Pope in Paraguay: young people, go against the tide, "stir things up but in an organized fashion”
Asuncion (AsiaNews) - "Go against the grain", following Christ’s plan, “dream great and beautiful things that broaden the heart," "have a heart free from" all the world’s deceits, its comforts, a beautiful life, of vices, of a false freedom". These were Francis’ words to the 200 thousand young people of Paraguay, who gathered at Costanera for the last appointment of the Pope’s trip to Latin America, before boarding a plane for his return flight to Rome.
It was a festive gathering (pictured), opened by dancing and singing. Francis spoke entirely off the cuff to the young people - the prepared speeches, he said, "are boring" - taking a cue from the testimonies of two young people and concluding with an invocation to all those gathered; "Let you voice be heard, stir things up".
This was the same exhortation addressed two years ago to the young people participating in the World Youth Day in Brazil: "Last time, a priest jokingly said to me, "Yes, you keep telling the young people stir things up, but then when they do we are the ones that have to bring them back in line". So stir things up, but in an organized fashion.... ". And again: "The Gospel says: 'Blessed are the poor', not that the well-off are happy. It asks us to go against the tide. And this is Chirst’s plan for us to go against the tide".
Francis was inspired by the testimonies of a girl, Liz, and a boy, Manuel, as well as the request of Orlando, who read the Gospel and asked him to pray for freedom. Liz helps her mother and grandmother who are seriously ill. Manuel lived in poverty and abandonment.
Freedom, said Francis, “is a gift that God gives us, but we must know how to receive it, we must know how to have a free heart, because all of us know that in the world, there are so many ties that bind the heart. And they don’t allow the heart to be free. Exploitation, a lack of what’s necessary to survive, drug addiction, sadness — all of these things take our liberty from us. So, everyone together, thanking Orlando for having asked for this blessing, to have a free heart, a heart that can say what it thinks, that can say what it feels, and can do what it thinks and what it feels. This is a free heart. And that is what we are going to ask, all together".
Liz, said the Pope, " eaches us something, just as Orlando taught us to pray to have a free heart. Liz, with her life, teaches us that we can't be like Pontius Pilate, to wash our hands of things. Liz could have easily put her mom in one care home and her grandmother in another care home and lived her life as a young person, having fun, studying what she wanted. And Liz said no. Grandmother. Mother. And Liz became a helper, a servant, or if you want to say it yet more powerfully, a help maid of the mom and the grandmother, and she did this with affection.. And she burned her life up to now, 25 years, serving her mother and her grandmother. Alone? No. Liz wasn’t alone. She said two things that have to help us. She spoke of an angel, an aunt who was like an angel. And she spoke of her meetings with her friends on the weekends, with the young evangelizers, with the youth group that nourished her faith.. "
"And for Manuel, life wasn’t made easy for him. Manuel is not a boy, wasn’t a boy, a youth, a young man, for whom life was easy". The Pope then prayed for all children living in difficult situations. He pointed the young people to these dimensions: freedom of heart, service, solidarity, hope, work, struggle for life. Life, he noted, "it is not easy for young people. Desperation drives many young people to delinquency, we must say to these young people who are our neighbors, we want to help them with love. "
Both Liz Manuel, he stressed, have drawn hope and strength from Jesus, from God. "We need young people with hope and fortitude, not weak young people, tired and bored of living. Those who know Jesus and have a free heart are strong and have hope. This is the path. It requires sacrifice, he Beatitudes that we read a bit ago are the plan of Jesus for us. The poor in spirit, those who are capable of approaching and understanding what a poor person is. Jesus doesn't say happy are those who have a good time, but happy are those who are capable of feeling afflicted with the sorrow of others".
After the meeting with young people, the Pope went to the "Silvio Pettirossi" airport, some children in traditional costume formed an honor guard, a group of played the role of the Swiss Guards. After performances and songs and a short meeting with the president Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara, Francis boarded the plane with a 30 minute delay. The Pope is due to arrive in Rome at 13: 45 (local time).
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