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XXIII WORLD YOUTH DAY
MESSAGE OF THE HOLY
FATHER
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE WORLD
ON THE
OCCASION
OF THE XXIII WORLD YOUTH DAY, 2008
“You will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you will be my witnesses
” (Acts 1:8)
My dear young friends!
1. The XXIII World Youth Day
I always remember with great joy the various occasions
we spent together in Cologne in August 2005. At the end of
that unforgettable manifestation of faith and enthusiasm that
remains engraved on my spirit and on my heart, I made an appointment
with you for the next gathering that will be held in Sydney in 2008.
This will be the XXIII World Youth Day and the theme will
be: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). The
underlying theme of the spiritual preparation for our meeting in
Sydney is the Holy Spirit and mission. In 2006 we focussed our
attention on the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth. Now in
2007 we are seeking a deeper understanding of the Spirit of
Love. We will continue our journey towards World Youth Day 2008
by reflecting on the Spirit of Fortitude and Witness that
gives us the courage to live according to the Gospel and to proclaim
it boldly. Therefore it is very important that each one of you young
people - in your communities, and together with those responsible
for your education - should be able to reflect on this Principal
Agent of salvation history, namely the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of
Jesus. In this way you will be able to achieve the following lofty
goals: to recognize the Spirit’s true identity, principally by
listening to the Word of God in the Revelation of the Bible; to
become clearly aware of his continuous, active presence in the life
of the Church, especially as you rediscover that the Holy Spirit is
the “soul”, the vital breath of Christian life itself, through the
sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation and the
Eucharist; to grow thereby in an understanding of Jesus that becomes
ever deeper and more joyful and, at the same time, to put the Gospel
into practice at the dawn of the third millennium. In this message I
gladly offer you an outline for meditation that you can explore
during this year of preparation. In this way you can test the
quality of your faith in the Holy Spirit, rediscover it if it is
lost, strengthen it if it has become weak, savour it as fellowship
with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, brought about by the
indispensable working of the Holy Spirit. Never forget that the
Church, in fact humanity itself, all the people around you now and
those who await you in the future, expect much from you young
people, because you have within you the supreme gift of the Father,
the Spirit of Jesus.
2. The promise of the Holy Spirit in the
Bible
Attentive listening to the Word of God concerning the
mystery and action of the Holy Spirit opens us up to great and
inspiring insights that I shall summarize in the following
points.
Shortly before his Ascension, Jesus said to his
disciples: “And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you”
(Lk 24:49). This took place on the day of Pentecost when they
were together in prayer in the Upper Room with the Virgin Mary. The
outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the nascent Church was the
fulfilment of a promise made much earlier by God, announced and
prepared throughout the Old Testament.
In fact, right from its opening pages, the Bible
presents the spirit of God as the wind that “was moving over
the face of the waters” (cf. Gen 1:2). It says that God
breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life (cf.
Gen 2:7), thereby infusing him with life itself. After
original sin, the life-giving spirit of God is seen several times in
the history of humankind, calling forth prophets to exhort the
chosen people to return to God and to observe his commandments
faithfully. In the well-known vision of the prophet Ezekiel, God,
with his spirit, restores to life the people of Israel, represented
by the “dry bones” (cf. 37:1-14). Joel prophesied an “outpouring of
the spirit” over all the people, excluding no one. The sacred author
wrote: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my
spirit on all flesh ... Even upon the menservants and maidservants,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit” (3:1-2).
In “the fullness of time” (cf. Gal 4:4), the
angel of the Lord announced to the Virgin of Nazareth that the Holy
Spirit, “the power of the Most High”, would come upon her and
overshadow her. The child to be born would be holy and would be
called Son of God (cf. Lk 1:35). In the words of the prophet
Isaiah, the Messiah would be the one on whom the Spirit of the Lord
would rest (cf. 11:1-2; 42:1). This is the prophecy that Jesus took
up again at the start of his public ministry in the synagogue in
Nazareth. To the amazement of those present, he said: “The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to
proclaim the year of the Lord's favour” (Lk 4:18-19; cf.
Is 61:1-2). Addressing those present, he referred those
prophetic words to himself by saying: “Today this Scripture has been
fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21). Again, before his death
on the Cross, he would tell his disciples several times about the
coming of the Holy Spirit, the “Counselor” whose mission would be to
bear witness to him and to assist believers by teaching them and
guiding them to the fullness of Truth (cf. Jn 14:16-17,
25-26; 15:26; 16:13).
