To Young People of German-Speaking Switzerland (15 June 1984)
ShareOn Friday, 15 June 1984, the Holy Father addressed the young people of German-speaking Switzerland in the sports field of the Abbey of Einsiedeln. In his speech, the Pope spoke of the search for meaning in their lives. Their is one solution, faith. "Because this is exactly what ‘faith’ means: to open yourself up to the living God himself down to the very last fibre of your life and to live your everyday life from him, with him and towards him.
My dear young friends!
1. This evening should belong entirely to you. This is a great joy for me. My encounters with young people in the various countries and continents during my pastoral visits are unforgettable and particularly dear to me. Because I place a lot of hope in you, young people and Christians. You are the future of the world and the Church. You bear a great responsibility for this. I have just spoken to delegates from your youth associations. They have confided to me their experiences and their fears, their expectations and hopes. Now I too would like to put my thoughts, concerns and worries to your heart and ask you to consider with me your mission in the Church and the world. I do this with great gratitude for your presence and also for your pastors, who put their energy entirely at the service of young people.
You often ask yourselves, alone or in a group: "What is the ultimate meaning of my life? Where can I find something that is absolutely worth striving for, that gives my life meaning and stability, stability and reliability?" With a sensitivity that is typical of you young people, you struggle with the deeper questions about the where of life, the why and the whereabouts; you look for true values that are important to you; you search for ideals that enrich your life and for which you are prepared to fight. I call on you: do not let your search deter you, do not settle for cheap answers, examine with watchful eyes what will bring you true happiness in life.
Another thing: you young people feel in a special way the great responsibility for the life and survival of people in our endangered world. That is why you express your fears very freely and openly: your fear of the ever-increasing gap in injustice between rich and poor, your fear of the threat to peace in our world posed by the enormous nuclear armament and your fear of the loss of meaning in life due to the widespread consumer attitude in our societies. I share your anxious worries and fears, because they are also my worries, which I have often expressed. Keep the courage to ask and search with concern! Because it is unreasonable not to want to be afraid or even to suppress it where fear is really necessary for us humans in view of our world. You young people are sometimes the only ones who express your fears and fears. That is your right and your duty towards a world and society for which you are not yet responsible and which in many ways does not correspond to your justified hopes and ideals.
2. But do not let your fears discourage you. Be careful not to give up on your will to live and on your search for a meaningful lifestyle. Because resignation is a form of adaptation to the hopelessness of our times, and the most powerless form at that. But you are the guardians of the flame of hope in this world. Just as the fire you lit at Pentecost now lights up the approaching night, so you too must always seek the light in the darkness of your life and our world. And this light makes the real and true sign of hope visible in this square: the cross, which reminds you of an Easter meeting. This cross is the statue of hope and future for our world. From it comes to us the voice of the one whom men could not bear and whom they nailed to the cross, but who encourages us like no one else: "In the world you will have fear; but take courage: I have overcome the world" ( Jn 16:33). Therefore, keep your eyes and your hearts fixed on the cross and worship the Crucified One. From him comes the strength of life, so that you do not despair but keep the long breath of hope.
You don't want your life to be meaningless and meaningless, but to be successful and successful. That was the starting point of our considerations. For me, and I hope for you too, there can only be one answer to the all-important question of how this can be achieved: faith! Because this is exactly what "faith" means: to open yourself up to the living God himself down to the very last fibre of your life and to live your everyday life from him, with him and towards him. God himself is unusual, indeed he exceeds all our imagination: it is reserved for our time that, thanks to the natural sciences, we can gain insight into the secrets of life, insight into the magnificent laws of the order of the macrocosm and the microcosm, behind which we can sense the greatness of the Creator God. And this God is unusual because he himself has become one of us, has taken the risk of life with us. Together with this God who exceeds all human boundaries, your life too can become an unusually rich and fascinating adventure.
3. This living God meets you in Jesus Christ. In him, in Jesus Christ, the whole nature of this God, which is pure love, is revealed to you. With this love, God addresses each one of you as a son, as a daughter. And nothing and no one should separate you from this love of God in Christ ( Rom 8:39), in which your whole life is hidden with all its mysteries.
Each individual encounters Christ and his liberating message in a very personal way. I encourage you: step before him. Let him speak to you. Engage with him. He teaches you basic attitudes with which you can master life in a humane way. He frees you from manipulation and appropriation by fashion trends and opinion makers. He leads you on a path on which you can recognize yourself and find yourself, who you are, what you live for and what the goal of your life is. He leads you to your eternal destiny in God.
So be open to the call of God in Christ. Hear from it what God wants for your life and respond to him through your faith. "Faith" - this is our short formula for the "alternative lifestyle" that you are looking for and that I would like to encourage you to this evening.
4. Being a Christian, dear young friends, already means saying yes to an alternative life that is not limited to the paths of this world, but has its meaning and purpose in the mystery of God. Being a Christian already means saying yes to an alternative life that does not agree with everything that happens on this earth, but rather is critical and contributes to building an ever more just world. Being a Christian already means saying yes to an alternative life that does not consider everything that man can do to be permissible, but rather that accepts its responsibility for all of creation, namely to preserve life, to protect it and to pass it on.
For being a Christian means confessing Christ, who said of himself: "I am the way, the truth and the life" ( John 14:6). In confessing him, God incarnate, the crucified and risen Lord, you can risk your life on his word; you do not need to resign yourself to your own difficulties or to the great problems of our time; in confessing Christ you will recognize that the truth sets you free, but human lies enslave you; you will be able to see in every person a brother or sister, across all barriers of race, religion and political borders. In confessing Christ you share in a life that has conquered all hopelessness and despair, even death. For in the resurrection of Christ God has given us the cross as a place of hope and victory over all suffering, guilt and the succumbence to death. Christ is therefore the only valid “alternative” path to the many wrong paths of our world.
5. This "alternative lifestyle" also means that you are not just fighting alone, but that you join together to form a living community and participate in the worldwide community of the Church. For the Church is the community of believers and hopeful people who live from the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. Perhaps, however, you sometimes have the impression that the Church is not enough of such a community. You may also have difficulties with it at times. I can understand your concerns. But I would like to say two things to you this evening and ask you for two things:
Be patient with the Church! The Church is always a community of weak and flawed people. And I would like to add: This is also good news for all of us. For in a Church of only perfect people, there would be no place for us ourselves. God himself wants a human Church. Therefore, there can be criticism of the Church, but it must be fair and driven by great love for the Church. God has placed his work of salvation, his plans and concerns, in the hands of people. This is certainly a great risk; but there can be no other Church than the one founded by Christ. He wants us humans as his co-workers in the world and in the Church, with all our shortcomings and inadequacies, but also with all our good will and our abilities. He wants you too!
Therefore, my second request to you: make yourselves available to the Church and work in a way that corresponds to the call of Jesus Christ to you! Follow Jesus Christ! Put your life at his service! This will give your life the deepest meaning and content. Do not hesitate to go all out and follow him even when he tells you, as he did to the rich young man: "Sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me!" ( Luke 18:22). So make your youthful talents available to the Church without reservation! The Church needs you in many areas, especially in the priesthood and religious professions. You are the future of the Church. You yourselves are responsible for ensuring that the Church remains young and keeps becoming young.
© Copyright 1984 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
