Pope
to young: Jesus can transform walls into a path
(Vatican
Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday encouraged young people in Uganda to turn
negative experiences into positive ones with the help of Jesus and his
grace. In an address where the Pope put aside his prepared remarks and
spoke off-the-cuff in Spanish, he urged the young people to open the door of
their hearts to Jesus. More than 150,000 cheering and dancing young people had
gathered at an airstrip near Kampala to hear the Pope and gave him a rousing
welcome when he arrived in his Popemobile. Before speaking to the crowd,
the Pope listened to testimony from two young people, Emmanuel and Winnie, both
of whom had faced many negative events in their lives.
Please
find below a summary in English of the main points of Pope Francis’
off-the-cuff remarks:
The
Pope said he listened with “great pain” to the testimony of Emmanuel and
Winnie, noting that “both had very negative experiences.” But he stressed that
"a negative experience can be transformed from a wall into a path that
opens to the future" with the help and strength of Jesus. The Pope
noted that Jesus experienced the most negative thing that has been experienced
in history, he was insulted, rejected and murdered but then through the power
of God he rose from the dead. He then asked the young people whether they
were ready to transform all the negative things into positive ones.
"Are you ready to transform hatred into love and war into
peace?"
Please
find below an English translation of Pope Francis' prepared written remarks to
the young people:
Address
of His Holiness Pope Francis
Meeting
with Young People
Kampala,
Kololo Air Strip
Saturday
28 November 2015
Holy
Father:
Omukama
Mulungi!
(God is good!)
Young
people:
Obudde bwonna!
(For ever and ever!)
Dear
Young Friends,
I am happy to be here and to share these moments with you. I greet my
brother bishops and the civil authorities present, and I thank Bishop Paul
Ssemogerere for his words of welcome. The testimonies of Winnie and
Emmanuel confirm my impression that the Church in Uganda is alive with young
people who want a better future. Today, if you will allow me, I want to
confirm you in your faith, encourage you in your love, and in a special way,
strengthen you in your hope.
Christian hope is not simply optimism; it is much more. It is rooted in
the new life we have received in Jesus Christ. Saint Paul tells us that
hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love was poured into our hearts by
the Holy Spirit at our baptism (cf. Rom 5:5). This hope enables us to
trust in Christ’s promises, to trust in the power of his love, his forgiveness,
his friendship. That love opens the door to new life. Whenever you
experience a problem, a setback, a failure, you must anchor your heart in that
love, for it has the power to turn death into life and to banish every evil.
So this afternoon I would invite you, first of all, to pray for this gift to
grow within you, and for the grace to become messengers of hope. There
are so many people around us who experience deep anxiety and even
despair. Jesus lifts these clouds, if we allow him to.
I would also like to share with you a few thoughts about some of the obstacles
which you may encounter on our journey of hope. All of you want a better
future, employment, health and prosperity. This is good. You want
to share your gifts, your aspirations and your enthusiasm with others, for the
good of the nation and of the Church. This too is very good. But
when you see poverty, when you experience lack of opportunity, when you
experience failure in your lives, sometimes a feeling of despair can
grow. You can be tempted to lose hope.
Have you ever seen a little child who stops in front of a dirty puddle on the
path ahead of him? A puddle he cannot leap over or go around? He
may try but then he stumbles and gets soaked. Then, after many attempts,
he calls out to his father, who takes his hand and swings him over to the other
side. We are like that child. Life presents us with many dirty
puddles. But we don’t have to overcome all those problems and hurdles on
our own. God is there to take our hand, if only we call on him.
What I am saying is that all of us have to be like that little child, even the
Pope! For it is only when we are small and humble that we are not afraid
to call out to our Father. If you have experienced his help, you know
what I am speaking about. We need to learn to put our hope in him,
knowing that he is always there for us. He gives us confidence and
courage. But – and this is important – it would be wrong not to share
this beautiful experience with others. It would be wrong for us not to
become messengers of hope for others.
There is one particular puddle which can be frightening to young people who
want to grow in their friendship with Christ. It is the fear of failing
in our commitment to love, and above all, failing in that great and lofty ideal
which is Christian marriage. You may be afraid of failing to be a good
wife and mother, failing to be a good husband and father. If you are
looking at that puddle, you may even see your weaknesses and fears reflected
back to you. Please, don’t give in to them! Sometimes these fears
come from the devil who does not want you to be happy. No! Call out
to God, extend your hearts to him and he will lift you in his arms and show you
how to love. I ask young couples in particular to trust that God wants to
bless their love and their lives with his grace in the sacrament of
marriage. God’s gift of love is at the heart of Christian marriage, not
the costly parties which often obscure the deep spiritual meaning of this day
of joyful celebration with family and friends.
Finally, one puddle that we all have to face is the fear of being different, of
going against the grain in a society which puts increasing pressure on us to
embrace models of gratification and consumption alien to the deepest values of
African culture. Think about it! What would the Uganda martyrs say
about the misuse of our modern means of communication, where young people are
exposed to images and distorted views of sexuality that degrade human dignity,
leading to sadness and emptiness? What would be the Uganda martyrs’
reaction to the growth of greed and corruption in our midst? Surely they
would appeal to you to be model Christians, confident that your love of Christ,
your fidelity to the Gospel, and your wise use of your God-given gifts can only
enrich, purify and elevate the life of this country. They continue to
show you the way. Do not be afraid to let the light of your faith shine
in your families, your schools and your places of work. Do not be afraid
to enter into dialogue humbly with others who may see things differently.
Dear
young friends, when I look at your faces I am filled with hope: hope for you,
hope for your country, and hope for the Church. I ask you to pray that
the hope which you have received from the Holy Spirit will continue to inspire
your efforts to grow in wisdom, generosity and goodness. Don’t forget to
be messengers of that hope! And don’t forget that God will help you to
cross whatever puddles you meet along the way!
Hope
in Christ and he will enable you to find true happiness. And if you find
it hard to pray, if you find it hard to hope, do not be afraid to turn to Mary,
for she is our Mother, the Mother of Hope. Finally, please, do not forget
to pray for me! God bless you all!
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