Home Page
HOME G.M.G.
HOME MESSAGE
|
THE 15TH WORLD YOUTH DAY
MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER TO THE
YOUTH OF THE WORLD
From the Vatican, June 29th 1999, solemnity of Saints
Peter and Paul
The
Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14)
My dear young people
Fifteen years ago, at the close of the Holy Year of the
Redemption, I entrusted to you a great wooden Cross,
asking you to carry it across the world as a sign of the
love which the Lord Jesus has for mankind and to proclaim
to everyone that only in Christ who died and is risen is
there salvation and redemption. Since that day, carried
by generous hands and hearts, the Cross has made a long,
uninterrupted pilgrimage across the continents, to
demonstrate that the Cross walks with young people and
young people walk with the Cross.
Around the Holy Year Cross, World Youth Days
were born and developed as meaningful moments of
rest along your journey as young Christians; a
constant, pressing invitation to build life on the rock
that is Christ. How can we fail to bless the Lord for the
countless fruits born in the hearts of individuals and in
the whole Church thanks to the World Youth Days, which in
this last part of the century have marked the journey of
young believers towards the new millennium?
After spanning the continents, that Cross now returns to
Rome bringing with it the prayers and commitment of
millions of young people who have recognized it as a
simple and sacred sign of Gods love for humanity.
Because Rome, as you know, will host World Youth Day of
the Year 2000, in the heart of the Great Jubilee.
Dear young people, I invite you therefore to undertake
with joy the pilgrimage to Rome for this important
ecclesial appointment, which will rightly be the Youth
Jubilee. Prepare to enter the Holy Door, knowing
that to pass through it is to strengthen faith in Him in
order to live the new life which he has given to us (cfr
Incarnationis Mysterium 8).
I chose as the
theme for your 15th World Day the lapidary phrase with
which Saint John the Apostle describes the profound
mystery of God made man: The Word became flesh, and
dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). What distinguishes the
Christian faith from all other religions, is the
certainty that the man Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of
God, the Word made flesh, the second person of the
Trinity who came into the world. Such is the joyous
conviction of the Church from her beginning, whenever she
sings 'the mystery of our religion': 'He was manifested
in the flesh' (Catechism of the Catholic Church 463).
God, the invisible one is alive and present in the person
of Jesus, Son of Mary, the Theotokos, Mother of God.
Jesus of Nazareth is God with us, Emmanuel: he who knows
Him knows God, he who sees Him sees God, he who follows
Him follows God, he who unites himself with Him is united
with God (cfr Jn 12:44-50). In Jesus, born in Bethlehem,
God embraces the human condition, making himself
accessible, establishing a covenant with mankind.
On the eve of the new millennium, I make again to you my
pressing appeal to open wide the doors to Christ who
to those who received him, gave power to become
children of God (Jn 1:12) To receive Jesus Christ
means to accept from the Father the command to live,
loving Him and our brothers and sisters, showing
solidarity to everyone, without distinction; it means
believing that in the history of humanity even though it
is marked by evil and suffering, the final word belongs
to life and to love, because God came to dwell among us,
so we may dwell in Him.
By his incarnation Christ became poor to enrich us with
his poverty, and he gave us redemption, which is the
fruit above all of the blood he shed on the Cross (cfr
Catechism of the Catholic Church 517). On Calvary, ours
were the sufferings he bore ... he was pierced through
for our faults (Is 53: 4-5). The supreme sacrifice
of his life, freely given for our salvation, is the proof
of Gods infinite love for us. Saint John the
Apostle writes: God loved the world so much that he
gave his only Son so that everyone that believes in him
may not be lost but may have eternal life (Jn 3:16).
