2023-08-03 22:43:00
August 3, 2023 / 3:43 pm
Pope Francis delivered his first words at WYD Lisbon 2023 and called on young people to find Jesus, who calls them by name, in a speech that -due to its energy, depth and closeness- marked a milestone that recalled their historic participation in Rio 2013.
The Pontiff had his first meeting on August 3 with the nearly 500,000 young people who arrived in the Portuguese capital, on this occasion, to participate in the reception ceremony in Eduardo VII Park.
From the stage, where the pilgrim cross and the image of the Salvation of the Roman People —symbols of WYD—, Pope Francis began to read the speech prepared for this afternoon. However, he gradually improvised his words in order to deepen the message, until changing part of the text.
“You are not here by chance. The Lord called them, not only in these days, but from the beginning of their lives”, began the Holy Father.
“At the beginning of the web of life, before the talents we have, before the shadows, before the wounds we carry inside, we have been called, we have been called. Because? Because we are loved ”, he insisted to the pilgrims, gathered in the park in the center of Lisbon.
The Pontiff, whose much of his speech focused on God’s unconditional love, pointed out to the young people that while the market looks at them as numbers, the Lord sees faces in them.
“May these be days in which we record in our hearts that we are loved as we are. Not as we would like to be, as we are now, and this is the starting point of WYD, but above all the starting point of life”, he pointed out.
Then, Pope Francis addressed the reality of social networks, where the name of each young person is known and subjected to the processes of “algorithms that associate shouting and preferences with it. But all this does not question your uniqueness, but your usefulness for market studies”, he pointed out to the young people.
“How many wolves hide behind smiles of false kindness, saying that they know who you are, but that they don’t love you; they hint that they believe in you and promise you’ll make it, only to leave you alone when they don’t care about you anymore. And these are the illusions of the virtual and we must be vigilant so as not to be fooled, ”she advised them.
The Pope also stressed that these are “soap bubbles” that are useless and that leave them empty inside. “I tell you one thing, Jesus is not like that, He trusts you, trusts each one of you, each one of us, because Jesus cares about each one of us, each one of you matters and that is Jesus” .
In this sense, he affirmed that the Church of Christ is “the community of those who are called”, not of the best, since all its members are sinners.
“Let’s think about this a little in our hearts. We are called as we are, with the problems we have, with the limitations we have, with our overflowing joy (…). Jesus calls me as I am, not as I would like to be. We are a community of brothers and sisters of Jesus, sons and daughters of the same Father,” he assured them.
Subscribe to ACI Press
Receive our most important news by email
“This was just what I wanted to say. Do not be afraid, have courage, go forward knowing that we are amortized by the love that God has for us. God loves us, let’s all say it together loudly: God loves us. Thank you. Goodbye”, concluded the Holy Father.
Eduardo Berdejo is a graduate of the National University of San Marcos (Peru). He has been part of the ACI Prensa team since 2001.
#Pope #Francis #marks #milestone #address #young #people