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My dear young people, 1. Fifteen
years ago, at the close of the Holy Year
of the Redemption, I entrusted to you a great wooden Cross, asking you to
carry it across the world as a sign of the love which the Lord Jesus has
for mankind and to proclaim to everyone that only in Christ who died and
is risen is there salvation and redemption. Since that day, carried by
generous hands and hearts, the Cross has made a long, uninterrupted
pilgrimage across the continents, to demonstrate that the Cross walks with
young people and young people walk with the Cross.
 Around the “Holy Year Cross”, World Youth Days
were born and developed as meaningful “moments of rest” along your journey
as young Christians; a constant, pressing invitation to build life on the
rock that is Christ. How can we fail to bless the Lord for the countless
fruits born in the hearts of individuals and in the whole Church thanks to
the World Youth Days, which in this last part of the century have marked
the journey of young believers towards the new millennium?
After spanning the continents, that Cross now
returns to Rome bringing with it the prayers and commitment of millions of
young people who have recognized it as a simple and sacred sign of God’s
love for humanity. Because Rome, as you know, will host World Youth Day of
the Year 2000, in the heart of the Great Jubilee.
Dear young people, I invite you therefore to
undertake with joy the pilgrimage to Rome for this important ecclesial
appointment, which will rightly be the “Youth Jubilee”. Prepare to enter
the Holy Door, knowing that to pass through it is to strengthen faith in
Him in order to live the new life, which he has given to us (cfr
Incarnationis Mysterium 8).
2. I chose as the theme for your 15th World
Day the lapidary phrase with which Saint
John the Apostle describes the profound mystery of God made man: “The Word
became flesh, and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). What distinguishes the
Christian faith from all other religions, is the certainty that the man
Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the Word made flesh, the second
person of the Trinity who came into the world. “Such is the joyous
conviction of the Church from her beginning, whenever she sings 'the
mystery of our religion': 'He was manifested in the flesh'” (Catechism of
the Catholic Church 463). God, the invisible one is alive and present in
the person of Jesus, Son of Mary, the Theotokos, Mother of God. Jesus of
Nazareth is God with us, Emmanuel: he who knows Him knows God, he who sees
Him sees God, he who follows Him follows God, he who unites himself with
Him is united with God (cfr Jn 12:44-50). In Jesus, born in Bethlehem, God
embraces the human condition, making himself accessible, establishing a
covenant with mankind.
On the eve of the new millennium, I make again to
you my pressing appeal to open wide the doors to Christ who “to those who
received him, gave power to become children of God” (Jn 1:12) To receive
Jesus Christ means to accept from the Father the command to live, loving
Him and our brothers and sisters, showing solidarity to everyone, without
distinction; it means believing that in the history of humanity even
though it is marked by evil and suffering, the final word belongs to life
and to love, because God came to dwell among us, so we may dwell in Him.
By his incarnation Christ became poor to enrich
us with his poverty, and he gave us redemption, which is the fruit above
all of the blood he shed on the Cross (cfr Catechism of the Catholic
Church 517). On Calvary, “ours were the sufferings he bore ... he was
pierced through for our faults” (Is 53: 4-5). The supreme sacrifice of his
life, freely given for our salvation, is the proof of God’s infinite love
for us. Saint John the Apostle writes: “God loved the world so much that
he gave his only Son so that everyone that believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). He sent Him to share in every way,
except sin, our human condition; he “gave” him totally to men, despite
their obstinate and homicidal rejection (cfr Mt 21:33-39), to obtain,
through his death, their reconciliation. “The God of creation is revealed
as the God of redemption, as the God who is 'faithful to himself' and
faithful to his love for man and the world which he revealed on the day of
creation ... how precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he
gained so great a Redeemer” (Redemptor hominis 9.10)
 Jesus went towards his death. He did not draw
back from any of the consequences of his being “with us”, Emmanuel. He
took our place, ransoming us on the Cross from evil and sin (cfr
Evangelium vitae 50). Just as the Roman Centurion, seeing the manner in
which Jesus died, understood that he was the Son of God (cfr Mk 15:39) so
we too, seeing and contemplating the Crucified Lord, understand who God
really is, as he reveals in Jesus the depth of his love for mankind (cfr
Redemptor Hominis 9). “Passion” means a passionate love, unconditioned
self- giving: Christ’s passion is the summit of an entire life “given” to
his brothers and sisters to reveal the heart of the Father. The Cross,
which seems to rise up from the earth, in actual fact reaches down from
heaven, enfolding the universe in a divine embrace. The Cross reveals
itself to be “the center, meaning and goal of all history and of every
human life” (Evangelium vitae 50).
“One man has died for all” (2 Cor 5:14): Christ
“gave himself up in our place as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to
God” (Eph 5:2). Behind the death of Jesus there is a plan of love, which
the faith of the Church calls the “mystery of the redemption”: the whole
of humanity is redeemed, that is, set free from the slavery of sin and led
into the kingdom of God. Christ is Lord of heaven and earth. Whoever
listens to his word and believes in the Father, who sent him, has eternal
life (cfr Jn 5:25). He is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the
world” (Jn 1:29.36), the high priest who, having suffered like us, is able
to share our infirmity (cfr Heb 4:14 ) and “made perfect” through the
painful experience of the Cross, becomes “for all who obey him, the source
of eternal salvation” (Heb 5:9).
3. Dear young people,
faced with these great mysteries, learn to lift your hearts in an attitude
of contemplation. Stop and look with wonder at the infant Mary brought
into the world, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger: the
infant is God himself who has come among us. Look at Jesus of Nazareth,
received by some and scorned by others, despised and rejected: He is the
Savior of all. Adore Christ, our Redeemer, who ransoms us and frees us
from sin and death: He is the living God, the source of Life.
