“We are called to realize the Lord’s dream: to bear witness to His joy and to live according to it,” said the Pope, meeting with young people in Venice. The meeting took place in the square near the shrine of Mary – Mother of Good Health, “Santa Maria della Salute” in Italian.
Inese Steinert – Vatican
The young heart of Our Lady was enlivened by two verbs – “get up” and “go”. “She got up and walked,” says the Gospel of Luke (1:39). The Pope dwelled on each of these words in his address.
First “get up”. Francis urged the young people every time, when they get up in the morning, to thank God for life, to ask for His help, so that each of us loves our life, to recognize who I am and to thank the Lord. You can ask him many things, for example: “You know, my God, that I am in love, in love, help me grow in this love and achieve a happy couple relationship. You can say many things to the Lord,” the Pope encouraged. He then invited us to pray with the words of the “Our Father” prayer, where the first word is the key to joy. “When you say ‘Father’, you recognize yourself as His beloved son or daughter. Remember that to God you are not a “digital profile”, but a child. You have a Father in heaven and therefore, you too are a “child of heaven”, explained the Bishop of Rome.
The Pope reminded us that the Lord always helps us get up when we fall. Raising us up, He looks down on us. That is the only time we too are allowed to look down on someone, that is, by lifting up someone who has fallen. Francis called to open the Gospel and find out what Jesus did with Mary Magdalene, Zacchaeus and many others. With the weakness of these people He worked miracles. So does He
After expressing the invitation to always carry a small, pocket-sized book of the Gospels, the Pope continued to talk about human weakness and mistakes, and God’s attitude. He reminded us that God does not lift a finger at us, repeating that “you have done so and so”. No, He gives us a hand to lift us up. When we are on the ground, He sees children to be lifted up, not criminals to be punished,” Francis said. “Once we’re up,” he continued, “our job is to stay up.” Therefore, persistence is required. Sports champions, as well as artists, scientists, show that big goals cannot be achieved immediately. The Pope reminded that the most important things in life are love and faith, and to grow in faith and love, one must be persistent and always move forward.
Moving on to the verb “to go”, the Holy Father invited young people not to isolate themselves, but to seek others, to experience God together. “Use your smartphone, but go out to meet people,” urged Francis, aware of how much time young people spend using social media and playing games. “Going means giving yourself to others. It is the ability to fall in love and it is beautiful. A young man or woman who does not feel the ability to fall in love or to be loving towards others is missing something. We have to catch up, we have to march, we have to go forward,” said the Pope.
At the end of the speech, the Holy Father affirmed that God has given us everything and asked, what do we, who are His children, do? Are we creating something beautiful? We live immersed in man-made production, which makes us lose the ability to marvel at the beauty that exists all around us. And yet, God’s creation also invites us to become creators of beauty. “To be creators of beauty means to give something that was not there before,” said the Pope. He added:
“When you get married and have a son or daughter, you will have given something that was not there before. And this is the beauty of youth, when a person becomes a mother or a father and gives something that was not there before. It’s beautiful! Think to yourself of the children you will have, and let that drive you forward!”
The Pope went on to explain that to create, to imitate God who creates style, also means a prayer expressed from the heart; page written; a dream come true; a gesture of love towards someone who cannot give anything in return. It is a style of unconditional love that helps to get out of nihilistic logic, from “I do to have”, from “I work to earn” logic. The Pope pointed out that it is not the center of life, although it is necessary to do so. “The Life Center is an unconditional gift,” he said. “Go and give without fear!” Francis called the young people. At the end of the meeting, he gave the following exhortation:
“Young man who wants to take control of his life, stand up! Open your heart to God, thank Him, embrace the beauty that you are; in love with your life. And then go! Get up, fall in love and go! Go out, go with others, look for the one who is lonely, paint the world with your creativity, draw the paths of life with the Gospel. Please draw the paths of life with the Gospel! Get up and go!”