3. Pentecost, the point of departure for the
Church’s mission
On the evening of the day of resurrection, Jesus
appeared to his disciples, “he breathed on them and said to them,
‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (Jn 20:22). With even greater
power the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles on the day of
Pentecost. We read in the Acts of the Apostles: “And suddenly from
heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it
filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as
of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them”
(2:2-3).
The Holy Spirit renewed the Apostles from
within, filling them with a power that would give them courage
to go out and boldly proclaim that “Christ has died and is
risen!” Freed from all fear, they began to speak openly with
self-confidence (cf. Acts 2:29; 4:13; 4:29,31). These
frightened fishermen had become courageous heralds of the Gospel.
Even their enemies could not understand how “uneducated and ordinary
men” (cf. Acts 4:13) could show such courage and endure
difficulties, suffering and persecution with joy. Nothing could stop
them. To those who tried to silence them they replied: “We cannot
keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts
4:20). This is how the Church was born, and from the day of
Pentecost she has not ceased to spread the Good News “to the ends of
the earth” (Acts 1:8).
4. The Holy Spirit, soul of the Church and
principle of communion
If we are to understand the mission of the Church, we
must go back to the Upper Room where the disciples remained together
(cf. Lk 24:49), praying with Mary, the “Mother”, awaiting the
Spirit that had been promised. This icon of the nascent Church
should be a constant source of inspiration for every Christian
community. Apostolic and missionary fruitfulness is not principally
due to programmes and pastoral methods that are cleverly drawn up
and “efficient”, but is the result of the community’s constant
prayer (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 75). Moreover, for
the mission to be effective, communities must be united, that is,
they must be “of one heart and soul” (cf. Acts 4:32), and
they must be ready to witness to the love and joy that the Holy
Spirit instils in the hearts of the faithful (cf. Acts 2:42).
The Servant of God John Paul II wrote that, even prior to action,
the Church’s mission is to witness and to live in a way that shines
out to others (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 26). Tertullian
tells us that this is what happened in the early days of
Christianity when pagans were converted on seeing the love that
reigned among Christians: “See how they love one another” (cf.
Apology, 39 § 7).
To conclude this brief survey of the Word of God in
the Bible, I invite you to observe how the Holy Spirit is the
highest gift of God to humankind, and therefore the supreme
testimony of his love for us, a love that is specifically expressed
as the “yes to life” that God wills for each of his creatures. This
“yes to life” finds its fullness in Jesus of Nazareth and in his
victory over evil by means of the redemption. In this regard, let us
never forget that the Gospel of Jesus, precisely because of the
Spirit, cannot be reduced to a mere statement of fact, for it is
intended to be “good news for the poor, release for captives, sight
for the blind ...”. With what great vitality this was seen on the
day of Pentecost, as it became the grace and the task of the Church
towards the world, her primary mission!
We are the fruits of this mission of the Church
through the working of the Holy Spirit. We carry within us the seal
of the Father’s love in Jesus Christ which is the Holy Spirit. Let
us never forget this, because the Spirit of the Lord always
remembers every individual, and wishes, particularly through you
young people, to stir up the wind and fire of a new Pentecost in the
world.
5. The Holy Spirit as “Teacher of the interior
life”
My dear young friends, the Holy Spirit continues today
to act with power in the Church, and the fruits of the Spirit are
abundant in the measure in which we are ready to open up to this
power that makes all things new. For this reason it is important
that each one of us know the Spirit, establish a relationship with
Him and allow ourselves to be guided by Him. However, at this point
a question naturally arises: who is the Holy Spirit for me? It is a
fact that for many Christians He is still the “great unknown”. This
is why, as we prepare for the next World Youth Day, I wanted to
invite you to come to know the Holy Spirit more deeply at a personal
level. In our profession of faith we proclaim: “I believe in the
Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the
Father and the Son” (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed). Yes,
the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the love of the Father and of the
Son, is the Source of life that makes us holy, “because God's love
has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has
been given to us” (Rom 5:5). Nevertheless, it is not enough
to know the Spirit; we must welcome Him as the guide of our souls,
as the “Teacher of the interior life” who introduces us to the
Mystery of the Trinity, because He alone can open us up to faith and
allow us to live it each day to the full. The Spirit impels us
forward towards others, enkindles in us the fire of love, makes us
missionaries of God’s charity.
