At his meeting with over 100,000 young people at the “José María Morelos y Pavón” Stadium in Morelia, Francis said: “Jesus would never ask us to be assassins; rather, he calls us to be disciples. He would never send us out to death, but rather everything in him speaks of life.” “The biggest threat is when a person feels that they must have money to buy everything, including the love of Others”
“It is a lie to believe that the only way to live, or to be young, is to entrust oneself to drug dealers or others who do nothing but sow destruction and death.” The penultimate day of Pope Francis’ visit to Mexico ended with a huge celebration. More than 100,000 young people welcomed him with open arms at the “José María Morelos y Pavón” Stadium. 50,000 gathered outside in the parking area to watch the event on the big screens installed. They still got to see Francis in the flesh as he passed by in the Popemobile to greet them. The other 50,000 found a space inside the stadium. Everyone was waving coloured handkerchiefs around. As usual, there were many last minute surprises: Francis was introduced to two young girls with Down syndrome, both of whom he gave long embraces to.
Francis received a number of gifts from four young Mexicans from four different parts of the country, who took the floor. They asked him how they could once again “dream of having a family”; how peace could be restored in a Mexico rife with corruption and drug trafficking; how they could find strength in hope.
The Pope began by reminding everyone that thousands of young people were watching the event live from the St. John Paul II square in Guadalajara: “There are thousands of them; we are taking up two stadiums!” “One of the greatest treasures of this Mexican land,” the Pope continued, is that it “has a youthful face its young people. Yes, you are the wealth of this land. I did not say the hope of this land, but its wealth.”
“You cannot live in hope, or look to the future if you do not first know how to value yourselves, if you do not feel that your life, your hands, your history, is worth the effort. Hope is born when you are able to experience that all is not lost; and for this to happen it is necessary to start ‘at home’, to begin with yourself.” “I now ask you to remain silent,” he said spontaneously, “and each one of you asked yourselves in your hearts: is it true that not all is lost? Am I worth little or a lot?”
“The biggest threat to hope,” Francis continued, “is when you feel that you do not matter to anybody or that that you have been left aside. The biggest threat to hope is when you feel that, either being present or absent, you make no difference. This kills, this crushes us and opens the door to much suffering.”
But “the principal threat to hope is to allow yourself to believe that you begin to be valuable when you start wearing the right clothes, the latest brands and fashions, or when you enjoy prestige, are important because you have money; but in the depths of your heart you do not believe that you are worthy of kindness or love. The biggest threat is when a person feels that they must have money to buy everything, including the love of others. The biggest threat is to believe that by having a big car you will be happy.” “Do you think having a nice car makes you happy?” he asked, to which his audience responded: “Nooo”.
“You are the wealth of Mexico, you are the wealth of the Church,” Francis went on to say. “I understand that often it is difficult to feel your value when you are continually exposed to the loss of friends or relatives at the hands of the drug trade, of drugs themselves, of criminal organizations that sow terror. It is hard to feel the wealth of a nation when there are no opportunities for dignified work, no possibilities for study or advancement, when you feel your rights are being trampled on, which then leads you to extreme situations.” “Nonetheless, despite all this, I will never tire of saying: You are the wealth of Mexico.”
“Roberto,” the Pope said, in an off the cuff reference to one of the speeches that had been made earlier, “you used a phrase I would like to keep: you said you lost something and you didn’t say you lost your cell phone or money, but the amazement of an encounter, of dreaming together. Never lose your sense of amazement towards dreams!” “And dreaming is not the same as being a sleepyhead, no!”
The Pope clarified: “Don’t think I am saying this because I am good, or I because I have concise ideas about it; no dear friends, it is not like that. I say this to you and I am convinced of it. And do you know why? Because, like you, I believe in Jesus Christ. And it is he who continually renews in me this hope, it is he who continually renews my outlook. It is he who continually invites me to a conversion of heart. Yes, my friends, I say this because in Jesus I have found the One who is able to bring out the best in me.”
“Hand in hand with him, we can move forward, hand in hand with him we can begin again and again, hand in hand with him we find the strength to say: it is a lie to believe that the only way to live, or to be young, is to entrust oneself to drug dealers or others who do nothing but sow destruction and death. Hand in hand with Jesus Christ we can say: it is a lie that the only way to live as young people here is in poverty and exclusion; in the exclusion of opportunities, in the exclusion of spaces, in the exclusion of training and education, in the exclusion of hope. It is Jesus Christ who refutes all attempts to render you useless or to be mere mercenaries of other people’s ambitions.”
Pope Francis left young Mexicans with one word of hope: Jesus Christ. “When everything seems too much, when it seems that the world is crashing down around you, embrace his Cross, draw close to him and please, never let go of his hand; please, never leave him.” Even if you fall, allow yourselves to be pulled back up.” The Pope quoted a song lyric that came to mind: “The most important thing is not to fall but not to remain fallen.” “Jesus Christ is the one and only! Don’t hide your hand when you’ve fallen, don’t say to him: don’t look at me because I’m a lost cause. The wealth you have inside you, which you thought you had lost, starts bearing fruits again, but never letting go of Jesus’ hand.”
“If you see a friend who has fallen, offer him a helping hand, with dignity, slowly, like a friend, give them strength with your words, let them speak, this is called ‘listening-therapy’. Because by holding onto Jesus’ hand, it is impossible to sink. With Him, you can live a full life, you can believe it’s worth giving your best, being like yeast, like salt and light among friends, in the neighbourhood, in the community”.
The Pope encouraged young people not to let themselves be excluded: “do not allow yourselves to be devalued, do not let them treat you like a commodity. Jesus advised the following: be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Shrewd and good, sensitive. Of course, you may not be able to have the latest car model at the door, you will not have pockets filled with money, but you will have something that no one can take away from you, which is the experience of being loved, embraced and accompanied. It is the experience of being family, of feeling oneself as part of a community,” with your head held high, without cars and money but with dignity.
“Jesus,” the Pope concluded, “would never ask us to be assassins; rather, he calls us to be disciples. He would never send us out to death, but rather everything in him speaks of life. A life in a family, life in a community; families and communities for the good of society. And here I would like to refer back to something Rosario said: in the family you learn about closeness, solidarity, sharing, sharing the burden of another person’s problems, fighting, arguing, kissing and making up. In the family you have dignity. Never cast away the family, it is the bedrock upon which a great nation is built. Do you dream of having a family?” “Yeees,” the young people present responded in unison. “You are the wealth of this country,” the Pope ended by saying, “and when you doubt this, look to Jesus, he who destroys all efforts to make you useless or mere instruments of other people’s ambitions.”
At the end of the meeting, the young people started singing a song that is dear to the Pope and he started singing along with them – something he very rarely does: “Vive Jesus, el Señor”, they sang, as thousands of white balloons were released into the sky.
17/02/2016
andrea tornielli
in morelia (mexico)
http://www.lastampa.it
