light of dawn on the day after Saturday, around the tomb of Jesus, everyone started running. Mary of Magdala ran to warn the disciples; Peter and John ran toward the tomb ... Everyone ran, everyone felt the urgency to move: there was no time to waste, we must hurry ... just as Mary had done - remember? - she had only just conceived Jesus, and she had to run, to go, to help Elizabeth.
We have many reasons to run, often just because there are so many things to do and there is never enough time. Sometimes we hurry because we are attracted to something new, beautiful, interesting. Sometimes, on the contrary, we run to escape from a threat, from danger ...
The disciples of Jesus ran because they had received the news that the body of Jesus has disappeared from the tomb. The hearts of Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter and John were full of love and beat wildly after the separation that seemed definitive. Perhaps the hope of seeing the face of the Lord again was kindled within them! ... as it had been on that first day when he had promised: Come and see (Jn 1:39). The one who ran the fastest was John, certainly because he was younger, but also because he had not stopped hoping after he saw Jesus die on the cross with his own eyes; and also because he was close to Mary, and for this he was infected by her faith. When we feel that faith is weak or lukewarm, let us go to Mary, and she will teach us, understand us, make us feel our faith.
From that morning onward, dear young people, history is no longer the same. That morning changed history. In the hour when death seemed to triumph, in reality the time of its defeat was revealed. Even that heavy boulder, placed before the tomb, could not resist. And from that dawn on the first day after Saturday, every place where life is oppressed, every space in which violence, war and misery dominate, where man is humiliated and trampled, in that place a hope of life can still be rekindled.
Dear friends, you have set off and have come to this meeting. And now my joy is to feel your hearts beating with love for Jesus, like those of Mary Magdalene, Peter and John. And because you are young, I, like Peter, am happy to see you run faster, like John, driven by the impulse of your heart, sensitive to the voice of the Spirit that animates your dreams. This is why I say to you: do not be content with the prudent steps of those who are queued at the end of the line. Do not be content with the prudent steps of those who queue at the end of the line. It takes courage to risk a leap forward, a daring leap to dream and bring about the Kingdom of God like Jesus, and to commit yourselves to a more fraternal humanity. We need fraternity: take risks, go ahead!
I will be happy to see you running faster than others in the Church who are a little slow and fearful, attracted by that much-loved Face, which we adore in the Holy Eucharist and we recognize in the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters. The Holy Spirit will spur you onwards in this race forward. The Church needs your momentum, your intuition, your faith. We need you! And when you arrive in places where we have not yet come, have the patience to wait for us, like John waited for Peter in front of the empty tomb. And another thing: walking together, these days, you have experienced how hard it is to welcome the brother or sister who is next to me, but also how much joy can his presence provide if I receive him in my life without prejudices and being closed in upon myself. Walking alone allows us to be freed from everything, perhaps faster, but walking together makes us become a people, the people of God. The people of God who give us security, the security of belonging to the people of God ... And with the people of God you feel safe, in the people of God, in your belonging to the people of God you have identity. An African proverb says: If you want to go fast, run alone. If you want to go far, go with someone.
The Gospel says that Peter first entered the tomb and saw the cloths on the ground and the shroud wrapped in a separate place. Then the other disciple also entered, who - as the Gospel says - saw and believed (Jn 20:8). This pair of verbs is very important: seeing and believing. Throughout the Gospel of John it is said that the disciples, seeing the signs that Jesus performed, believed in Him. See and believe. What are these signs? Water transformed into wine for the wedding; some sick people who recovered; a blind man who regains his sight; a large crowd that is satiated with five loaves and two fish; the resurrection of his friend Lazzarus who had died four days ago. In all these signs, Jesus revealed the invisible face of God.
This is not the representation of sublime divine perfection, perfection that transpires from the signs of Jesus; this is the story of human frailty that meets the Grace that lifts us up. There is wounded humanity that is healed from our encounter with Him; there is the fallen man who finds a stretched-out hand to cling to; there is the loss of the defeated who discover the hope of redemption. And John, when he enters the tomb of Jesus, brings in his eyes and in his heart all those signs accomplished by Jesus immersing himself in human drama in order to to raise it up again. Jesus Christ, dear young people, is not a hero who is immune from death, but it is he who transforms it with the gift of his life. And that carefully folded sheet says he will no longer need it: death no longer has power over Him.
