(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis presiding over a Jubilee Mass for Teens in St Peter’s Square on Sunday told them “the true friends of Jesus stand out essentially by the genuine love that shines forth in their way of life.” He also told the 13 to 16 year olds that although love is the path to happiness, it is not an easy one and requires effort. He also said, happiness has no price. “It cannot be bought: it is not an app that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love.”
Below find Pope Francis’ homily during Sunday’s Jubilee Mass for Teens
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).
Dear young friends, what an enormous responsibility the Lord gives us today! He tells us that the world will recognize the disciples of Jesus by the way they love one another. Love, in other words, is the Christian’s identity card, the only valid “document” identifying us as Christians. If this card expires and is not constantly renewed, we stop being witnesses of the Master. So I ask you: Do you wish to say yes to Jesus’ invitation to be his disciples? Do you wish to be his faithful friends? The true friends of Jesus stand out essentially by the genuine love that shines forth in their way of life. Do you want to experience his love? Let us learn from him, for his words are a school of life, a school where we learn to love.
Before all else, love is beautiful, it is the path to happiness. But it is not an easy path. It is demanding and it requires effort. Think, for example, of when we receive a gift. It makes us happy, but receiving a gift means that someone generous has invested time and effort; by their gift they also give us a bit of themselves, a sacrifice they have made. Think too of the gift that your parents and group leaders have given you in allowing you to come to Rome for this Jubilee day dedicated to you. They planned, organized, and prepared everything for you, and this made them happy, even if it meant that they had to give up a trip for themselves. To love means to give, not only something material, but also something of one’s self: one’s own time, one’s friendship, one’s own abilities.
Look to the Lord, who is never outdone in generosity. We receive so many gifts from him, and every day we should thank him… Let me ask you something. Do you thank the Lord every day? Even if we forget to do so, he never forgets, each day, to give us some special gift. It is not something material and tangible that we can use, but something even greater, a life-long gift. He offers us his faithful friendship, which he will never take back. Even if you disappoint him and walk away from him, Jesus continues to want the best for you and to remain close to you; he believes in you even more than you believe in yourself. This is very important! Because the biggest threat to growing up well comes from thinking that no one cares about us, from feeling that we are all alone. The Lord, on the other hand, is always with you and he is happy to be with you. As he did with his first disciples, he looks you in the eye and he calls you to follow him, to “put out into the deep” and to “cast your nets wide” trusting in his words and using your talents in life, in union with him, without fear. Jesus is waiting patiently for you. He awaits your response. He is waiting for you to say “yes”.
Dear young friends, at this stage in your lives you have a growing desire to demonstrate and receive affection. The Lord, if you let him teach you, will show you how to make tenderness and affection even more beautiful. He will guide your hearts to “love without being possessive”, to love others without trying to own them but letting them be free. There is always a temptation to let our affections be tainted by an instinctive desire to “have to have” what we find pleasing. Our consumerist culture reinforces this tendency. Yet when we hold on too tightly to something, it fades, it dies, and then we feel confused, empty inside. The Lord, if you listen to his voice, will reveal to you the secret of love. It is caring for others, respecting them, protecting them and waiting for them.
At this point in life you feel also a great longing for freedom. Many people will say to you that freedom means doing whatever you want. But here you have to be able to say no. Freedom is not the ability simply to do what I want. This makes us self-centred and aloof, and it prevents us from being open and sincere friends. Instead, freedom is the gift of being able to choose the good. The free person is the one who chooses what is good, what is pleasing to God, even if it requires effort. Only by courageous and firm decisions do we realize our greatest dreams, the dreams which it is worth spending our entire lives to pursue. Don’t be content with mediocrity, with “simply going with the flow”, with being comfortable and laid back. Don’t believe those who would distract you from the real treasure, which you are, by telling you that life is beautiful only if you have many possessions. Be sceptical about people who want to make you believe that you are only important if you act tough like the heroes in films or if you wear the latest fashions. Your happiness has no price. It cannot be bought: it is not an app that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love.