He sent Him to share in every way, except sin, our human
condition; he gave him totally to men,
despite their obstinate and homicidal rejection (cfr Mt
21:33-39), to obtain, through his death, their
reconciliation. The God of creation is revealed as
the God of redemption, as the God who is 'faithful to
himself' and faithful to his love for man and the world
which he revealed on the day of creation ... how precious
must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he gained so
great a Redeemer (Redemptor hominis 9.10)
Jesus went towards his death. He did not draw back from
any of the consequences of his being with us,
Emmanuel. He took our place, ransoming us on the Cross
from evil and sin (cfr Evangelium vitae 50). Just as the
Roman Centurion, seeing the manner in which Jesus died,
understood that he was the Son of God (cfr Mk 15:39) so
we too, seeing and contemplating the Crucified Lord,
understand who God really is, as he reveals in Jesus the
depth of his love for mankind (cfr Redemptor hominis 9).
Passion means a passionate love,
unconditioned self- giving: Christs passion is the
summit of an entire life given to his
brothers and sisters to reveal the heart of the Father.
The Cross, which seems to rise up from the earth, in
actual fact reaches down from heaven, enfolding the
universe in a divine embrace. The Cross reveals itself to
be the centre, meaning and goal of all history and
of every human life (Evangelium vitae 50).
One man has died for all (2 Cor 5:14): Christ
gave himself up in our place as a fragrant offering
and a sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2). Behind the death
of Jesus there is a plan of love, which the faith of the
Church calls the mystery of the redemption:
the whole of humanity is redeemed, that is, set free from
the slavery of sin and led into the kingdom of God.
Christ is Lord of heaven and earth. Whoever listens to
his word and believes in the Father, who sent him, has
eternal life (cfr Jn 5:25). He is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world (Jn 1:29.36),
the high priest who, having suffered like us, is able to
share our infirmity (cfr Heb 4:14 ) and made
perfect through the painful experience of the Cross,
becomes for all who obey him, the source of eternal
salvation (Heb 5:9).
Dear young people, faced with these great mysteries,
learn to lift your hearts in an attitude of contemplation.
Stop and look with wonder at the infant Mary brought into
the world, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a
manger: the infant is God himself who has come among us.
Look at Jesus of Nazareth, received by some and scorned
by others, despised and rejected: He is the Saviour of
all. Adore Christ, our Redeemer, who ransoms us and frees
us from sin and death: He is the living God, the source
of Life.
Contemplate and reflect! God created us to share in his
very own life; he calls us to be his children, living
members of the mystical Body of Christ, luminous temple
of the Spirit of Love. He calls us to be his: he wants us
all to be saints. Dear young people, may it be your holy
ambition to be holy, as He is holy.
You will ask me: but is it possible today to be saints?
If we had to rely only on human strength, the undertaking
would be truly impossible. You are well aware, in fact,
of your successes and your failures; you are aware of the
heavy burdens weighing on man, the many dangers which
threaten him and the consequences caused by his sins. At
times we may be gripped by discouragement and even come
to think that it is impossible to change anything either
in the world or in ourselves.
Although the journey is difficult, we can do everything
in the One who is our Redeemer. Turn then to no one,
except Jesus. Do not look elsewhere for that which only
He can give you, because of all the names in the
world given to men this is the only one by which we can
be saved (Acts 4:12). With Christ, saintliness -
the divine plan for every baptized person - becomes
possible. Rely on Him; believe in the invincible power of
the Gospel and place faith as the foundation of your hope.
Jesus walks with you, he renews your heart and
strengthens you with the vigour of his Spirit.
Young people of every continent, do not be afraid to be
the saints of the new millennium! Be contemplative, love
prayer; be coherent with your faith and generous in the
service of your brothers and sisters, be active members
of the Church and builders of peace. To succeed in this
demanding project of life, continue to listen to His Word,
draw strength from the Sacraments, especially the
Eucharist and Penance. The Lord wants you to be intrepid
apostles of his Gospel and builders of a new humanity. In
fact, how could you say you believe in God made man
without taking a firm position against all that destroys
the human person and the family? If you believe that
Christ has revealed the Fathers love for every
person, you cannot fail to strive to contribute to the
building of a new world, founded on the power of love and
forgiveness, on the struggle against injustice and all
physical, moral and spiritual distress, on the
orientation of politics, economy, culture and technology
to the service of man and his integral development.