Dear young people, is it possible to meet Life in places where death reigns? Yes, it is possible. It would be wrong to answer, that it is better to stay away, to get away. Yet this is the revolutionary novelty of the Gospel: the empty tomb of Christ becomes the last sign in which the definitive victory of Life shines forth. So we are not afraid! We do not stay away from places of suffering, of defeat, of death. God has given us a greater power than all the injustices and fragility of history, greater than our sin: Jesus has conquered death by giving his life for us. And he sends us out to announce to our brothers and sisters that He is the Risen One, He is the Lord, and He gives us His Spirit to sow the Kingdom of God with Him. That morning on Easter Sunday the story changed: we have courage!
How many tombs - so to speak - await our visits today! How many wounded people, even young ones, have sealed their suffering by putting - as they say - a stone above. With the power of the Spirit and the Word of Jesus we can move those boulders and let beams of light enter into those ravines of darkness.
The journey to Rome was beautiful and tiring; think about it, how much effort you had to put forward, but how much beauty! But the journey of returning to your homes, to your countrysides, to your communities will be just as beautiful and challenging. Follow your dreams with the trust and energy of John, the beloved disciple. Yes, the secret is all there, in being and knowing that you are loved, loved by Him; Jesus, the Lord, loves us! And each of us, returning home, needs to put this in our heart and mind: Jesus, the Lord, loves me. I am loved. I'm loved. Feel the tenderness of Jesus who loves me. Going along the path toward home with courage and joy, follow it with the awareness of being loved by Jesus. Then, with this love, life becomes a good race, without anxiety, without fear: that word that destroys us. Without anxiety and without fear. A race towards Jesus and toward our brothers and sisters, with a heart full of love, faith and joy. Go like this!
At 4:30pm today, after tens of thousands of young people had arrived from approximately 200 dioceses across Italy and having been welcomed in the Circus Maximus in Rome, the young people enjoyed music and a time of fraternal gathering prior to the arrival of the Holy Father.
At 6:30pm, Pope Francis arrived at the Circus Maximus to meet the young people and to pray with them. After circulating among them aboard the popemobile and having been officially greeted by a few of the Italian youth, the Pope began a dialogue with some of the young people. Then, following a moment of singing, prayer and testimony, Pope Francis shared a reflection with them to set the stage for the night vigil which included an evening of celebration, music and testimonials and concluded with the transfer from the Circus Maximus to Saint Peter's Square, stopping along the way in various Roman churches to observe the White Night by participating in various spiritual moments which included the observance of art and culture, theatre and dance.
Dialogue between the Holy Father, Pope Francis
and young people gathered in the Circus Maximus
The gathering began with greetings offered by Elena from Modena in the name of all the Italian youth. At the conclusion of her remarks, a gift was presented to the Holy Father on behalf of all the youth as a sign of their gratitude for this special meeting.
First question
The question was asked by two young people: Letizia (23 years old) and by Lucamatto (21 years old). They expressed two aspects of the same question, which concerned the creation of a personal identity and of a person’s dreams.
Letizia
Dear Pope Francis, my name is Letizia, I am 23 years old and I am studying at university. I want to say a word about our dreams and about how we see the future. When I had to make the important choice about what I would do at the end of my fifth (senior) year, I was afraid to think about what I was truly dreaming about becoming because it might signify complete surprises in the eyes of others and in my own understanding.
I had decided to entrust myself to the opinion of some adults who I admired because of their professions and their choices. I turned to the professor that I most respected, my Art professor, the one that teaches the most exciting things for me. I told him I wanted to follow his path, become like him. And he responded that now life was not as it used to be, that times had changed, that there was a crisis, that I would not find work, and that instead, I should choose a field of study that better responds to the needs of the market. Choose economics, he told me. I felt great disappointment and fear; I felt that the dream I had confided in him had been betrayed when I had been looking for encouragement from the figure I wanted to imitate. In the end, I chose my path, I chose to follow my passion and I study Art.
