Pope: "In a world at war, you are a sign of hope". A meeting with the Eucharistic Youth Movement
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "To see young people like you who believe in Jesus present in the Eucharist, who believe that love is stronger than hate; that peace is stronger than war; that dialogue is stronger conflict; that harmony stronger than tensions, gives me great hope”, was the heartfelt message of Pope Francis today to the young people of the Eucharistic Youth Movement (MEJ, the acronym in French), in an audience granted to them on the occasion of the centenary of its foundation. Born in 1915 in France, during the First World War, to encourage devotion to the Eucharist among children and pray for peace, MEJ has now reached 1.1 million members worldwide.
1,500 young people from 35 countries, more than 600 families from America, Asia, Oceania, Europe took part in the audience. In a flurry of multicolored flags, hats, scarves, smiles and selfies, six young people from Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, France, Taiwan, Argentina have put some questions to the pope.
The Pope responded calmly and spontaeously, in a very familial conversation. The young girl from Taiwan, Pi Joulu, asked him if he saw signs of hope in the Church and society of the twenty-first century. Francis replied, pointing to the assembly: "This [pointing to the young people] is a sign of hope ... We are in the midst of a war, piecemal World War III, which is negative, but there are signs of hope and joy. "
Responding to Magat Diop, a young African living in Italy, who asked for advise on dealing with conflicts in the family, the Pope noted that only "in a graveyard .... are there no tensions and conflicts: only in dead things. When there is life, there is always tension and conflict". At the same time he said that the conflicts in the family are overcome through dialogue, achieving harmony. He asked the young people "not to be afraid of conflict", of dialogue, but also not to "love tensions for tensions sake".
Gregorios, a young Indonesian asked him instead about conflicts within his country with great cultural and religious diversity, Francis suggested not only "dialogue" but "respect" for the identity of the other. He cited the plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority that is expelled from Bangladesh and Myanmar and whose ships full of refugees are pushed back from the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia.
"Social conflicts - he said - are resolved through dialogue, but above all with respect for the other's identity." He added: "In the Middle East we see that many people, religious minorities, Christians, are not respected and are killed, persecuted. Because there is no respect for their identity”.
Asked by a Brazilian girl about "the greatest challenge that Pope Francis faced in his mission," the Pope replied: "Always finding peace in the Lord, that peace that only Jesus can give." Soon after he added "another challenge" for everyone, even for young people: "Being able to discern betweentrue peace and false peace", the peace of Jesus and that of the "enemy" of the devil. This "makes you happy, you don't worry, but inside inside, inside there's a catch ... The Devil is a crook."
Another question – put to him by a French girl - was about the consequences of friendship with Jesus. The Pope spoke of the gifts of "peace, of joy, of wonder," inviting the young people to an encounter with Jesus, seeking him "in prayer, in the Eucharist, in the responsibilities of your daily life, going to seek the most needy”.
The last question put to him by a young Argentine, is "What would Francis Pope to young people to discover the depth of the Eucharist?". The pope mentioned several times the advice of St. Paul to Timothy (2 Tim 2,8): "Remember Jesus Christ”.
We must "always think of the Last Supper, of the words that he said, his body, his blood; do this in memory of me. The memory of Jesus is present there. At each Mass, he is there and saves us there. And after this, he went to die for me. He gave his life for me. Everyone must be able to say this. This is 'the grace of memory. " Mass, he added, "is not just a ritual, a ceremony. It is with this memory that we can come to an ever deeper understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist. "
And before concluding with the Hail Mary ("each in his own language!"), He said: "The world has so many bad things, we are at war. But there are so many good and beautiful things, and hidden in the many holy people of God. God is present and there are many reasons to hope to move forward. Courage, and move forward! ".
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27/06/2008
