The Power and Beauty
of Gospel Witness
(ANS –
Rio de Janeiro) – World Youth Day in Rio de
Janeiro has ended. Fr. Fabio Attard, general councilor for youth ministry, has
re-read the talks given by Pope Francis and, in an ANS item posted on July 29, highlights some aspects of the papal
visit.
These
days in Rio we saw and lived a profound experience. Pope Francis has emphasized
two priorities: to strengthen the faith of young people in the person of Jesus,
and to reawaken the consciences of those who bear responsibility for the common
good in its various forms – social, political, educational, and ethical.
Strengthen the faith of young people
In all
his talks to the young, Pope Francis tried first of all to touch their
hearts, asking them gently to enter dialog. The Pope tried not to preach to
young people, but to engage them with simple words and gestures, with an open
heart, and in a genuinely human relationship.
Pope
Francis asked young people to listen to the voice of Jesus in their hearts.
He invited them to enter the sanctuary of their hearts and listen to the
silence that carries the message of Jesus. The Pope wasn’t afraid to ask young
people to take this step. What he asked of them was what the young people felt
the Pope himself was doing. The Pope asked young people to do what he does as a
believer and pastor.
Finally,
the Pope challenged the young people to create a “mess” – perhaps not a politically correct
word, but a very appropriate one! He told them not to accept the culture that
sees people as disposable, as in euthanasia. He called on them to be active, to
say “yes” to the message of the Gospel, without fear and with heads held high.
Being disciples is not a call to a closed life. It is a way to overcome rigid
models that adapt and privatize the faith. At the concluding Mass at Copacabana,
he told them, “Go out, without fear, to serve.”
Reawaken conscience
We should
study carefully two of the Pope’s talks: the one he gave to the leaders of
Brazil and his “informal talk” to the country’s bishops. The latter has a
navigation map, rich in reflections and proposals drawn from the document of
Aparecida.
Although
the audiences were quite different, the message of the Pope in these two
speeches was very similar. Pope Francis asked them to discover the real call to
service. He invited the leaders to allow themselves to be guided by an ethical
vision based on respect for the human person and for life, for the rights
of the person, for people’s legitimate expectations for a more dignified way of
life. He called on the bishops to discover their true vocation of service, to
renew their hearts in a permanent attitude of pastoral conversion. He called
for a conversion that changes what is broken; conversion from a cold, rigid
Church to a Church that nourishes and allows itself to be nourished; from a
closed Church to one that is a home; from an indifferent Church to one that can
walk with people who are suffering, that hears their cry and comes to serve
them.
A
personal reflection: from Pope Francis we did not hear words about the
faith, but we saw the beauty of faith in Jesus. We saw it in his acts
of charity, his closeness to people, his hope. These actions and gestures were
constant homilies that touched the hearts of all. The Pope’s ministry at Rio
was a ministry of deeds that became words that spoke to all, and we all
understood very well. His deeds and gestures made us reflect. They may even
have left us in crisis!
The
language of Pope Francis is that of witness. His
message is a simple, authentic gesture which is very convincing. There is
nothing formal or artificial about him. Young people are keen observers, quick
to take note facial expressions and recognize when words are empty. In Pope
Francis they saw an expression of profound charity, of total freedom and
complete self-giving. When he greeted the young people on the stage, the
millions that were out there disappeared for an instant. He saw only the person
in front of him, who felt listened to and welcomed. All his attention, his warm
smile, his blessing, and even the words he spoke, were, at that instant, for
that person alone.
Pope Francis’s theology is that of everyday life
The
examples drawn from everyday life hide, in small doses, his pedagogical wisdom.
He is able to convey a powerful message in a way that is immediate, direct, and
lasting. Young people who have heard Pope Francis are left with an image of a
fellow pilgrim and a friend who shares all that he is with them. Not only do
they understand immediately, but they are struck by what he says. They sense no
trace of arrogance or power. Their individual personal space has not been
invaded. On the contrary, they want him to stay there with them.
Pope Francis is continuing the way of Blessed John
Paul II and Pope Benedict
The Rio
experience has all the ingredients of life and evangelical mission: called
by God (contemplation, being with Jesus) and mission (the missionary
mandate). The young people who took part in WYD, and not only the young people,
were challenged to be honestly open to the call that God has for each one of
them, and his plan for their lives. Their present life and their future depend
on this. This plan is discovered and matures in the silence of the mystical
relationship with Jesus. There is nothing to be ashamed of in this plan and
this way of life, and nothing to be afraid of, because it is a way of service.
It is Jesus’ offer to them of a love that is multiplied in sharing.
It is
interesting to note that in all Pope Francis’s talks at WYD in Rio de Janeiro,
the words that occur most frequently are Church, young people, love, life,
today, and world. These words, taken together, are a synthesis of WYD
experience: the Church, through young people, shows the world of today the
true meaning of life – the love of Christ!
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