 Contemplate and reflect! God created us to share
in his very own life; he calls us to be his children, living members of
the mystical Body of Christ, luminous temple of the Spirit of Love. He
calls us to be his: he wants us all to be saints. Dear young people, may
it be your holy ambition to be holy, as He is holy.
You will ask me: but is it possible today to be
saints? If we had to rely only on human strength, the undertaking would be
truly impossible. You are well aware, in fact, of your successes and your
failures; you are aware of the heavy burdens weighing on man, the many
dangers which threaten him and the consequences caused by his sins. At
times we may be gripped by discouragement and even come to think that it
is impossible to change anything either in the world or in ourselves.
Although the journey is difficult, we can do
everything in the One who is our Redeemer. Turn then to no one, except
Jesus. Do not look elsewhere for that which only He can give you, because
“of all the names in the world given to men this is the only one by which
we can be saved” (Acts 4:12). With Christ, saintliness - the divine plan
for every baptized person - becomes possible. Rely on Him; believe in the
invincible power of the Gospel and place faith as the foundation of your
hope. Jesus walks with you, he renews your heart and strengthens you with
the vigor of his Spirit.
 Young people of every continent, do not be afraid
to be the saints of the new millennium! Be contemplative, love prayer; be
coherent with your faith and generous in the service of your brothers and
sisters, be active members of the Church and builders of peace. To succeed
in this demanding project of life, continue to listen to His Word, draw
strength from the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Penance. The
Lord wants you to be intrepid apostles of his Gospel and builders of a new
humanity. In fact, how could you say you believe in God made man without
taking a firm position against all that destroys the human person and the
family? If you believe that Christ has revealed the Father’s love for
every person, you cannot fail to strive to contribute to the building of a
new world, founded on the power of love and forgiveness, on the struggle
against injustice and all physical, moral and spiritual distress, on the
orientation of politics, economy, culture and technology to the service of
man and his integral development.
4. I sincerely wish
that the Jubilee, now at the door, may be an opportune time for courageous
spiritual renewal and an exceptional celebration of God’s love for
humanity. From the whole Church may there rise up “a hymn of praise and
thanksgiving to the Father, who in his incomparable love granted us in
Christ to be 'fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household
of God'” (Incarnationis Mysterium 6). May we draw comfort from the
certainty expressed by Saint Paul the Apostle: If God did not spare his
only Son but gave him for us, how can he fail to give us everything with
him? Who can separate us from the love of Christ? In every event of life,
including death, we can be more than winners, by virtue of the One who
loved us to the Cross (cfr Rom 8: 31-37).
The mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God
and that of the Redemption he worked for all men, constitute the central
message of our faith. The Church proclaims this down through the
centuries, walking “amidst the misunderstandings and persecutions of the
world and the consolations of God” (S. Augustine De Civ. Dei 18, 51, 2; PL
41,614) and she entrusts it to her children as a precious treasure to be
safeguarded and shared.
You too, dear young people, are the receivers and
the trustees of this heritage: “This is our faith. This is the faith of
the Church. And we are proud to profess it, in Jesus Christ Our Lord”
(Roman Pontifical, Rite of Confirmation). We will proclaim it together on
the occasion of the next World Youth Day, in which I hope very many of you
will take part. Rome is a “city- shrine” where the memory of the Apostles
Peter and Paul and other martyrs remind pilgrims of the vocation of every
baptized person. Before the world, in August next year, we will repeat the
profession of faith made by Saint Peter the Apostle: “Lord to whom shall
we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68) because “you are the
Christ the Son of the Living God!” (Mt 16:16).
Also to you boys and girls who will be adults in
the next century, is entrusted the “Book of Life”, which on Christmas Eve
this year the Pope, the first to cross the threshold of the Holy Door,
will show to the Church and to the world as the wellspring of life and
hope for the third millennium (Incarnationis Mysterium 8).
May it become your most precious treasure: in the
careful study and generous acceptance of the Word of the Lord, you will
find nourishment and strength for your daily life, you will find
motivation for tireless commitment to the building of a civilization of
love.
 5. Let us now turn our eyes
to the Virgin Mother of God, of whom the city of
Rome treasures one of the earliest and most honored monuments which the
devotion of the Christian people has dedicated to her: the Basilica of
Saint Mary Major.
The Incarnation of the Word and the Redemption of
mankind are closely linked with the Annunciation when God revealed to Mary
his plan and found in her, a young person like yourselves, a heart totally
open to the action of his love. For centuries Christian devotion has
recalled every day, with the recitation of the Angelus Domini, God’s
entrance into the history of man. May this prayer become your daily
meditated prayer.
Mary is the dawn which precedes the rising of the
Sun of justice, Christ our Redeemer. With her “yes” at the Annunciation,
as she opened herself completely to Father’s plan, she welcomed and made
possible the incarnation of the Son. The first disciple, with her discreet
presence she accompanied Jesus all the way to Calvary and sustained the
hope of the Apostles as they waited for the Resurrection and Pentecost. In
the life of the Church she continues to be mystically the one who precedes
the Lord’s coming. To Mary, who fulfills without interruption her ministry
as Mother of the Church and of each Christian, I entrust with confidence
the preparation of the 15th World Youth Day. May Most Holy Mary teach you,
dear young people, how to discern the will of the heavenly Father in your
life. May she obtain for you the strength and the wisdom to speak to God
and to speak about God. Through her example may she encourage you to be in
the new millennium announcers of hope, love and peace.
Looking forward to meeting many of you in Rome
next year, “I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace that has
power to build you up and to give you your inheritance among all the
sanctified” (Acts 20:32), while, gladly and with great affection, I bless
all of you, with your families and your loved ones.
From the Vatican, June 29th 1999,
solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
Joannes Paulus P.P. II |
