To The Youth Of The World

Blessed John Paul II, who always shared Christ’s love for young people, announced the institution of World Youth Day in 1985, during the United Nations’ first “International Youth Year.”  This announcement came after his celebration of the 1984 International Jubilee for the Young and the release of his 1985 Apostolic Letter, Dilecti Amici.

This letter to “The Youth of the World,” sheds light on the late Holy Father’s zeal for the young and the reasoning behind the great attention and guidance he gave to them during his pontificate.

In you there is hope, for you belong to the future, just as the future belongs to you. For hope is always linked to the future; it is the expectation of “future good things” (1).

The future of the Church rests in the hearts of the young, and so Blessed John Paul II encouraged them to “always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). He does this by reflecting on the passage from the Gospel of Mark, about the young man who asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.

These verses encourage young people to see their adolescence as a treasure, a time to ask the important questions about the meaning of life and to refer every single one of them to God. It is a time to grow in conscience, in morality, and most importantly, in the awareness of Christ’s love for them. It is a time to discover what it is God is asking each to give and how He is asking each to follow Him.

Whether it is in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, or in the vocation of marriage, Blessed John Paul II tells his young readers: “Do not be afraid of the love that places clear demands on people” (10). Young people do seem to have a sense of truth about them, he says, and that this truth must be used for the freedom they desire. But, he warns:

To be truly free does not at all mean doing everything that pleases me, or doing what I want to do. Freedom contains in itself the criterion of truth, the discipline of truth. To be truly free means to use one's own freedom for what is a true good (13).

So there are duties involved in vocation, family life, society, and in work that are to be upheld by the young, as well as the duty to “self-educate” in the truths of the faith.

Young people must also recognize that they are living through a period of great growth in their lives, that must be accompanied by wisdom, grace, and self-gift for the Other and others. They are also right to ask questions, about the mistakes of previous generations and how they can be resolved.

Young people are “bearers of the yearning for brotherhood and widespread solidarity,” Blessed John Paul II writes, and so bringing them together to celebrate their common love for God alone is a powerful way to restore hope in the Church and bring peace to her earthly pilgrimage.

The upcoming World Youth Day in Brazil gives the youth another opportunity to believe in this hope, so let us ask Blessed John Paul II to pray for Pope Francis and all of those attending.