Pope in the Baltic States: stepping out of oneself, offering solidarity and accepting differences
Thousands of young people met and blessed Francis, who told them “don’t let the world make you believe that it is better to do everything on your own. On your own, you never get there. Yes, you can get to have success in your life, but without love, without companions, without belonging to a people”.
Vilnius (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis today visited Mater Misericordiae Shrine in Vilnius, and later met with thousands of young people in the square in front of the cathedral, urging them to “step out of ourselves and to risk a face-to-face encounter with others” to help them, to be available to them, welcoming the “presence and the diversity of others as a gift and a source of enrichment in our lives.”
In a country that has been able to overcome occupations and violence in the last 70 years, Francis said, in the presence of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, "In the past, we built all too many fortresses, but today we feel the need to look one another in the face and acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters, to walk side by side, and to discover and experience with joy and peace the value of fraternity (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 87).
“Here each day crowds of people from numerous countries come to visit the Mother of Mercy: Lithuanians, Poles, Belarusians and Russians; Catholics and Orthodox. Today this is possible, thanks to ready communications and the freedom of circulation between our countries. How good it would be if this ease in moving from one place to another could be accompanied by ease in establishing points of encounter and solidarity, so that we can share generously the gifts we have freely received. So that we can go out and give ourselves to one another, receiving in turn the presence and the diversity of others as a gift and a source of enrichment in our lives.”
The high point of the day was the meeting with thousands of enthusiastic young people (pictured). To them the Pope proposed opening up to others, even the elderly, who represent and are our "roots", a significant point made in front of the cathedral, which, under Communist rule, had been turned into an art gallery, with the relics of Saint Casimir, Lithuania’s patron saint removed.
With the cathedral in mind, Francis said: “Think of all the times this Cathedral went up in flames and fell apart. Yet there were always people ready to start rebuilding; they refused to let themselves be overwhelmed by hardship: they never gave up. [. . .] The freedom of your nation, too, was won by men and women who did not flinch before terror and misfortune.”
Speaking to the young people, pontiff went on to say, "don’t let the world make you believe that it is better to do everything on your own. On your own, you never get there. Yes, you can get to have success in your life, but without love, without companions, without belonging to a people, without that beautiful experience of taking risks together. You can’t move forward on your own.
“Don’t yield to the temptation of getting caught up in yourself, in watching your belly, in the temptation to end up selfish or superficial in the face of sorrow, difficulty or temporary success. Let us say once again, ‘Whatever happens to others happens to me’. Let us swim against the current of that individualism which isolates us, makes us egocentric and makes us become vain, concerned only for our image and our own well-being.” Ultimately, “Life in front of the mirror is no good, it is no good. On the other hand, life is beautiful with others", the pope said.
At the end of the meeting, following Lithuanian tradition, the young people raised their arms and blessed Francis.
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23/09/2018 11:11
