Pope urges scouts to make service
their way of life
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| Pope Francis meeting some 5,000 scouts from over 20European countries on August 3, 2019 (Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis on Saturday met some 5,000 scout rangers and
rovers from over 20 countries of the International Union of Guides and Scouts
of Europe. The papal audience concluded the weeklong Euromoot 2019 event of the
young men and women.
By Robin Gomes
Pope Francis on Saturday urged scouts to give of themselves
to others by building, serving and caring for others, saying it will free them
from within and enrich the world.
He made the exhortation to some 5,000 young scout men and
women from over 20 countries belonging to the International Union of Guides and
Scouts of Europe. They met the pope at the end of their Euromoot 2019
event, July 27-August 3, that saw them travelling along historical itineraries
of Italy and converging on Rome.
“Give, and it will be given to you”
Noting that during their itinerary, they contemplated Saints
Paul, Benedict, Cyril and Methodius, Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena
who travelled through Italy, the Pope said they gave their lives for
others without keeping anything for themselves. The Pope said that the
“Gospel is the map of life” where Jesus indicates a clear course to happiness:
“Give, and it will be given to you.”
The Pope said that for Jesus, the starting point is giving,
not having. It consists of coming out of the comforts of the armchair and
going out to the field to give the world a little bit of goodness.
Rewards of giving
The Pope assured that by giving one is not left empty-handed
because when it seems that God is taking something away from you, “it is only
to give you something more and better”. Jesus makes you happy from
within, not outside, by freeing you from the false promises of consumption.
“One receives only by giving .” This, the Pope said is
the secret of life. The latest smartphone, the fastest car or the
fashionable dress, besides never being enough, he said, will never give them
you the joy of feeling loved and loving.
The Pope expressed appreciation for the scouting term
“departure”, whereby scouts take upon themselves to serve as a way of life,
living the brotherhood of scouting by being open to the others and doing
good. “If you build bridges to others,” he said, “you will see others
walk those bridges to you.”
“Look at your hands, that are made to build, to serve and to
give and say to yourselves: ‘I care, the other concerns me,’" the Pope
urged.
Creation
The words of Jesus, “Give, and it will be given to you,” the
Pope said, is also applied to creation. “If we take care of it, we will
have a home tomorrow too.”.
Creation, he said, is an open book that teaches that we are
in the world to meet others, to create communion because we are all connected.
“Creation is made to connect with God and among us,” the Pope said, adding,
“It is God’s social media.”
Europe
Even the love of the scout rovers and rangers for their
common homeland, Europe, the Pope said, requires not only attentive
observers but active builders of reconciled and integrated societies that give
life to a renewed Europe, not as protectors of spaces but as generators of
encounters.
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