POPE FRANCIS: “BUILD UP A SWEAT” LIKE TRUE ATHLETES OF CHRIST

Vatican City, 28 July 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday evening the Pope celebrated a prayer vigil with almost two million young people at Copacabana. The Liturgy of the Word began with various testimonies and questions posed to the Holy Father.

At the end the Pope addressed the young, recalling how the Lord asked St. Francis of Assisi to do “his part for the life of the Church. … being at the service of the Church, loving her and working to make the countenance of Christ shine ever more brightly in her. Today too, as always, the Lord needs you, young people, for his Church. Dear young people, the Lord needs this. Today too, he is calling each of you to follow him in his Church and to be missionaries”.

Due to bad weather, this vigil, which should have celebrated at the “Campus Fidei” in Guaratiba, was transferred to Copacabana. Francis encouraged the participants to consider this situation. “Perhaps the Lord wishes to tell us that the true field of faith, the true Campus Fidei, is not a geographical location, but rather, it is us?”, he said. The Holy Father introduced three images of the field, to “help us understand better what it means to be a disciple and a missionary”.

“First, a field is a place for sowing seeds”. Here the Pope mentioned the parable of the “sower who went out to sow seeds in the field; some seed fell on the path, some on rocky ground, some among thorns, and could not grow; other seed fell on good soil and brought forth much fruit. Jesus himself explains the meaning of the parable: the seed is the word of God sown in our hearts. Today, every day”, said the Pope, “but especially today, Jesus sows. When we welcome the Word of God, then we become the Campus Fidei, the field of faith. Please, let Christ and His Word enter into your life, let the seed of the Word of God be sown, let it germinate, let it grow. God will do everything but you must let Him in, you must let Him work and grow”.

“I think that we have to ask ourselves honestly: what kind of ground are we? Maybe sometimes we are like the path: we hear the Lord’s word but it changes nothing in our lives because we let ourselves be numbed by all the superficial voices competing for our attention; or we are like the rocky ground: we receive Jesus with enthusiasm, but we falter and, faced with difficulties, we don’t have the courage to swim against the tide; or we are like the thorny ground: negativity, negative feelings choke the Lord’s word in us. Do I have two attitudes in my heart: with one I am happy with God, and with the other I am happy with the devil? One which receives the seed of Jesus and at the same time waters the weeds? What is born in my heart?”

“But today I am sure that the seed is falling on good soil, that you want to be good soil, not part-time Christians, not “starchy” and superficial, but real. Seek out a patch of good land and let the seeds fall there; you will see that they will bear good fruit. I know that you want to become good ground, good Christians, not part-time Christians, those who seem to be Christians but in reality are not. Be authentic Christians. I am sure that you don’t want to be duped by a false freedom, always at the beck and call of momentary fashions and fads. I know that you are aiming high, at long-lasting decisions which will make your lives meaningful. In silence, we must welcome the seed of Jesus. Everyone knows the name of the seed that enters: let it grow, and God will take care of it”.

“Jesus asks us to follow him for life, he asks us to be his disciples, to 'play on his team'. I think that most of you love sports! … Now, what do players do when they are asked to join a team? They have to train, and to train a lot! The same is true of our lives as the Lord’s disciples. ... Jesus offers us something bigger than the World Cup! He offers us the possibility of a fulfilled and fruitful life; He also offers us a future with Him, an endless future, eternal life. But He asks us to buy a ticket to this future, and the ticket is training, 'getting in shape', bearing witness to our faith. By talking with Him in prayer”.

Francis asked the young people various questions, to which he asked them to respond in silence, in their hearts. “Do I pray?”, he said. “Do I let the Holy Spirit speak to my heart? Do I ask Jesus what he wants me to do? This is training. Putting questions to Jesus, talking with Jesus. And if you make mistakes in life, if you do something wrong, do not be afraid. … Always talk to Jesus, in good times and bad. That is prayer. This is how we enter into dialogue with Jesus and as a missionary disciple. And by the sacraments, which make His life grow within us and conform us to Christ. By loving one another, learning to listen, to understand, to forgive, to be accepting and to help others, everybody, without exclusion or ostracism. This is the training we have to do to follow Jesus: prayer, sacraments and helping others, serving others”.

Finally, the Holy Father spoke about the field as a construction site. “When our heart is good soil which receives the word of God, when we 'build up a sweat' in trying to live as Christians, we experience something tremendous: we are never alone, we are part of a family of brothers and sisters, all journeying on the same path: we are part of the Church; indeed, we are building up the Church and we are making history. Please, don't become footnotes to history. Be agents of history, go out and build a better world”.

Pope Francis remarked that “in the Church of Jesus, we ourselves are the living stones. Jesus is asking us to build up His Church; each one of us is a living stone, a little building block. Each living stone contributes to the unity and the security of the Church. But he does not want us to build a little chapel which holds only a small group of persons. He asks us to make his living Church so large that it can hold all of humanity, that it can be a home for everyone”.

“Please”, he continued, “do not leave it to others to be the agents of change. You hold the future … continue to work against apathy and offer a Christian response to the social and political problems that arise all over the world. I ask you to be builders of the future, to set to work for a better world. Dear young people, please, do not live your lives as observers, watching the world go by. Go into the fray, as Jesus did – He did not sit back and watch. But where do we start? Once, Mother Teresa was asked what should be the first thing to change in the Church, and she replied: 'You and I'. Today I too repeat the words of Mother Teresa and I say to you: you and I must be the first to change.”

“Dear friends, never forget that you are the field of faith! You are Christ’s athletes! You are called to build a more beautiful Church and a better world. Let us lift our gaze to Our Lady. Mary helps us to follow Jesus, she gives us the example by her own 'yes' to God: 'I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me as you say'. All together, let us join Mary in saying to God: let it be done to me as you say”.

Following Pope Francis' address, the deacons brought the Holy Sacrament in procession. After the Eucharistic adoration and prayers of the young people in several languages, the recitation of the “Salve Regina” concluded the celebration.