Pope Issues 2010 World Youth Day Message

On Monday, March 15, Pope Benedict XVI issued his World Youth Day message, inviting young Catholics to realize their vocations and follow Christ, rather than going away sad as did the young rich man in Mark’s Gospel, reflecting on this year’s theme, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” This particular Gospel passage was also the focus of Pope John Paul II’s first message to Catholic youth in 1985, which Benedict termed “prophetic,” looking back upon the fruits of previous World Youth Days.

The Holy Father divided his message into seven points for consideration. First, he invites his readers to consider the love of Christ when he encounters the young man, which “effectively expresses the great attention of Jesus towards young people,” inviting people into deep, personal conversation with Himself. Secondly, he considers the point that Christ looks at the young man and loves him, emphasizing the immensity of God’s love present in His gaze; this love of God is “the source of all of the Christian life.”

Benedict’s next point is to emphasize the importance of the “discovery of the plan of life,” and to urge young people not to be fearful in discerning their vocation. Christ, as Benedict says in his fourth point, invites all to come and follow Him, and it is only in doing this that man finds true happiness. The young man in the Gospel goes away sad, a sadness “which is born in the heart of each one when one does not have the courage to follow Christ, to make the right choice.” God has created man to be united with Him in heaven; man is oriented towards eternal life, as Benedict’s fifth point emphasizes, and until he accepts this gift, there will always be a profound sadness and emptiness in his soul.

Benedict concludes by stating the importance of loving and obeying the Ten Commandments, the “way of authentic love” which Christ proposed to the young man when he asked what he must do to obtain eternal life. These commandments, says the Holy Father, “do not limit happiness, but indicate how to find it.” Lastly, he asserts the importance of young people for the future of the Church, and their role in working to solve the various problems which confront society today. He says, “The future is in your hands, because the gifts and riches that the Lord has enclosed in the heart of each one of you, molded by the encounter with Christ, can bring authentic hope to the world!”

Pope John Paul II, in his initial message for World Youth Day, took a similar approach in using this account from Mark’s Gospel to invite young people to follow Christ without fear or hesitation. As Benedict and his predecessor both rightly point out, it is only in Christ that man finds true peace and fulfillment, as He alone is the first beginning and last end of all human beings.

Such an emphasis is quite necessary and helpful, especially among modern Catholics, who are so often confronted by circuitous and inane notions of peace and justice. These things are by their nature praiseworthy and good, but cannot be established and experienced properly unless they are inspired by, and continually grounded in, Divine charity. Christianity is not a moralism; one does not become a Christian and encounter God through trumpeting various political causes, however noble they may be. As Pope Benedict says “We are Christians only if we encounter Christ…in the reading of Sacred Scripture, in prayer, in the liturgical life of the Church.” Let all Catholics pray that young people realize this truth, and work to bring about peace and renewal in the world through, with, and in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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