Pope Francis meets the young people in the sanctuary of Maipù: without Christ “we end up drowning our thoughts and ideas, our dreams and our faith, and so we get frustrated and annoyed”.
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“Without a connection to Jesus, we end up drowning our thoughts and ideas,
our dreams and our faith, and so we get frustrated and annoyed.” Francis speaks the language of the digital natives to communicate with them the need to stay with Jesus. He uses the example of the Wi-Fi network, speaks of a "password to reconnect”, and offers advice taken from the teaching of the Chilean saint Alberto Hurtado. The Pope met the young Chileans in the Maipù Shrine, a historical place of worship dedicated to the Virgin of Carmel and symbol of the independence of the country, because here - in the nineteenth century - the Spanish army was defeated.
Bergoglio is greeted by boys and girls of all ages, gathered there from the early hours of the morning, who at his passage aboard the popamobile intonate a song composed for the occasion, waving cards in the shape of a cross in various colors, on which is written the motto of the journey "Mi paz les doy". On stage he listens to the speeches of some young people, thanking them for, as he says,"having got up from the sofa and got your shoes on" to come here. And for those who have not had the courage to leave the sofa, hurry up and put your shoes on! he added.
Bergoglio, after listening to the young people's speeches, began by pointing out how young people "like adventures and challenges". "After all, you get bored when there are no challenges to excite you. We see this clearly, for example, whenever there is a natural disaster. You have an amazing ability to mobilize, which is a sure sign of the generosity of your hearts".
Francis then spoke of the love for the homeland, which we call "Motherland, with a reference to the mother, because she teaches us to walk":"If you are not patriots - not patriotic, eh! You will do nothing in life, because children must love their Chile, so do something for your Chile," he recommends.
The Pope - who paused to ask to pray for a girl who has fainted in the crowd (probably because of the heat) "so she can get back here soon" - recalled his experience as bishop “I have come to see how many good ideas there are in young people, in their minds and hearts. Young people are restless; they are seekers and idealists. The problem we adults have is that often, like know-it-alls, we say: “They think that way because they are young; they still have to grow up”.
“Growing up, instead - the Pope explains off the cuff - "means to grow and make our dreams grow, never to lower one’s gaze and to let oneself be bought for two pennies. When some adult thinks this way, don’t listen to him! As if growing up means accepting injustice, believing that nothing can be done, that this is the way things have always been. This is corruption! To truly grow up "means bringing dreams and illusions by discussing together but always looking ahead, never lowering our gaze but looking to the future".
"For this reason - the Pope said - I wanted to call the Synod, and before it, the meeting of young people, so that you can feel – and really be – protagonists in the heart of the Church". "Because - he explained - "I am afraid of filters and the opinions of young people before arriving in Rome must pass through a thousand connections... and risk being filtered. That's why I want to listen to young people first: you are the protagonists! Young Catholics and non-Catholics, Christians and of other religions, young people who do not know if they believe or do not believe because it is important that you speak and not let yourself be silenced. It's up to us to help you to be consistent with what you say, but if you don't speak how can we help you?", the Pope said off-script. We need "To help keep the Church’s face young! - and added a personal note - Once someone told me, "I don't know whether to talk about the Holy Mother Church or the Holy Grandmother Church". "Behold, the Church must have a young face, you must help us in this" and young not by applying cosmetics but by letting her be challenged deep down by her sons and daughters, to help her daily to be more faithful to the Gospel".
This, according to Francis, is what the Holy Mother Church needs now. We will then prepare the answers, but we do need you to question us. You must shake us if we are too still, with your ideas, concerns, with everything you have in your heart. You must - he adds - "become spiritually of age and have the courage to say: I like this, I don't like it, this is not a good path, this is not a bridge but a wall. Say what you think".
In addition, the Pope continued, speaking without reading,"if there is an activity or a pastoral plan, a meeting that does not help us to get to Jesus, then we are wasting time, we waste hours of preparation... Let us help ourselves be closer to Jesus". Bergoglio asks the young people to take a minute's silence and pray to Our Lady of Carmel, whose statue is present on stage," so that she, who is the first disciple, may help us to be closer to Jesus".
Then, amid the choirs of "Viva il Papa"! and " Viva la Virgén", he shared a personal story, “chatting one day with a young man, I asked him what sort of things made him unhappy. He said to me: “When my cellphone battery runs down or I lose my internet connection”. I asked him: “Why?” He answered: “Father, it’s simple; I miss out on everything that is going on, I am shut off from the world, stuck. In those moments, I jump up and run to find a charger or a Wi-Fi network and a password to reconnect”.
“This made me think that the same thing can happen with our faith. - Francis added - After a while on the journey or after an initial spurt, there are moments when, without even realizing it, our “bandwidth” begins to fade and we lose our connection, our power; then we become unhappy and we lose our faith, we feel depressed and listless, and we start to view everything in a bad light. When we lack the “connection” that charges our dreams, our hearts begin falter”.
"Without a connection, a connection to Jesus, we end up drowning our thoughts and ideas, our dreams and our faith, and so we get frustrated and annoyed. As protagonists, which we are and we want to be – we can get to the point of feeling that it makes no difference whether or not we do anything. We start feeling that we are “shut off from the world”, as that young person told me. It worries me that, once they have lost their “connection”, many people think they have nothing to offer; they feel lost".
Never think that you have nothing to offer or that nobody cares about you. Never!
What is then password to connect with the one who is “the way, and the truth and the life”? Sant' Alberto Hurtado "had a golden rule, a rule for setting his heart ablaze with the fire that keeps joy alive. Hurtado’s password was quite simple – if your phones are turned on, I would like you to key this in. He asks:
“What would Christ do in my place?”
This is the password, the code suggested by the Pope, "At school, at university, when outdoors, when at home, among friends, at work, when taunted: “What would Christ do in my place?” When you go dancing, when you are playing or watching sports: “What would Christ do in my place?” He is the password, the power source that charges our hearts, ignites our faith and makes our eyes sparkle.
The Pope then asked everyone to memorize it on their mobile phone and "don't forget it":"You simply have to... use it. Every day. Otherwise we end up as the thief of that film that robbed a safe but forgets the password. Then memorize it in your heart. What was the password?", the Pope asked the young crowd.
“Being protagonists means doing what Jesus did". Wherever you are, with whomever you are with, and whenever you get together: “What would Jesus do?” The only way not to forget a password is by using it over and over. Day after day. The time will come when you know it by heart, and the day will come when, without realizing it, your heart will beat like Jesus’ heart.
Because "It is not enough to hear a sermon or learn an answer from the catechism; we want to live the way Jesus lived".
We must "put oneself on the line, run risks". “Dear friends, be courageous, go out straightaway to meet your friends, people you don’t know, or those having troubles" this is Francis’ invitation. "Go out with the only promise we have: that wherever you are – in the desert, on the journey, amid excitement, you will always be “connected”; there will always be a “power source”. We will never be alone. We will always enjoy the company of Jesus, his Mother and a community. Certainly, a community is not perfect, but that does not mean that it does not have much to love and to give to others".
At the end of the meeting, groups of young people in traditional clothes danced in the crowd. The Pope laid a rosary at the foot of the statue of Our Lady after blessing it, and finally greeted all those present but before going away he asked them a final question:"So, what was the password? And all of them, in chorus, "What would Jesus do in my place?