I know very well that you young people hold in your
hearts great appreciation and love for Jesus, and that you desire to
meet Him and speak with Him. Indeed, remember that it is precisely
the presence of the Spirit within us that confirms, constitutes and
builds our person on the very Person of Jesus crucified and risen.
So let us become familiar with the Holy Spirit in order to be
familiar with Jesus.
6. The Sacraments of Confirmation and the
Eucharist
You might ask, how can we allow ourselves to be
renewed by the Holy Spirit and to grow in our spiritual lives? The
answer, as you know, is this: we can do so by means of the
Sacraments, because faith is born and is strengthened within us
through the Sacraments, particularly those of Christian initiation:
Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist, which are complementary and
inseparable (cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
1285). This truth concerning the three Sacraments that initiate our
lives as Christians is perhaps neglected in the faith life of many
Christians. They view them as events that took place in the past and
have no real significance for today, like roots that lack
life-giving nourishment. It happens that many young people distance
themselves from their life of faith after they have received
Confirmation. There are also young people who have not even received
this sacrament. Yet it is through the sacraments of Baptism,
Confirmation and then, in an ongoing way, the Eucharist, that the
Holy Spirit makes us children of the Father, brothers and sisters of
Jesus, members of his Church, capable of a true witness to the
Gospel, and able to savour the joy of faith.
I therefore invite you to reflect on what I am writing
to you. Nowadays it is particularly necessary to rediscover the
sacrament of Confirmation and its important place in our spiritual
growth. Those who have received the sacraments of Baptism and
Confirmation should remember that they have become “temples of the
Spirit”: God lives within them. Always be aware of this and strive
to allow the treasure within you to bring forth fruits of holiness.
Those who are baptized but have not yet received the sacrament of
Confirmation, prepare to receive it knowing that in this way you
will become “complete” Christians, since Confirmation perfects
baptismal grace (cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
1302-1304).
Confirmation gives us special strength to
witness to and glorify God with our whole lives (cf. Rom
12:1). It makes us intimately aware of our belonging to the Church,
the “Body of Christ”, of which we are all living members, in
solidarity with one another (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-25). By
allowing themselves to be guided by the Spirit, each baptized person
can bring his or her own contribution to the building up of the
Church because of the charisms given by the Spirit, for “to
each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the
common good” (1 Cor 12:7). When the Spirit acts, he
brings his fruits to the soul, namely “love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”
(Gal 5:22). To those of you who have not yet received the
sacrament of Confirmation, I extend a cordial invitation to prepare
to receive it, and to seek help from your priests. It is a special
occasion of grace that the Lord is offering you. Do not miss this
opportunity!
I would like to add a word about the Eucharist. In
order to grow in our Christian life, we need to be nourished by the
Body and Blood of Christ. In fact, we are baptized and confirmed
with a view to the Eucharist (cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
1322; Sacramentum Caritatis, 17). “Source and
summit” of the Church’s life, the Eucharist is a “perpetual
Pentecost” since every time we celebrate Mass we receive the Holy
Spirit who unites us more deeply with Christ and transforms us into
Him. My dear young friends, if you take part frequently in the
eucharistic celebration, if you dedicate some of your time to
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Source of love which is the
Eucharist, you will acquire that joyful determination to dedicate
your lives to following the Gospel. At the same time it will be your
experience that whenever our strength is not enough, it is the Holy
Spirit who transforms us, filling us with his strength and making us
witnesses suffused by the missionary fervour of the risen
Christ.
7. The need and urgency of mission
Many young people view their lives with apprehension
and raise many questions about their future. They anxiously ask: How
can we fit into a world marked by so many grave injustices and so
much suffering? How should we react to the selfishness and violence
that sometimes seem to prevail? How can we give full meaning to
life? How can we help to bring it about that the fruits of the
Spirit mentioned above, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (no. 6), can
fill this scarred and fragile world, the world of young people most
of all? On what conditions can the life-giving Spirit of the first
creation and particularly of the second creation or redemption
become the new soul of humanity? Let us not forget that the greater
the gift of God - and the gift of the Spirit of Jesus is the
greatest of all – so much the greater is the world’s need to receive
it and therefore the greater and the more exciting is the Church’s
mission to bear credible witness to it. You young people, through
World Youth Day, are in a way manifesting your desire to participate
in this mission. In this regard, my dear young friends, I want to
remind you here of some key truths on which to meditate. Once again
I repeat that only Christ can fulfil the most intimate aspirations
that are in the heart of each person. Only Christ can humanize
humanity and lead it to its “divinization”. Through the power of his
Spirit he instils divine charity within us, and this makes us
capable of loving our neighbour and ready to be of service. The Holy
Spirit enlightens us, revealing Christ crucified and risen, and
shows us how to become more like Him so that we can be “the image
and instrument of the love which flows from Christ” (Deus Caritas Est, 33). Those who allow
themselves to be led by the Spirit understand that placing oneself
at the service of the Gospel is not an optional extra, because they
are aware of the urgency of transmitting this Good News to others.
