The Youth Showed Us that A Different World is Possible

"Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are," Pope Leo XIV

More than a million young people gathered in Rome last week for the Jubilee of Youth. The week was a joyous gathering marked by thousands of youths singing hymns as they walked down cobblestoned streets, praying rosaries in piazzas, and standing for hours at the Circus Maximus, where chariot races were held in Ancient Rome, to confess their sins to priests offering the sacrament in a dozen languages.

Pope Leo XIV began the week by reminding everyone that they were a message of hope: “You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world! … today your voices, your enthusiasm, your cries — all of them for Jesus Christ — will be heard to the ends of the earth!”

At the closing Mass on Sunday he told them that they are "the sign that a different world is possible. A world of fraternity and friendship, where conflicts are not resolved with weapons, but with dialogue." Pope Leo urged the participants to "spread your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith" when they return home to some 150 countries. "Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are," Pope Leo urged the young faithful. "Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you."

Most of his homily was delivered in Italian, with short paragraphs in English and Spanish. Speaking in English, the pope said, “There is a burning question in our hearts, a need for truth that we cannot ignore, which leads us to ask ourselves: what is true happiness? What is the true meaning of life? What can free us from being trapped in meaninglessness, boredom and mediocrity?”

Reflecting on the readings at Mass, the Holy Father made it clear that “Buying, hoarding and consuming are not enough.” The fullness of existence “has to do with what we joyfully welcome and share” he said.

“We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards, to the ‘things that are above,’ to realize that everything in the world has meaning only insofar as it serves to unite us to God and to our brothers and sisters in charity, helping us to grow in ‘compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience,’ forgiveness and peace, all in imitation of Christ,” he said.

Pope Leo carried forward the jubilee theme of hope, urging the young people to embark on an “adventure with the Lord toward eternity,” reminding the young people that their lives should be oriented towards heavenly realities, not solely earthly ones. Encouraging them to lift their eyes and stand on tiptoe, he said they’ll find themselves standing before the Lord, gently knocking at the window of their soul.

The pope defined the Jubilee of Youth as “an outpouring of grace for the Church and for the whole world.” I think it was a marvelous event where the youth showed us “that a different world is (indeed) possible.”

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