That is because love is a free gift which calls for an open heart; it is a noble responsibility which is life-long; it is a daily task for those who can achieve great dreams! Love is nurtured by trust, respect and forgiveness. Love does not happen because we talk about it, but when we live it: it is not a sweet poem to study and memorize, but is a life choice to put into practice! How can we grow in love? The secret, once again, is the Lord: Jesus gives us himself in the Mass, he offers us forgives and peace in Confession. There we learn to receive his love, to make it ours and to give it to the world. And when loving seems hard, when it is difficult to say no to something wrong, look up at Jesus on the cross, embrace the cross and don’t ever let go of his hand. He will point you ever higher, and pick you up whenever you fall.
I know that you are capable of acts of great friendship and goodness. With these you are called to build the future, together with others and for others, but never against anyone! You will do amazing things if you prepare well, starting now, by living your youth and all its gifts to the fullest and without fear of hard work. Be like sporting champions, who attain high goals by quiet daily effort and practice. Let your daily programme be the works of mercy. Enthusiastically practice them, so as to be champions in life! In this way you will be recognized as disciples of Jesus. And your joy will be complete.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis sent a video message to the thousands of teenagers gathered in Rome’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday evening to celebrate the Jubilee for Teens.
In the message, he called them to be merciful like the Father and compared their relationship with Jesus to mobile phone coverage.
Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:
In his video message, the Holy Father apologized to the teenage pilgrims for not being able to make it for the event in Rome’s Olympic Stadium, but thanked them for their joyful presence.
Making reference to their Saturday morning pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pope reminded the teens that the Holy Door represents their encounter with Christ, who he said, “introduces us to the love of the Father and invites us to become merciful, just as He is merciful.”
“Being merciful means being able to forgive. And this is not easy, is it? Sometimes it happens that, in my family, at school, in the parish, at the gym, or while we’re having fun, someone does something and we feel offended; or maybe in a nervous moment we offend someone. Let us not remain in that state of anger or desire for revenge! It serves nothing! It’s like a woodworm which eats our soul and doesn’t allow us to be happy. Let us forgive! Let us forgive and forget the offence we’ve received, so that we may understand Jesus’ teaching and be his disciples and witnesses of mercy,” the Pope said.
The Holy Father concluded his video message with an analogy to which the teens could easily relate. He compared their relationship with Jesus to mobile phone coverage.
“How often it happens to me to have to call a friend but I can’t get through because there is no service. I’m sure this also happens to you, that you’re cell phone doesn’t connect in some places… Well, remember that if Jesus is not in your life, it’s as if there is no [phone] service! You can’t get in contact with someone and you close yourself off. Let us be where there is service! In your family, parish, or school, so that we will always have something good and true to say in this world.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Jubilee for teens got underway Saturday as part of the celebrations for the Extraordinary Year of Mercy. The theme for this three day event is “Growing merciful as the Father”, and brings together 70 thousand teenagers from here in Italy and all over the world.
The event kicked off with a pilgrimage to the Holy Door, followed by confessions which were heard by the priests present and by Pope Francis himself, in the colonnade of St Peter’s Basilica.
Later on Saturday the teens will travel to Rome’s Olympic Stadium where there will be a video message from the Holy Father.
Meanwhile, on Sunday morning the 13 to 16 year olds will be back in St Peter’s Square for a Mass presided over by Pope Francis.
Among those who have traveled to Rome to be at this event is the Sullivan family from North Carolina in the United States.
Ryan and Emily Sullivan along with their parents Susan and Matt dropped into the studios of Vatican Radio to talk about the Teen Jubilee with Lydia O’Kane.
Listen to the interview
Both Emily and Ryan spoke of their excitement at being in Rome for such a significant gathering with Emily adding that it was “cool” that this weekend’s Jubilee was for their age group.
“It’s exciting as a youth to be thought of and focused on”, she said.
Parents Matt and Susan are hoping that this experience with resonate with their children and will be an opportunity for them to “explore their faith”.
For Susan having a Teen Jubilee is extremely important, remarking that they are “they future of our Church.”
The Teen Jubilee runs until Monday 25 th .