Then, one day, in a classroom where I am a teacher, one of my girls told me to trust myself, to value my choices. She told me that I was a model for her and that she wanted to do what I did.
It was then, in that moment that I consciously decided that I would be fully committed to being a teacher: I would not be that traitorous and disappointing adult, but I would give time and energy, with all the burdens that it could entail, because a person was entrusted to me.
Lucamatteo
Holy Father, when we look at our future we are used to imagining it dyed with gray, dark, threatening colors. To tell you the truth to me, I seem to see a white slide, where there is nothing ...
Sometimes I tried to draw it, my future. But in the end I see something that does not satisfy me. I try to explain myself: I think we are the ones who design it, but we often start with great plans, a kind of great fresco from which, in spite of ourselves, we take away some details, we take away some pieces. The result is that projects and dreams, for fear of others and their judgment, end up being smaller than what they were in the beginning.
And above all, it ends up that I create something with which I am not happy.
Response by the Holy Father
Good evening. I tell you the truth: I knew the questions and I have done a draft of a response, but also – hearing the questions now – I would add something spontaneously. Because the way they asked the questions goes beyond what is written.
You, Letizia, you said a very important word, which is dream. And you both said another very important word: fear. These two words will enlighten us a little.
Dreams are important. They keep our eyes wide open, help us to embrace the horizon, to cultivate hope in every daily action. And the dreams of young people are the most important of all. A young man who cannot dream is an anesthetized youth; he will not be able to understand life, the strength of life. Dreams wake you up, bring you in, dreams are the brightest stars, they indicate a different path for humanity. Behold, you have in your heart these shining stars that are your dreams: they are your responsibility and your treasure. Let them be your future too! And this is the work you must do: transforming today's dreams into the reality of the future, and this requires courage, as we have all felt. An idol said to this girl: No, no: study economics because you will die of hunger with this, and to the boy: yes, the project is good but we will take away this piece and this and this ..., and in the end there is nothing left. No! Go forward with courage, courage in the face of resistance, difficulties, everything that makes our dreams go out.
Of course, dreams must be made to grow, to be purified, tested and shared. But have you ever wondered where your dreams come from? My dreams, where do they come from? Are they born while I am watching television? Listening to a friend? Daydreaming? Are they big dreams or small, miserable dreams that are content with as little as possible? Dreams of comfort, dreams of well-being: No, no, I'm fine like that, I'm not going any further. But these dreams will make you die; they will rob you of life! They will make your life not a big thing! Dreams of tranquility, dreams that make young people fall asleep and make a young man lie down on a sofa. It is sad to see young people on the sofa, watching life passing them by. Young people - I've said it before - without dreams, who retire at 20, 22: what a bad thing, a retired young man! Instead, the young man who dreams big things goes on, he does not retire early. I got it? This is what young people are meant to be.
The Bible tells us that great dreams are capable of bearing fruit: great dreams are those that give fruitfulness, capable of sowing peace, of sowing fraternity, of sowing joy, like today; behold, these are great dreams because they think of everyone in terms of us. Once, a priest asked me a question: Tell me, what is the opposite of 'I'?. And I naively slipped into the trap and said: The opposite of me is 'you' - No, Father: this is the seed of war. The contrary of 'I' is 'us'. If I say: the opposite is you, I make war; if I say that the opposite of egoism is we, I make peace, I make the community, I carry forward the dreams of friendship, of peace. Think: true dreams are the dreams of us. Great dreams include others, involve others, are extroverted, share, generate new life. And the great dreams, in order to remain such, need an inexhaustible source of hope, of an Infinite which blows in and dilates them. Great dreams need God in order not to become mirages or delirium of omnipotence. You can dream great things, but alone, such dreams are dangerous, because you can fall into the delirium of omnipotence. But with God, do not be afraid: go forward. Dream big.
