Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "I would encourage you to be missionaries of joy. We cannot be happy if others are not: joy has to be shared. Go and tell other young people about your joy at finding the precious treasure which is Jesus himself. We cannot keep the joy of faith to ourselves: if we are not to keep it, we must give it away". This is what Holy Father Benedict XVI entrusts young people everywhere in the Message sent to them for the XXVII World Youth Day which will be celebrated on April 1, 2012, on Palm Sunday, at a diocesan level, on the theme taken from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians: "Rejoice in the Lord always" (Phil 4:4).
The Pope stresses that "joy is at the heart of Christian experience" and in particular is one of the characteristics of each World Youth Day. "The Church's vocation is to bring joy to the world, a joy that is authentic and enduring, the joy proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds on the night Jesus was born", recalls the Holy Father, who in his message points out that "in these difficult times, so many young people ... have a great need to hear that the Christian message is a message of joy and hope".
"Far more than immediate and fleeting feelings of satisfaction, our hearts seek a perfect, full and lasting joy, capable of giving 'flavor' to our existence", writes the Pope, who points out authentic joy "has its source in God, even if this does not seem immediately obvious". So meet the Lord, by making space for Jesus Christ and his Gospel, "is the way to find inner peace and true happiness, is the way to live fully as children of God".
"Joy is intimately linked to love: they are inseparable gifts of the Holy Spirit. Love gives rise to joy, and joy is a form of love", says the Pope, urging young people to enter the joy of being generous, engaging fully in life, with particular attention to the most needy, helping to make society more just and humane. Then he urges them not to be afraid if Christ is calling you to the religious, monastic or missionary life or to priesthood: "Be assured that He fills with joy all those who respond to his invitation to leave everything to be with Him and to devote themselves with undivided heart to the service of others".
In the end the Holy Father urges them to have frequent recourse to the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, which is "the sacrament of joy rediscovered" and highlights two young people Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925) and Chiara Badano (1971-1990) , "who show that authentic Christians are never despairing or sad, not even when faced with difficult trials, and show that Christian joy is not a flight from reality, but a supernatural power that helps us to deal with the challenges of daily life".
The message ends with an invitation to the young to be "missionaries of joy", "enthusiastic witnesses of the new evangelization! Go to those who are suffering and those who are searching, and give them the joy that Jesus wants to bestow. Bring it to your families, your schools and universities, and your workplaces and your friends, wherever you live. You will see how it is contagious".(SL) (Agenzia Fides 28/3/2012)
