In his message for the 39th World Youth Day on 24 November, the Holy Father encouraged young people to set out and live life’s pilgrimage to the fullest. He also invited young people to come to Rome for the Jubilee Year of 2025, to “experience the embrace of the merciful God, his forgiveness, the forgiveness of all our ‘inner debts’, as was the tradition of biblical jubilees.”
Jean-Benoît Harel – Vatican City
“Those who hope in the Lord walk without growing weary» (cf. Is 40:31). The Holy Father chose this passage from the book of Isaiah to inspire the 39th World Youth Day on November 24. This expression announces “the end of Israel’s exile in Babylon and the beginning of a new phase of hope and rebirth for God’s people” explains Pope Francis.
In an era tormented by wars, injustices, and the various exploitations of man and nature, young people run the risk of “living without hope, prisoners of boredom and melancholy“, continues the Holy Father. This is why, like Isaiah more than 2,600 years ago, Francis wants to be a spokesperson for hope: “Today again, the Lord opens a road before you and invites you to travel it with joy and hope“.
A “walk without fatigue”
Comparing life on earth, and even more so Christian life, to a pilgrimage, the Pope recalls the desire for transcendence in each human being.This is why, as I have told you many times, “watching life from the balcony” is not enough for you young people.” he repeats.
In this earthly pilgrimage, it is normal for Francis to feel tired, which can be accompanied by boredom. This bad tiredness, of those who “do not start, do not decide, do not choose, never take risks” ends up paralyzing and preventing progress, it is written in the message. “I prefer the fatigue of those who are on the way to the boredom of those who remain motionless and do not want to walk!“, the Pope then says. Moreover, to treat this apathetic fatigue, the Holy Father does not propose immobile rest but on the contrary, his solution is to “to set out and become pilgrims of hope“.
“Hope is precisely a new strength that God breathes into us, which allows us to persevere in the race, which gives us a “long-term vision” to overcome the difficulties of the present and which directs us towards a precise goal: communion with God and the fullness of eternal life.”
Crises, a time of purification of hope
The 86-year-old Pontiff is well aware that life has its moments of trial and discouragement, in studies or work, but also in the desire to follow Christ. But for him, these moments of desert, “are not wasted or useless moments, but they can prove to be important opportunities for growth. They are times of purification of hope“. In these moments, the “false hopes” are unmasked and it is up to each of us to remember that God does not abandon his people, as when God sends manna to his hungry people in the desert.
“In these biblical stories, the faith of the Church has seen prefigurations of the precious gift of the Eucharist, true manna and true viaticum, which God gives us to sustain us on our journey. As Blessed Carlo Acutis said, the Eucharist is the highway to heaven.”
Resting in Christ
Following Blessed Carlo Acutis, the Pope thus asked young people to “rediscovering the great gift of the Eucharist» and to «rest like Jesus and in Jesus” Indeed, he continues, if He knows “your needs for body rest, recreation time to enjoy the company of friends, to play sports and even to sleep“, only Christ can provide rest for the soul.
“When the weariness of the journey weighs on you, return to Jesus, learn to rest in Him and abide in Him“, Francis recommends because Christ himself said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest» (Mt 11, 28).
The Pope in Singapore during a meeting with young people on September 13, 2024.
Jubilee pilgrimage, sign of the inner journey
To leave at “the discovery of life, in the footsteps of love, in search of the face of God“, the Successor of Peter encourages young people to take to the road not as tourists, but as pilgrims. Far from the superficiality of tourist visits, captured by fleeting selfies, the Pope believes that the pilgrim “immerses himself fully in the places he encounters, he makes them speak, integrates them into his search for happiness“An experience to be had during a future jubilee pilgrimage in 2025,”sign of the inner journey that we are all called to make, to reach the final destination“.
Invited to Rome for the Jubilee, the Pope proposes three attitudes so that this pilgrimage becomes “a moment of living and personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, “Door of salvation”» (Bubble Spes non confunditn. 1).
“I invite you to live it with three fundamental attitudes: thanksgiving, so that your heart opens to praise for the gifts received, first of all the gift of life; seeking, so that your journey expresses the constant desire to seek the Lord and not to quench the thirst of your hearts; finally, repentance, which helps us to look within ourselves, to recognize the wrong paths and the bad choices we sometimes make and to convert to the Lord and to the light of his Gospel.”
The experience of God’s embrace
Finally, the Pope takes the image of Bernini’s colonnade in front of St. Peter’s Basilica which recalls “the two open arms of the Church, our mother, who welcomes all her children“. “You too become open arms for many of your friends and contemporaries who need to feel, through your welcome, the love of God the Father.“, the Pope then asks the young people.
The Sovereign Pontiff concludes his message by giving the example of the saints who “attracts us and supports us“, and entrusts the journeys of each of the young people to the Virgin Mary.