And then, the word you two used: fear. You know? Young people’s dreams are a little scary to adults. They are scary because when a young man dreams he goes far. Perhaps young people are afraid because they have stopped dreaming and taking risks. So many times life causes adults to stop dreaming, stop risking; perhaps because your dreams undermine their life choices, dreams that lead you to criticize, to criticize them. But do not let yourselves be robbed of your dreams. There is a boy here in Italy, twenty years old, twenty-two, who began to dream and to dream big. And his father, a great businessman, tried to stop him and he said: No, I want to dream. I dream of that which I feel inside. And in the end, he's gone, stopped dreaming. And dad followed him. And that young man took refuge in the bishop’s house, stripped off his clothes and gave them to his father: Let me go on my way. This young man, an Italian from the 13th century, was called Francesco and he changed the history of Italy. Francesco risked everything in order to dream big; he did not know any limits and he completed his life still dreaming. We think: he was a young man like us. But how he dreamed! They said he was crazy because he dreamed so much. And he has done so well and continues to do well. Young people are a little afraid of adults because adults have stopped dreaming, they have stopped risking, they have settled down. But, as I told you, you should not allow others to steal your dreams. And what should I do, Father, so as not to allow my dreams to be stolen?. Look for good teachers able to help you understand them and make you concrete, slowly and with serenity. You too, be good teachers, teachers of hope and trust in the new generations that are pressing in on you. But how can I become a teacher?. Yes, a young man who is capable of dreaming becomes a teacher by sharing his testimony. Because it is a testimony that shakes people up, that moves hearts and shows ideals that current life tries to cover up. Do not stop dreaming and be masters of dreaming. Dreams are sources of great strength. Father, and where can I buy the tablets that will make me dream? No, not those! Those do not make you dream: those kinds of pills put your hearts to sleep! They burn out your neurons. They ruin your life. And where can I buy dreams?". You cannot buy dreams. Dreams are a gift, a gift from God, a gift that God sows in your heart. Dreams are given to us free of charge, but because we also give them freely to others. Offer your dreams: no one can take them from you and make you poor by doing so. Offer your dreams to others for free.
Dear young people, say no to fear. What that professor told you! Was he afraid? Oh yes, maybe he was afraid; but he had arranged everything, it was quiet. But why did he not want a girl to follow her dream? He scared you. And what did he tell you? Study economics: you will earn more money. This is a trap, the trap of having settling into well-being and not being a pilgrim on the road to our dreams. Boys and girls, be pilgrims on the road of your dreams. Take risks on that road: do not be afraid. Take risks so that you can realize your dreams, because life is not a lottery: life is realized. And we all have the ability to do it.
Saint Pope John XXIII used to say: I never met a pessimist who did something good (interview between Sergio Zavoli and Mgr Capovilla de Jesus, number 6, 2000). We must learn this, because it will help us in life. Pessimism throws you down; it does not make you do anything. And fear makes you pessimistic. No pessimism. Risk, dream and go forward.
Second question
Asked by Martina – aged 24 years: it concerns discernment in life and the idea of commitment and responsibility towards the world that young people are creating at this time.
Martina
Holy Father, my name is Martina, I am 24 years old. A little while ago, one of my professors asked me to reflect on how our generation is not capable of choosing a programme on television, much less committing to a relationship for life ...
In fact, I find it hard to say that I'm engaged. Rather, I prefer to say I am: it's simpler! It involves less responsibility, at least in the eyes of others!
Deep down, however, I feel strongly that I want to commit myself to designing and building a life together now.
So I ask myself: why is the desire to weave authentic relationships and the dream of forming a family considered less important than others and why must they be subordinated in order to go after a professional career? I perceive that adults expect this from me: that first you must be established in a profession, then you can start being a person.
We need adults who remember how beautiful it is to dream together! We need adults who will be patient with us and who will come close to us, to teach us patience and how to be close to them: adults who will listen deeply and teach us how to listen, rather than insisting on always being right!
We need points of reference that are passionate and supportive.
Do you not think that the figures of truly stimulating adults are rare on the horizon? Why are adults losing their sense of society, of mutual help, of commitment to the world and to relationships? Why does this sometimes even involve priests and educators?
I believe it is always worth being mothers, fathers, friends, brothers ... for life! And I do not want to stop believing it!
