Vatican City, 7 April 2014 (VIS) –
The organising committee for the 28th World Youth Day (Rio de
Janeiro, July 2013), led by Cardinal Orani Joao Tempesta, archbishop
of San Paulo, was received in audience this morning by Pope Francis.
The Pontiff joked that the Brazilian
people were thieves since they had “stolen his heart”, and he
also took the opportunity to thank the Committee for this “theft”,
since it helped quell his longing for Brazil.
He went on to talk about the difficulty
of organising an event as large as the World Youth Day in Rio, and
referred to the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and
fishes, when Jesus asked the apostles to give food to the crowd, a
clearly impossible task. “However”, he said, “the apostles were
generous even though it was impossible. They gave the Lord everything
they had, and Jesus multiplied their efforts. Is this not what
happened on World Youth Day?”
“However, we must not only look back;
we must also look to the future, strengthened by the surety that God
will always multiply our efforts. Jesus says to us repeatedly, 'You
give them something to eat'. So this miracle that we experienced on
World Youth Day should be repeated every day, in every parish, in
every community, in the personal apostolate of each one of us! We
cannot rest easy knowing that many of our brethren live without
power, light or the comfort of friendship with Jesus Christ, without
a community of faith to welcome them, without a horizon of meaning
and life”. Therefore, it is necessary to think again about these
three ideas that, in a sense, summarise the entire meaning of World
Youth Day: go, without fear, to serve. We must be an 'outreach
Church', like missionary disciples who are not afraid to encounter
difficulties, because they have already seen that the Lord multiplies
our efforts, and for this reason we must always be motivated to
serve, giving of ourselves without reserve, full of the joy of the
Gospel”.
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