Nevertheless, we need to be reminded again that we can be witnesses
of Christ only if we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit
who is “the principal agent of evangelization” (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 75) and “the
principal agent of mission” (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 21). My dear young
friends, as my venerable predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II said
on several occasions, to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness to the
faith is more necessary than ever today (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 1). There are those
who think that to present the precious treasure of faith to people
who do not share it means being intolerant towards them, but this is
not the case, because to present Christ is not to impose Him (cf.
Evangelii Nuntiandi, 80). Moreover, two
thousand years ago twelve Apostles gave their lives to make Christ
known and loved. Throughout the centuries since then, the Gospel has
continued to spread by means of men and women inspired by that same
missionary fervour. Today too there is a need for disciples of
Christ who give unstintingly of their time and energy to serve the
Gospel. There is a need for young people who will allow God’s love
to burn within them and who will respond generously to his urgent
call, just as many young blesseds and saints did in the past and
also in more recent times. In particular, I assure you that the
Spirit of Jesus today is inviting you young people to be bearers of
the good news of Jesus to your contemporaries. The difficulty that
adults undoubtedly find in approaching the sphere of youth in a
comprehensible and convincing way could be a sign with which the
Spirit is urging you young people to take this task upon yourselves.
You know the ideals, the language, and also the wounds, the
expectations, and at the same time the desire for goodness felt by
your contemporaries. This opens up the vast world of young people’s
emotions, work, education, expectations, and suffering ... Each one
of you must have the courage to promise the Holy Spirit that you
will bring one young person to Jesus Christ in the way you consider
best, knowing how to “give an explanation to anyone who asks you for
a reason for your hope, but [to] do it with gentleness and
reverence” (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).
In order to achieve this goal, my dear friends, you
must be holy and you must be missionaries since we can never
separate holiness from mission (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 90). Do not be
afraid to become holy missionaries like Saint Francis Xavier who
travelled through the Far East proclaiming the Good News until every
ounce of his strength was used up, or like Saint Thérèse of the
Child Jesus who was a missionary even though she never left the
Carmelite convent. Both of these are “Patrons of the Missions”. Be
prepared to put your life on the line in order to enlighten the
world with the truth of Christ; to respond with love to hatred and
disregard for life; to proclaim the hope of the risen Christ in
every corner of the earth.
8. Invoking a “new Pentecost” upon the
world
My dear young friends, I hope to see very many of you
in Sydney in July 2008. It will be a providential opportunity to
experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s power. Come in great
numbers in order to be a sign of hope and to give appreciative
support to the Church community in Australia that is preparing to
welcome you. For the young people of the country that will host you,
it will be an exceptional opportunity to proclaim the beauty and joy
of the Gospel to a society that is secularized in so many ways.
Australia, like all of Oceania, needs to rediscover its Christian
roots. In the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Oceania, Pope John Paul II
wrote: “Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church in Oceania
is preparing for a new evangelization of peoples who today are
hungering for Christ... A new evangelization is the first priority
for the Church in Oceania” (no. 18).
I invite you to give time to prayer and to your
spiritual formation during this last stage of the journey leading to
the XXIII World Youth Day, so that in Sydney
you will be able to renew the promises made at your Baptism and
Confirmation. Together we shall invoke the Holy Spirit, confidently
asking God for the gift of a new Pentecost for the Church and for
humanity in the third millennium.
May Mary, united in prayer with the Apostles in the
Upper Room, accompany you throughout these months and obtain for all
young Christians a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit to set their
hearts on fire. Remember: the Church has confidence in you! We
Pastors, especially, pray that you may love and lead others to love
Jesus more and more and that you may follow Him faithfully. With
these sentiments I bless you all with deep affection.
From Lorenzago, 20 July 2007
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
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