Response by the Holy Father
Martina is courageous, no? Our stability shakes, and also speaks with fire! I would like to ask you, if perhaps she is the niece of Saint John Chrysostom for how she speaks, so strong, with so much strength! Choosing, being able to decide for oneself seems to be the highest expression of freedom. Choose and be able to decide for yourself. And in a sense it is. But the idea of choice that we breathe today is an idea of freedom without constraints, without commitments and always with some escape route: a case of I choose, however .... You put your finger in the wound: choose that for life, the choice of love ... Even there we can say: "I choose, but not now, only when I finish my studies, for example. I choose, however: that however stops us, does not let us go, does not let us dream, it takes away our freedom. There is always a but, which sometimes becomes larger than the choice and suffocates it. This is how freedom crumbles and no longer keeps its promises of life and happiness. And then we conclude that freedom is a deception and that happiness does not exist.
Dear young people, each person’s freedom is a great gift, a gift that is given to you and which you must keep in order to make it grow, to grow in freedom, to let it develop; freedom does not allow half measures. And you focused on the greatest freedom, which is the freedom of love: but why should I finish my university career before thinking of love? Love comes when it wants - true love. Is it a bit dangerous to talk to young people about love? No, it's not dangerous. Because young people know well when there is true love and when there is the simple enthusiasm made up by love: you distinguish this well, you are not stupid! And for this, we have the courage to talk about love. Love is not a profession: love is life and if love comes today, why do I have to wait three, four, five years to make it grow and to make it stable? In this I ask parents to help young people to mature when there is love, that love will mature, do not move it further away and say: No, because if you marry you now, then the children will arrive and you will not be able to finish your career, after so much effort we have done for you; we have all heard this story ... In life, on the other hand, we must always put love first, but true love: and there you must learn to discern, when there is true love and when there is only enthusiasm . Why do I struggle - she said - to say I'm engaged?. That is to say, to show, to show that new identity card in my life? Because this is the response of a world of conditioning. But there is another thing that is very important: But you, do you want to marry? - But, we do one thing: you go on like this, pretend not to love, study, and then start to live the double life. The greatest enemy of love is the double life: do you understand? Or should I be clearer? The greatest enemy of love is not only not to let it grow now, wait to finish the career, but to do this is to live a double life, because if you start to live a double life, love is lost, love goes away . Why do I say this? Because in true love, man has a task and the woman has another task. Do you know what is the greatest task of man and woman in true love? You know that? Totality: love does not tolerate half measures: all or nothing. And to make love grow you have to avoid the loopholes. Love must be sincere, open, courageous. In love you must put all the flesh in the fire: that’s what we say in Argentina.
There is one thing in the Bible that strikes me so much: at the end of the creation of the world, the Bible says that God created man in his image and likeness: He created them male and female, both in his image and likeness. This is Love. When you see a marriage, a man and a woman going forward in the life of love, there is the image and likeness of God. What is God like? Like that marriage. This is the image and likeness of God. It does not say that man the is image and likeness of God, and that woman is image and likeness of God. No: both together are image and likeness of God. And then it continues, in the New Testament: For this reason, the man will leave his father and his mother, to become with his wife only one flesh. This is Love. And what is the task, of man in love? To make his wife, or the girlfriend, more of a woman. And what is the task of a woman in marriage? To make their husband, or boyfriend, more of a man. It's a two-way job that grows together; but man cannot grow alone in marriage, if his wife does not grow and the woman can not grow in marriage if her husband does not grow. And this is unity, and this is the meaning of one flesh: they become one, because one makes the other grow. This is the ideal of love and marriage.
Do you think that with such an ideal, when it feels true, when it is mature, you have to move further for other interests? No, it must not be so. We need to take risks in love, but in true love, not in love that is characterized by enthusiasm made up by love.
So we must ask ourselves: where is my love, where is my treasure? Where is the thing that I consider most precious in life? Jesus speaks of a man who sold all he had to buy a precious pearl of the highest value. This is the meaning of love: sell everything to buy this precious pearl of the highest value. Everything. This is why love is faithful. If there is infidelity, there is no love; or it is a sick love, or a limited love that does not grow. Sell everything for one thing. Think well about love, think about it seriously. Do not be afraid to think about love: but think about love that takes risks, think about faithful love, think about love that makes the other person grow and the love that makes both people involved grow. Think about fruitful love.
