30th annual Youth Festival opens
in Medjugorje
 |
| Medjugorje Youth Festival |
Cardinal De Donatis celebrates Mass to inaugurate the 30th
Youth Festival being held in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
By Francesca Merlo
Over 50,000 young people from all over the world have
gathered in Medjugorje to reflect, this year, on the theme “Follow me”.
The opening Mass, presided over by Cardinal Angelo De
Donatis, Vicar General of Rome, on August 1st, inaugurated the start of the 6
day long Festival; while the closing ceremony is expected to be presided over
by Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting New Evangelisation on August 6th.
Cardinal De Donatis began his homily by expressing amazement
“at the grace that the Lord continually pours out upon us”. “Everything”, he
said, “is grace”.
Three indications
The Cardinal said that in order to listen to Jesus when He
said ‘Follow me’, it is necessary “that the Holy Spirit open our hearts and that
He fill them with divine wisdom”.
“Today’s gospel”, he continued, “presents to us the scribe
of the New Covenant, the wise man according to the Gospel”. The Cardinal then
went on to describe three indications “amongst others” that can be drawn from
him.
The first: As a good fisherman
“The Kingdom of heaven- as we have heard of it - is similar
to a fishing net”, began the Cardinal. “The net”, he explained, “is thrown at
sea in order to collect as many fish as possible”. The fishermen then select
the good fish, to be eaten, and the bad, to be discarded, he said. “Every
Christian”, explained the Cardinal, “is like a good fisherman, who watches over
the sea of his mind holding back the holy thoughts and throwing away the
useless or poisonous ones”.
“Courage”, said the Cardinal. “The Gospel invites us to
purify our thoughts in order to welcome the thought of Christ. An evangelical
heart asks for a free mind!”
The second: Seeking the horizon of truth
Cardinal De Donatis then introduced the second indication.
“Jesus speaks of a Judgment”, he began. “This Judgment”, he said, “is a happy
light of truth, not the judgment of a tyrant”. Cardinal De Donatis described
the Final Judgment as the “triumph of divine love” for all those who believe.
For those who have denied Christ, he continued, this light “full of goodness”
will “highlight the truth of a life lived without fruit”.
He explained that we must “anticipate the true judgment of
God by immediately placing ourselves on the horizon of truth. A young
Christian”, he concluded, “is wise” when he or she “speaks the truth, seeks the
truth, offers the truth”.
The third: Old with new
Finally, the Cardinal introduced the third indication. The
day’s Gospel, he said, “explains that the scribe of the Kingdom is the
Christian who draws old and new things from the treasure of his heart”. This
wonderful expression, he explained, can be used to understand the relationship
between old and new. “The Old Testament prepares the New”, he said. But, he
continued, it can only fully be understood when making reference to the Old.
“Old and New need each other in order to open up to each other”.
“The authentic Christian”, concluded Cardinal De Donatis,
“is neither traditionalist nor progressive”. The authentic Christian “preserves
the good taste of homemade bread” he said: “Fragrant and appetizing precisely
because it is kneaded and baked with an ancient recipe”.
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