Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
VaticanMedia
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - Human beings are not made "for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through gift of self in love." This is why "we continually aspire to something “more” that no created reality can give us." This is the "lesson" that Pope Leo XIV left for thousands of young people who filled the Tor Vergata esplanade this weekend for the most important events of the week dedicated to their Jubilee.
"Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less," urged the Pontiff, who arrived by helicopter a quarter of an hour ahead of schedule. Several young people were still sleeping when the helicopter landed. However, the night had not been peaceful, first because of the rain and then because of a strong wind that affected the entire area. The wind continued to blow in the morning during the ceremony.
"Good morning, everyone!" was the greeting he gave at the end of the Popemobile tour. He had previously repeated this in English and Spanish. “We will shortly begin the greatest celebration. God bless you all. May this be a truly memorable occasion for each and every one of us when together, as Christ’s Church, we walk together and we live with Jesus Christ,” the Pope added before heading into the sacristy, located beneath the large iron cross erected 25 years ago during the Great Jubilee of 2000.
The Eucharistic celebration then began, “the Sacrament of the Lord’s total gift of himself to us,” the Bishop of Rome began in his homily, recalling the Gospel passage about the disciples on the road to Emmaus. However, today’s liturgy, the Pope noted, “does not mention this episode directly, but it does invite us to reflect on what it recounts: the encounter with the risen Christ who transforms our lives and enlightens our affections, desires and thoughts.”
The first reading, taken from the Book of Qoheleth, like the Psalm that evokes it, the Successor of Peter explained, “offers two reminders of human fragility,” a fragility that is “in fact, part of the marvel of creation.” Leo XIV invited us to think of the grass: “is not a field of flowers beautiful? Of course, it is delicate, made up of small, vulnerable stems, prone to drying out, to being bent and broken. Yet at the same time these flowers are immediately replaced by others that sprout up after them, generously nourished and fertilized by the first ones as they decay on the ground.”
Human beings, the Pope emphasized, are also made “for this.” “Not for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through gift of self in love.” And that is why “we continually aspire to something “more” that no created reality can give us; we feel a deep and burning thirst that no drink in this world can satisfy.”
This thirst, he continued, paraphrasing the speech Pope Wojtyla gave on this same esplanade 25 years ago, “let us not deceive our hearts by trying to satisfy them with cheap imitations! Let us rather listen to them! Let us turn this thirst into a step stool, like children who stand on tiptoe, in order to peer through the window of encounter with God. We will then find ourselves before him, who is waiting for us, knocking gently on the window of our soul.”
And it is truly beautiful, the Bishop of Rome commented, “especially at a young age, to open wide your hearts, to allow him to enter, and to set out on this adventure with him towards eternity.”
After repeating in Spanish the words of his predecessor, Pope Francis, spoken in Lisbon during World Youth Day 2023, switching to English, he highlighted the actions the young people present had undertaken during these days of pilgrimage to Rome: “You have exchanged knowledge, shared expectations and entered into dialogue with the city through art, music, technology and sport. At the Circus Maximus, you also approached the Sacrament of Penance and received God’s forgiveness, asking for his help to live a good life.”
“Through all this,” the Pontiff emphasized, “you can grasp an important point: the fullness of our existence does not depend on what we store up or, as we heard in the Gospel, on what we possess. Rather, fullness has to do with what we joyfully welcome and share. Buying, hoarding and consuming are not enough. We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards, to the “things that are above to realize that everything in the world has meaning only insofar as it serves to unite us to God and to our brothers and sisters in charity. And in this way we will grow in an ever deeper understanding of what it means that hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
“Dear young people, Jesus is our hope. Let us remain united to him, let us remain in his friendship, always, cultivating it through prayer, adoration, Eucharistic Communion, frequent Confession, and generous charity, following the examples of Blessed Piergiorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis who will soon be declared saints. Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you,” the Pope concluded.
At the end of the celebration, as he does every Sunday, he recited the Marian prayer of the Angelus. In his address, the Pontiff described the Jubilee of Youth as “an outpouring of grace for the Church and for the whole world! This has been possible through the participation of each one of you.” “For this, I wish to thank each of you, with all my heart. In particular I am thinking of the two young pilgrims, Maria and Pascale, one Spanish and the other Egyptian, who have passed away in these days.”
Speaking in English, the Bishop of Rome remembered all the young people suffering “in every land bloodied by war,” mentioning Gaza and Ukraine. “You are the sign that a different world is possible,” he said before concluding in Italian: “Yes, with Christ it is possible! With his love, with his forgiveness, and with the power of his Spirit.”
Before returning to the Vatican by helicopter, León XIV spoke again: first, he renewed the invitation to participate in World Youth Day, to be held in Seoul in August 2027, under the motto: “Take courage. I have overcome the world.” “You will be witnesses of this to the ends of the earth! I look forward to seeing you in Seoul: let us continue to dream together and to hope together.” “I ask you also to bring greetings to the many young people who could not be here with us, in so many countries where it was impossible to leave. There are places from where young people could not come here, for reasons that we know.
Bring this joy, this enthusiasm to the whole world. You are salt of the earth and the light of the world! Take this greeting to all of your friends, to all of the young people who need a message of hope.Again, thank you to all of you! And have a safe trip home!” was his final greeting. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 3/8/2025)
ASIA/LEBANON - General Abagnara (UNIFIL): “The Pope’s visit confirms us in our peacekeeping mission”
ASIA/LEBANON - Leo XIV to the Lebanese: Rebirth begins with small lights and small shoots
ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - "Event of historic importance": Programme for World Youth Day 2027 presented
AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - Uncertainty over Madagascar's future after the departure of President Rajoelina
ASIA/CHINA - The theological virtue of hope at the heart of the “Advent letters” of the Bishops of Hong Kong and Guangzhou
ASIA/CHINA - The "Jubilee of Hope" pilgrimages continue, in the spirit of charity