While I was travelling among you, I saw some children being embraced by their parents: this is the fruit of love, true love. Take risks in love!
Third question
Asked by Dario, aged 27 years and concerning the theme of faith and the search for meaning.
Holy Father, my name is Dario. I am 27 years old and I am a palliative care nurse.
In life, the moments in which I have been confronted with faith are rare and sometimes I have understood that doubts overcome certainties, the questions I ask have answers that are not concrete and which I cannot touch, sometimes I even think that the answers are not plausible.
I realize that we should spend more time: it is so difficult in the midst of the many things we do every day ... And it is not easy to find a guide that has time for comparison and research.
And there are important questions: how is it possible that a great and good God (as they have told me) allows injustice in the world? Why do the poor and the marginalized have to suffer so much? My work puts me daily in the face of death and when I see young mothers or fathers of families abandon their children, it makes me ask: why does God allow this?
The Church, the bearer of the Word of God on earth, seems increasingly distant and closed in its rituals. For young people the impositions from above are no longer sufficient, we need proof and a sincere witness of the Church that accompanies us and listens to us for the doubts that our generation poses every day. The useless glories and frequent scandals now make the Church hardly credible in our eyes.
Holy Father, with what eyes can we reread all this?
Response of the Holy Father
Dario put his finger in the wound and repeated the word why more than once. Not all why’s have answers. Why do children suffer, for example? Who can explain this to me? We do not have the answer. Perhaps, the only place we might find something is by looking at Christ crucified and his Mother: there we will find a way to feel something in the heart that is an answer. In the prayer of the Our Father (cf Mt 6:13) there is a request: Lead us not into temptation. The Italian translation has recently been adjusted to the precise translation of the original text, because it could sound ambiguous. Can God the Father lead us into temptation? Can he fool his children? Of course not. And for this, the true translation is: Do not abandon us to temptation. Hold us back from doing evil, free us from bad thoughts ... Sometimes the words, even if they speak of God, betray his message of love. Sometimes we are the ones who betray the Gospel. And he spoke of this betraying the Gospel, and he said: The Church which is the bearer of the Word of God on earth, seems more distant and closed in its rituals. What he said is strong; it is a judgment on all of us, and also in a special way for - let us say - pastors; a judgment on us, the consecrated ones, the consecrated ones. He told us that we are increasingly distant and closed in our rituals. Let's listen to this with respect. This is not always the case, but sometimes it is true. For the young, impositions from above are no longer sufficient: We need proof and a sincere testimony that accompanies us and listens to us for the doubts that our generation poses every day. And he asks all of us - pastors and faithful - to accompany, to listen, to give testimony. If I am a Christian, a lay person, a priest, a nun, a bishop, if we Christians do not learn to listen to suffering, to listen to problems, to be silent and to let people talk and listen, we will never be able to give a positive answer. And so many times the positive answers cannot be given with words: they must be given by risking ourselves in sharing our testimonials. Where there is no testimony, there is no Holy Spirit. This is serious.
Concerning the early Christians it was said: Look how they love each other, because people saw their testimony. They knew how to listen, and then they lived as the Gospel says. Being a Christian is not a matter of life status, some kind of qualified status: I thank you, Lord, because I am a Christian and I am not like others who do not believe in you. Do you like this prayer? (They answer: No). This is the prayer of the Pharisee, the hypocrite; hypocrites pray like this. Poor people, they do not understand anything. They did not go to catechism classes, they did not go to a Catholic school, they did not go to a Catholic university ... they are poor people ... : is this Christian? Is such a person Christian or not? (They answer: No) No! This scandalizes! This is a sin. I thank you, Lord, because I am not like the others: I go to Mass on Sunday, I do this, I have an orderly life, I confess my sins, I am not like the others .... Is this Christian? (They answer: No) No. We have to choose our testimony. Once, while I was at lunch with young people in Kraków, a young man told me: I have a problem at university because I have a friend who is agnostic. Tell me, Father, what should I say to this agnostic companion to make him understand that ours is the true religion? I said, Dear child, the last thing you should do is tell him something. Begin to live as a Christian, and he will ask you why you live like that.
