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| Pope Francis at St Peter's Square on Easter Monday. Antoine Mekary | ALETEIA |
The war in Ukraine is everyday fratricidal conflict writ large, as societies contend with divisions and inequalities that secular leaders are largely unwilling to seek solutions to or witless as to how to implement them, with their position in the social elite always at the forefront of their considerations.
However, the young have been offered a light to guide them to future horizons, as Pope Francis offered words to inspire, and reasons to hope when addressing about 80,000 young Italians who gathered in the square in front of St Peter's Basilica on the day after Resurrection Sunday.
“The clouds that darken our time are still dense,” Francis told them. A useful report on the event continues to quote him as saying:
“In addition to the pandemic, Europe is experiencing a terrible war, while injustices and violence continue in many regions of the earth that destroy mankind and the planet,” he said, noting that it is often young people who pay the highest price, as they lose their hope and dreams for the future.
He then referred to the Gospel passage in which Peter and John along with a handful of others, after Jesus’ resurrection, go out for an unsuccessful night of fishing. In the morning, Jesus appears and tells them to try again, and when the disciples obey, their nets are full of fish.
“Sometimes life puts us to the test, makes us touch our frailties, makes us feel naked, helpless, alone…We must not be ashamed to say: ‘I’m afraid of the dark!’ We are all afraid of the dark. Fears must be said, fears must be expressed in order to be able to drive them away.”
“When the fears, which are in darkness, go into the light, the truth bursts out,” he said, insisting that the important thing about moments of crisis is not the crisis itself, but “how I manage this crisis”.
Staying isolated and closed off from others doesn’t help, but talking to and confiding in others does, he said.
Francis soon put his prepared speech aside to be able to speak more freely. The report of the event states:
[He] urged youth to maintain their enthusiasm for life and their “nose” for reality, saying adults over the years tend to lose their sight, their hearing, and their “nose” for life.
“You have ‘the nose.’ Don’t lose this, please! You have the nose for reality, and it’s a great thing,” the pope said, voicing hope that young people would have “the nose of John” in the Gospel, who was the youngest but the first to recognize Jesus after the night of fishing, as well as “the courage of Peter,” who was the oldest, but the first to jump in and swim to the shore where Jesus was standing.
[Do] not to be “ashamed of your outbursts of generosity”.
“The nose will lead you to generosity. Throw yourself into life,” he said, adding, “don’t be afraid of life, please! Be afraid of death, the death of the soul, the death of the future, the closure of the heart, be afraid of these things. But of life, no. Life is beautiful.”
Life, the pope said, “is for living and giving to others, not to close it in on itself”.
“It is important that you move forward,” he said. “The fears? Illuminate them, say them. Discouragement? Win it with courage, with someone to give you a hand. And the nose for life: don’t lose it, because it’s a beautiful thing.”
During his time with the young people, Pope Francis listened to testimonies from them about their lives, and the larger event included music, including a performance from top Italian rapper Blanco, and activities featuring other artists, leaders in their field.
The time of prayer, fun and sharing showed the enthusiasm of young people is a rich resource for any society wishing to cooperate with God in his plan that we have life, and have it to the full.
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| Some of the young people at St Peter's Square on Easter Monday Antoine Mekary | ALETEIA |
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