Cuatro Vientos Air Base, Madrid
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Dear Young Friends,
I greet all of you, especially the young people who have asked me
their questions, and I thank them for the sincerity with which they set
forth their concerns, that express the longing which all of you have to
achieve something great in life, something which can bring you
fulfilment and happiness.
How can a young person be true to the faith and yet continue to
aspire to high ideals in today’s society? In the Gospel we have just
heard, Jesus gives us an answer to this urgent question: “As the Father
has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love” (Jn 15:9).
Yes, dear friends, God loves us. This is the great truth of our life;
it is what makes everything else meaningful. We are not the product of
blind chance or absurdity; instead our life originates as part of a
loving plan of God. To abide in his love, then, means living a life
rooted in faith, since faith is more than the mere acceptance of certain
abstract truths: it is an intimate relationship with Christ, who
enables us to open our hearts to this mystery of love and to live as men
and women conscious of being loved by God.
If you abide in the love of Christ, rooted in the faith, you will
encounter, even amid setbacks and suffering, the source of true
happiness and joy. Faith does not run counter to your highest ideals; on
the contrary, it elevates and perfects those ideals. Dear young people,
do not be satisfied with anything less than Truth and Love, do not be
content with anything less than Christ.
Nowadays, although the dominant culture of relativism all around us
has given up on the search for truth, even if it is the highest
aspiration of the human spirit, we need to speak with courage and
humility of the universal significance of Christ as the Saviour of
humanity and the source of hope for our lives. He who took upon himself
our afflictions, is well acquainted with the mystery of human suffering
and manifests his loving presence in those who suffer.
They in their
turn, united to the passion of Christ, share closely in his work of
redemption.
Furthermore, our disinterested attention towards the sick
and the forgotten will always be a humble and warm testimony of God’s
compassionate regard.
Dear friends, may no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the
world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed
you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, his name
will continue to resound throughout the world.
During this prayer vigil, I urge you to ask God to help you find your
vocation in society and in the Church, and to persevere in that
vocation with joy and fidelity. It is a good thing to open our hearts to
Christ’s call and to follow with courage and generosity the path he
maps out for us.
The Lord calls many people to marriage, in which a man and a woman,
in becoming one flesh (cf. Gen 2:24), find fulfilment in a profound life
of communion. It is a prospect that is both bright and demanding. It is
a project for true love which is daily renewed and deepened by sharing
joys and sorrows, one marked by complete self-giving. For this reason,
to acknowledge the beauty and goodness of marriage is to realize that
only a setting of fidelity and indissolubility, along with openness to
God’s gift of life, is adequate to the grandeur and dignity of marital
love.
Christ calls others to follow him more closely in the priesthood or
in consecrated life. It is hard to put into words the happiness you feel
when you know that Jesus seeks you, trusts in you, and with his
unmistakable voice also says to you: “Follow me!” (cf. Mk 2:14).
Dear young people, if you wish to discover and to live faithfully the
form of life to which the Lord is calling each of you, you must remain
in his love as his friends. And how do we preserve friendship except
through frequent contact, conversation, being together in good times and
bad? Saint Teresa of Jesus used to say that prayer is just such
“friendly contact, often spending time alone with the one who we know
loves us” (cf. Autobiography, 8).
And so I now ask you to “abide” in the adoration of Christ, truly
present in the Eucharist. I ask you to enter into conversation with him,
to bring before him your questions and to listen to his voice. Dear
friends, I pray for you with all my heart. And I ask you to pray for me.
Tonight let us ask the Lord to grant that, attracted by the beauty of
his love, we may always live faithfully as his disciples. Amen.
[French] Dear young French-speakers, be proud of the gift of faith
which you have received, as it will illumine your life at every moment.
Draw strength from the faith of your neighbours, from the faith of the
Church! Through faith we are grounded in Christ. Gather with others to
deepen it, be faithful to the celebration of the Eucharist, the mystery
of faith par excellence. Christ alone can respond to your aspirations.
Let yourselves be seized by God, so that your presence in the Church
will give her new life!
[English] Dear young people, in these moments of silence before the
Blessed Sacrament, let us raise our minds and hearts to Jesus Christ,
the Lord of our lives and of the future. May he pour out his Spirit upon
us and upon the whole Church, that we may be a beacon of freedom,
reconciliation and peace for the whole world.
[German] Dear young Christians from the German-speaking countries!
Deep in our hearts we yearn for what is grand and beautiful in life. Do
not let your desires and aspirations dissipate, but ground them in Jesus
Christ. He himself is the sure foundation, the point of reference, for
building up your life.
[Italian] I now turn to the Italian-speaking young people. Dear
friends, this vigil will remain as an unforgettable experience in your
lives. Guard the flame which God has lit in your hearts tonight. Never
let it go out, renew it each day, share it with your contemporaries who
live in darkness and who are seeking a light for their way. Thank you!
Until tomorrow morning!
[Portuguese] My dear friends, I invite each of you to enter into a
personal dialogue with Christ, sharing with him your hesitations and
above all listening to his voice. The Lord is here and he is calling
you! Young friends, it is good to hear within us the word of Jesus and
to follow in his footsteps. Ask the Lord to help you to discover your
vocation in life and in the Church, and to persevere in it with joy and
fidelity, knowing that he never abandons you or betrays you! He remains
with us until the end of the world.
[Polish] Dear young friends from Poland! This prayer vigil is filled
with the presence of Christ. Grounded in his love, draw near to him with
the flame of your faith. He will fill your hearts with his life. Build
your lives on Christ and on his Gospel. I willingly bless all of you.
* * *
Final greeting of the Holy Father
Dear Young Friends,
Before I leave you, let me say good night to all of you. Rest well.
Thank you for the sacrifice you are making and which I know you are
offering generously to the Lord.
We will meet again, God willing, at the
celebration of Mass tomorrow.
I will see all of you there.
Thank you
very much.