Dario continued: Useless glories and the frequent scandals now make the Church hardly credible in our eyes. Holy Father, with what eyes can we reread all this? The scandal of a formal Church is not a witness; it is the scandal of a closed Church because it does not come out of itself. Every day the Church must come out of herself, whether we are happy or sad, but we must go out to caress the sick, to care for palliative patients; that will make their transition to eternity less painful. And you know what it is to go beyond yourselves, to go out toward others, to go beyond the frontiers that give you security. In the Book of Revelations there is a passage in which Jesus says: I knock at the door: if you open the door to me, I will come in and I will dine with you: Jesus wants to come to us. But I often think of Jesus knocking on the door, but from inside, because we let him go out, because we often – without bearing witness to him - hold him a prisoner of our formalities, our closures, our selfishness, our clerical way of life . . And clericalism, which is not just for priests and clerics, is an attitude that affects all of us: clericalism is a perversion of the Church. Jesus teaches us this path of going out from ourselves, the path of witness. And this is the scandal - because we are sinners! – when we do not go out of ourselves to give testimony.
I invite you to ask - ask Dario or to someone else - to do this work, to come out of him- or herself, to give testimony. And then, reflect. When I say the Church gives no testimony, can I also say this about me? Do I give testimony? He can say it, because he gives testimony every day, with the sick. But can I say that? Can any one of us criticize that priest, that bishop or that other Christian, if he is not able to come out of himself to give testimony?
Dear young people – and this is the last thing I will say – the message of Jesus, the Church, without testimony is only smoke and mirrors.
Final reflection of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
shared with young Italians
Dear young people,
Thank you for this prayer meeting, in preparation for the upcoming Synod of Bishops.
I thank you also because this appointment was preceded by a mixture of many paths on which you have become pilgrims, together with your bishops and priests, along the roads and paths of Italy, amid the treasures of culture and faith that your forefathers left as an inheritance. You have traveled through the places where people live and work, full of vitality and marked by hardships, in cities as well as in villages and out-of-town villages. I hope you have deeply inhaled the joys and difficulties, life and faith of the Italian people.
In the gospel passage we have heard (cf Jn 20:1-8), John tells us about that unimaginable morning that changed forever the history of humanity. Let's imagine that morning: at the first light of dawn on the day after Saturday, around the tomb of Jesus, everyone started running. Mary of Magdala ran to warn the disciples; Peter and John ran toward the tomb ... Everyone ran, everyone felt the urgency to move: there was no time to waste, we must hurry ... just as Mary had done - remember? - she had only just conceived Jesus, and she had to run, to go, to help Elizabeth.
We have many reasons to run, often just because there are so many things to do and there is never enough time. Sometimes we hurry because we are attracted to something new, beautiful, interesting. Sometimes, on the contrary, we run to escape from a threat, from danger ...
The disciples of Jesus ran because they had received the news that the body of Jesus has disappeared from the tomb. The hearts of Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter and John were full of love and beat wildly after the separation that seemed definitive. Perhaps the hope of seeing the face of the Lord again was kindled within them! ... as it had been on that first day when he had promised: Come and see (Jn 1:39). The one who ran the fastest was John, certainly because he was younger, but also because he had not stopped hoping after he saw Jesus die on the cross with his own eyes; and also because he was close to Mary, and for this he was infected by her faith. When we feel that faith is weak or lukewarm, let us go to Mary, and she will teach us, understand us, make us feel our faith.
From that morning onward, dear young people, history is no longer the same. That morning changed history. In the hour when death seemed to triumph, in reality the time of its defeat was revealed. Even that heavy boulder, placed before the tomb, could not resist. And from that dawn on the first day after Saturday, every place where life is oppressed, every space in which violence, war and misery dominate, where man is humiliated and trampled, in that place a hope of life can still be rekindled.
Dear friends, you have set off and have come to this meeting. And now my joy is to feel your hearts beating with love for Jesus, like those of Mary Magdalene, Peter and John. And because you are young, I, like Peter, am happy to see you run faster, like John, driven by the impulse of your heart, sensitive to the voice of the Spirit that animates your dreams. This is why I say to you: do not be content with the prudent steps of those who are queued at the end of the line. Do not be content with the prudent steps of those who queue at the end of the line. It takes courage to risk a leap forward, a daring leap to dream and bring about the Kingdom of God like Jesus, and to commit yourselves to a more fraternal humanity. We need fraternity: take risks, go ahead!
