The President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia, guided the Catechesis on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, July 24th, 25th and 26th, at the World Youth Day, held this year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (from 23 to 28 July). The themes of these three days of prayer and reflection were respectively: “Thirst for Hope, Thirst for God,” “Being Christ’s Disciple,” and “Being missionaries: ‘Go!’” In Rio, in 1997 (October 4th and 5th), the second World Meeting of Families was held.

«Today’s young people suffer from loneliness; they feel abandoned in society, seek their place and want to build a future for themselves», Msgr. Paglia said during the first Catechesis. «The difficulties they encounter in daily life are increasingly numerous and serious (at work, because of the economic crisis, insecurity and unemployment, in their personal relationships and in the family, as well as future’s uncertainty); all this leads many young people to become discouraged, makes them lose their self-confidence and hope; so, sometimes they seek refuge and consolation in false compensation that, in some cases, puts their life in danger: drugs, alcohol, gambling, addiction, pornography, cyber-dependence». Consequently, adults—Archbishop Paglia continued—have an even greater responsibility to be educators, and above all, witnesses of hope. For the Christian, the source and guarantee of all hope is Jesus. As Pope Francis said in his homily at the Mass on Palm Sunday (March 24th, 2013): «Our joy comes from knowing that with him we are never alone, even at difficult moments, even when our life’s journey comes up against problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable». And therefore: «Do not let the hope that comes from Jesus be stolen». And, as Pope Benedict XVI invited them in his message for the XXVIII World Youth Day: «Accept Christ’s love and you will be the witnesses so needed by our world». In this way, young people will be promoters of «a new globalization, of Love instead of indifference».
 

«Christianity is not a philosophy, a form of spirituality or a moral practice. It’s a way of life that starts from the relationship with Christ, in the close friendship and kinship with Jesus», Msgr. Paglia said at the opening of the second Catechesis. Jesus is the “Good Teacher”, who teaches Love to the point of giving one’s life. And so, as Benedict XVI said in his Message for this World Youth Day, young people must «let themselves be shaped by God’s word every day. This will make you friends of the Lord Jesus and enable you to lead other young people to friendship with him». On this journey of friendship that should become progressively deeper, there is no lack of trials and difficulties, in «all the aspects of our lives: affections, the couple, the family, study, work, managing goods», the President said to the young. Indeed, it’s «a path that leads to salvation, but not without changes and sacrifices» that imply the recognition of one’s own mistakes and guilt, and advances through forgiveness in the sacrament of Reconciliation. «The Cross is part of the journey». But, as Pope Francis also said in his Palm Sunday homily, «Christ’s Cross embraced with love never leads to sadness, but to the joy of having been saved».
 

Being Jesus’ friends means being friends of people, of all people like brothers, and especially of the weakest. This was the main message of Msgr. Paglia’s catechesis on Friday, July 26th. As Christians and members of Jesus’ family, «we are all parts of the great chain that transmits the Gospel. Like Olympic athletes, who pass the Olympic flame from one to the next, each of us is called to transmit Christ’s light, the light of Love and Hope». In fact, «evangelization is the act of charity that manifests God’s eternal love for each person, for every creature, for the family, the people and the nation». And therefore, «to be true missionaries, young people must be firmly rooted in Christ through daily prayer and the sacraments, and ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of missionary zeal».