"YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD," POPE TELLS YOUTH

VATICAN CITY, JAN 26, 1999 (VIS) - "Tonight the Pope belongs to you," John Paul II told young people during an encounter with them in St. Louis' Keil Center sports complex on the theme "You are the light of the world."

Noting that Kiel Center is "where many people train long and hard in order to compete in different sports," the Pope reminded the youth that the stadium this evening has become a training ground "that will help you live your faith in Jesus more decisively."

"I am told," John Paul II continued, "that there was much excitement in St. Louis during the recent baseball season, when two great players, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, were competing to break the home run record. You can feel the same enthusiasm as you train for a different goal: the goal of following Christ, the goal of bringing his message to the world. Each one of you belongs to Christ, and Christ belongs to you."

"'Let no one have contempt for youth'," the Holy Father said, citing the reading from the first Letter of Paul to Timothy. "(Paul) says this because youth is a marvelous gift from God. It is a time of special energies, special opportunities and special responsibilities. ... This is the time of your 'training'. ... Christ ... wants you - all of you - to be light to the world as only young people can be light. It is time to let your light shine!"

In the second part of his talk, following the Gospel reading, the Pope continued: "Sadly, too many people today are living apart from the light, in a world of illusions, a world of fleeting shadows and promises unfulfilled."

John Paul II reminded young people that, though they are no longer little children afraid of the dark, "already you realize that there is another kind of darkness in the world: the darkness of doubt and uncertainty, ... of loneliness and isolation. ... Sometimes the world itself seems full of darkness," the darkness of the hungry and homeless, of violence in all its forms. "There is something terribly wrong when so many young people are overcome by hopelessness to the point of taking their own lives. And already in parts of this nation, laws have been passed which allow doctors to end the lives of the very people they are sworn to help."

He exhorted the young people: "Do not listen to those who encourage you to lie, to shirk responsibility, to put yourselves first. Do not listen to those who tell you that chastity is passe. ... Do not be taken in by false values and deceptive slogans, especially about your freedom. True freedom is a wonderful gift from God. ... Freedom is not the ability to do anything we want, whenever we want. Rather, freedom is the ability to live responsibly the truth of our relationship with God and with one another."

To achieve this, the Pope concluded, to get to "truly and personally" know Christ, what is needed is prayer.

At the end of the meeting, the Pope consigned a Message to the children who are patients at the Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital. It said, in part: "You are all dear to my heart, even if I have not been able to see all of you today. I want the young boys and girls being taken care of at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital and all sick children everywhere to know that the Pope prays for each one of you. You know how much Jesus loved children and how pleased he was to be with them. You too are very special to him."

PV-U.S.;YOUTH; SICK CHILDREN;...;ST LOUIS;VIS;19990127;Word: 610;