I will be happy to see you running faster than others in the Church who are a little slow and fearful, attracted by that much-loved Face, which we adore in the Holy Eucharist and we recognize in the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters. The Holy Spirit will spur you onwards in this race forward. The Church needs your momentum, your intuition, your faith. We need you! And when you arrive in places where we have not yet come, have the patience to wait for us, like John waited for Peter in front of the empty tomb. And another thing: walking together, these days, you have experienced how hard it is to welcome the brother or sister who is next to me, but also how much joy can his presence provide if I receive him in my life without prejudices and being closed in upon myself. Walking alone allows us to be freed from everything, perhaps faster, but walking together makes us become a people, the people of God. The people of God who give us security, the security of belonging to the people of God ... And with the people of God you feel safe, in the people of God, in your belonging to the people of God you have identity. An African proverb says: If you want to go fast, run alone. If you want to go far, go with someone.
The Gospel says that Peter first entered the tomb and saw the cloths on the ground and the shroud wrapped in a separate place. Then the other disciple also entered, who - as the Gospel says - saw and believed (Jn 20:8). This pair of verbs is very important: seeing and believing. Throughout the Gospel of John it is said that the disciples, seeing the signs that Jesus performed, believed in Him. See and believe. What are these signs? Water transformed into wine for the wedding; some sick people who recovered; a blind man who regains his sight; a large crowd that is satiated with five loaves and two fish; the resurrection of his friend Lazzarus who had died four days ago. In all these signs, Jesus revealed the invisible face of God.
This is not the representation of sublime divine perfection, perfection that transpires from the signs of Jesus; this is the story of human frailty that meets the Grace that lifts us up. There is wounded humanity that is healed from our encounter with Him; there is the fallen man who finds a stretched-out hand to cling to; there is the loss of the defeated who discover the hope of redemption. And John, when he enters the tomb of Jesus, brings in his eyes and in his heart all those signs accomplished by Jesus immersing himself in human drama in order to to raise it up again. Jesus Christ, dear young people, is not a hero who is immune from death, but it is he who transforms it with the gift of his life. And that carefully folded sheet says he will no longer need it: death no longer has power over Him.
Dear young people, is it possible to meet Life in places where death reigns? Yes, it is possible. It would be wrong to answer, that it is better to stay away, to get away. Yet this is the revolutionary novelty of the Gospel: the empty tomb of Christ becomes the last sign in which the definitive victory of Life shines forth. So we are not afraid! We do not stay away from places of suffering, of defeat, of death. God has given us a greater power than all the injustices and fragility of history, greater than our sin: Jesus has conquered death by giving his life for us. And he sends us out to announce to our brothers and sisters that He is the Risen One, He is the Lord, and He gives us His Spirit to sow the Kingdom of God with Him. That morning on Easter Sunday the story changed: we have courage!
How many tombs - so to speak - await our visits today! How many wounded people, even young ones, have sealed their suffering by putting - as they say - a stone above. With the power of the Spirit and the Word of Jesus we can move those boulders and let beams of light enter into those ravines of darkness.
The journey to Rome was beautiful and tiring; think about it, how much effort you had to put forward, but how much beauty! But the journey of returning to your homes, to your countrysides, to your communities will be just as beautiful and challenging. Follow your dreams with the trust and energy of John, the beloved disciple. Yes, the secret is all there, in being and knowing that you are loved, loved by Him; Jesus, the Lord, loves us! And each of us, returning home, needs to put this in our heart and mind: Jesus, the Lord, loves me. I am loved. I'm loved. Feel the tenderness of Jesus who loves me. Going along the path toward home with courage and joy, follow it with the awareness of being loved by Jesus. Then, with this love, life becomes a good race, without anxiety, without fear: that word that destroys us. Without anxiety and without fear. A race towards Jesus and toward our brothers and sisters, with a heart full of love, faith and joy. Go like this!
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