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis surprised thousands of teenagers in St. Peter’s Square by personally hearing confessions for more than an hour Saturday morning.
The Holy Father administered the Sacrament of Reconciliation to 16 teenage boys and girls gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee for Teens.
Listen to Seàn-Patrick Lovett’s report:
Most people celebrate their feast day eating cake.
Not Pope Francis.
Saturday, April 23rd is the feast of St. George, and Pope Giorgio Bergoglio spent a good slice of the morning listening to confessions…in St Peter’s Square.
That’s because Saturday also marks the Jubilee for Teens, an opportunity for 13 to 16 year-olds all over the world to reflect on the theme “Merciful like the Father”.
Several thousand of them have come to Rome for the event and were in St Peter’s Square Saturday morning when the Pope unexpectedly turned up to hear confessions, along with another 150 priests, beneath the colonnade in front of St Peter’s Basilica.
Sixteen teenage boys and girls were chosen randomly from among the throngs of banner-waving, rucksack-carrying young people who were participating in the Sacrament of Reconciliation before making their way through the Holy Door.
In a message published earlier this year in preparation for the Jubilee for Teens, Pope Francis wrote: “Don’t just prepare your rucksacks and your banners – but your hearts and minds as well”.
The Pope will address those hearts and minds personally tomorrow when he celebrates Mass for the teens in St Peter’s Square.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson, told the United Nations to realize the 2030 Development Agenda, we are called “to care”, even when dealing with finance.
The Vatican official was on Thursday speaking at a High-Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in New York.
“Ethically irresponsible financial activity produces social inequalities,” – Cardinal Turkson said – “By caring, we are inspired to practice responsible finance and promote value-based investing in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.”
Cardinal Turkson called “our conflict-ridden world” the greatest challenge to the realization of the 2030 Agenda.
“For war is the negation of all rights and all development,” he said.
“Thus good governance and all the political instruments for the maintenance of peace and security for all are indispensable for the successful realization of the 2030 Agenda,” Cardinal Turkson concluded.
The full text of Cardinal Turkson’s speech is below
Statement of the HOLY SEE by
HIS EMINENCE CARD. PETER K.A. TURKSON
President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
High-Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
New York, 21 April 2016
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I bring you the warm greetings of Pope Francis, and his prayerful wishes for a successful discussion on the means for achieving the SDGs. When Pope Francis addressed this Assembly on September 25 last, he referred to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as “an important sign of hope”. This hope, he went on, will come to concrete fruition only if the Agenda is truly, fairly and effectively realized, and even more importantly, if its framework is sustainable. Thus its realization calls for all stakeholders to exercise an effective, practical and constant will.
The Holy See believes that the realization of the 2030 Agenda requires more than public financing; it also requires financing and investment in accordance with value-based criteria of private investors, as a necessary complement to public finance. Indeed, it is necessary that Non-State Actors, such as faith-based groups, lead multi-stakeholder engagements in ethical financial activity to eliminate social inequality and to develop an ambitious new agenda to better “care for our common home”.
In his Encyclical “Laudato Si’”, Pope Francis talks about “care” and “caring”. For, if one cares, one is connected, one is involved and touched. To care is to allow oneself to be affected by another, so much that one’s path and priorities change. With caring, then, the hard line between self and other softens, blurs, even disappears. So when we cast aside anything precious in the world, we destroy part of ourselves too, beca use we are completely connected.
To realize the 2030 Development Agenda, we are called “to care”, even when dealing with finance. Ethically irresponsible financial activity produces social inequalities. By caring, we are inspired to practice responsible finance and promote value-based investing in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Finally, Mr. President, as Pope Paul VI affirmed in 1967 in his Encyclical “Populorum Progressio,” development is the new name of peace. Peace is the necessary condition and environment for any true and lasting development. Accordingly, our conflict-ridden world is probably the greatest challenge to the realization of the 2030 Agenda. Peaceful and caring societies are more fundamental than the availability of financing and funding.
For war is the negation of all rights and all development. Thus good governance and all the political instruments for the maintenance of peace and security for all are indispensable for the successful realization of the 2030 Agenda.
(from Vatican Radio)…