I sincerely
wish that the Jubilee, now at the door, may be an
opportune time for courageous spiritual renewal and an
exceptional celebration of Gods love for humanity.
From the whole Church may there rise up a hymn of
praise and thanksgiving to the Father, who in his
incomparable love granted us in Christ to be 'fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the household of
God' (Incarnationis Mysterium 6). May we draw
comfort from the certainty expressed by Saint Paul the
Apostle: If God did not spare his only Son but gave him
for us, how can he fail to give us everything with him?
Who can separate us from the love of Christ? In every
event of life, including death, we can be more than
winners, by virtue of the One who loved us to the Cross (cfr
Rom 8: 31-37).
The mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God and that
of the Redemption he worked for all men, constitute the
central message of our faith. The Church proclaims this
down through the centuries, walking amidst the
misunderstandings and persecutions of the world and the
consolations of God (S. Augustine De Civ. Dei 18,
51, 2; PL 41,614) and she entrusts it to her children as
a precious treasure to be safeguarded and shared.
You too, dear young people, are the receivers and the
trustees of this heritage: This is our faith. This
is the faith of the Church. And we are proud to profess
it, in Jesus Christ Our Lord (Roman Pontifical,
Rite of Confirmation). We will proclaim it together on
the occasion of the next World Youth Day, in which I hope
very many of you will take part. Rome is a city-
shrine where the memory of the Apostles Peter and
Paul and other martyrs remind pilgrims of the vocation of
every baptized person. Before the world, in August next
year, we will repeat the profession of faith made by
Saint Peter the Apostle: Lord to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68)
because you are the Christ the Son of the Living
God! (Mt 16:16).
Also to you boys and girls who will be adults in the next
century, is entrusted the Book of Life, which
on Christmas Eve this year the Pope, the first to cross
the threshold of the Holy Door, will show to the Church
and to the world as the wellspring of life and hope for
the third millennium (Incarnationis Mysterium 8).
May it become your most precious treasure: in the careful
study and generous acceptance of the Word of the Lord,
you will find nourishment and strength for your daily
life, you will find motivation for tireless commitment to
the building of a civilization of love.
Let us now turn
our eyes to the Virgin Mother of God, of whom the city of
Rome treasures one of the earliest and most honoured
monuments which the devotion of the Christian people has
dedicated to her: the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
The Incarnation of the Word and the Redemption of mankind
are closely linked with the Annunciation when God
revealed to Mary his plan and found in her, a young
person like yourselves, a heart totally open to the
action of his love. For centuries Christian devotion has
recalled every day, with the recitation of the Angelus
Domini, Gods entrance into the history of man. May
this prayer become your daily meditated prayer.
Mary is the dawn which precedes the rising of the Sun of
justice, Christ our Redeemer. With her yes at
the Annunciation, as she opened herself completely to
Fathers plan, she welcomed and made possible the
incarnation of the Son. The first disciple, with her
discreet presence she accompanied Jesus all the way to
Calvary and sustained the hope of the Apostles as they
waited for the Resurrection and Pentecost. In the life of
the Church she continues to be mystically the one who
precedes the Lords coming. To Mary, who fulfills
without interruption her ministry as Mother of the Church
and of each Christian, I entrust with confidence the
preparation of the 15th World Youth Day. May Most Holy
Mary teach you, dear young people, how to discern the
will of the heavenly Father in your life. May she obtain
for you the strength and the wisdom to speak to God and
to speak about God. Through her example may she encourage
you to be in the new millennium announcers of hope, love
and peace.
Looking forward to meeting many of you in Rome next year,
I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace
that has power to build you up and to give you your
inheritance among all the sanctified (Acts 20:32),
while, gladly and with great affection, I bless all of
you, with your families and your loved ones.
Joannes Paulus P.P. II
|