Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madrid (Fides Service) – “Dear young people, I encourage you to join the School of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the unmatched model of contemplation and the admirable example of fruitful, joyful and enriching interiority. She will teach you never to separate action and contemplation so that you may contribute better to making a great dream become a reality: the birth of a new Europe of the spirit. A Europe faithful to its Christian roots, not closed in itself but open to dialogue and collaboration with the other peoples of the earth; a Europe aware of its calling to be a beacon and stimulus for the progress for the world…” This was the consignment the Pope gave to Spanish youth who had come from dioceses all over the country to take part in the meeting with the Holy Father on Saturday 3 May at Cuatro Vientos air base outside Madrid. After the Pope’s initial welcome, the Marian Vigil continued with the praying of the Rosary, each mystery being presented with a reading from the Gospel and examples of personal testimony. Before giving his blessing the Pope distributed rosary beads to a representative group of young people.
In his homily the Pope confided to the young people his anxieties: the tragedy of present day culture which lacks interiority and contemplation, the need to guarantee world peace, the necessity of new evangelisation. “Beloved young people…be peace makers!…Demonstrate with your life that ideas are not imposed they are proposed! Be apostles to you peers…commit yourselves to the new evangelisation to which all the sons and daughters of the Church are called. It is a task for everyone, in which Christian laity have a major role, especially married couples and families.” Lastly the Pope appealed to each young person individually to respond generously if the Lord should call them to the priesthood or religious life: “Be generous, reply with Mary, offering to God the joyous yes of your person and your life”.SL (Fides Service 5/5/2003 EM lines 22 Words: 331)
