In his address, Pope Francis calls on young people to join him in Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day the following year and “arise,” as Mary did, to the vocation of service to others.
The theme of the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon, which runs from August 1–6, is “Mary arose and departed with speed.”
The COVID-19 epidemic caused the World Youth Day in Lisbon, which was initially scheduled to take place in August, to be postponed.
The Holy Father said of the word “arise,” “It is a term that… speaks to us of rising up from our sleep, awakening up to the life all around us,” in his reflection.
Mary the Blessed Virgin gets up
Pope Francis emphasised that the Blessed Virgin Mary served her cousin Elizabeth selflessly when both ladies were expecting.
The young Mary did not stay paralysed, he observed, “even if the astounding word of the angel had created a seismic upheaval in her plans. For inside her was Jesus, the power of resurrection and new life.
He added, “Mary already borne the Lamb who was slaughtered and still lives within herself. She gets up and leaves because she is sure that God’s plan is the greatest one for her.
Young people “on the go, who refuse to stand in front of a mirror to examine themselves or to be caught up in the ‘net,’” he said, can look up to Mary as a role model. According to Pope Francis, Mary constantly has an outward gaze toward God, her siblings, and those who are most in need.
Mary hurriedly
Pope Francis focused on St. Ambrose of Milan’s observation that Mary hurried toward the hill area to help Elizabeth because “she delighted in the promise and aspired to serve others with the fervour born of her pleasure.”
Therefore, Pope Francis said, “Mary’s hurry is a sign of her desire to serve, to declare her delight, and to react without hesitation to the mercy of the Holy Spirit.”
He stated that Mary was inspired to assist Elizabeth, who was old. She wasn’t worrying about herself, and Francis said that this selflessness gave her life “enthusiasm and direction.”
Then he urged young people to think about how they respond to the issues they see all around them. Do I instantly consider a good reason not to participate? Or do I express curiosity and want to assist? ”
Pope Francis said that “we ought to act promptly” while helping those in need.
“What varieties of ‘haste,’ my youthful friends? What makes you feel that you must get up and move lest you remain still? “, he inquired.
But rather, he said, “the essential question in life is: For whom am I living?
Pope Francis made the comment, referencing a certain dependency on “likes” on social media platforms, that Mary is an example of a young person who doesn’t seek attention or other people’s favour.
He said, “She sets out to uncover the most real of all ‘connections’: the one that results from meeting, sharing, loving, and serving.
According to Pope Francis, there have been many accounts of Marian apparitions and encounters with Mary throughout history.
He noted that “she has pretty much been everywhere on the planet.” Pope Francis noted that Mary’s contact with “her people, who visit one another in turn! “, which is shown by the many devotions to Mary that are often observed in pilgrimages, celebrations, petitions, and the enthronement of images in homes ”
“Healthy hurry”
Pope Francis said that “a good hurry might force us to live superficially and to take things lightly,” while an unhealthy haste “can push us to live constantly below and towards others.”
Pope Francis said that an unhealthy hurry lacks dedication, care, and investment. He said that unhealthy haste may happen in tight friendships and familial ties. But, he warned the youngsters, it may also occur between couples.
The same mentality may be applied to job, school, and other aspects of everyday life, he said. “Things done in a hurry usually don’t work out well. They run the danger of dying dead and barren. “The plans of the diligent lead undoubtedly to wealth, while everyone who is hasty comes only to lack, as we read in the Book of Proverbs,”
Pope Francis thought on Elizabeth’s humility in not boasting to Mary about God’s miracle provision of a child for her in her old age.
Pope Francis said that while the woman “would have had every motive to start by talking about herself, she was not ‘full of herself,’ but rather eager to welcome her newborn cousin and the product of her womb.”
He said in his letter that Elizabeth was “filled with the Holy Spirit as soon as she heard Mary’s welcome.” Such spiritual shocks and outpourings occur when we provide genuine hospitality and prioritise others before ourselves.
According to Pope Francis, many individuals have encountered Christ in an unexpected way, which has increased respect for other people. He said, “Many have understood that Christ wants to be near and to share his life with everybody.”
He said, “We hastened to greet him, to feel the urge to be with him and to get to know him more because of the delight of this encounter. “Mary and Jesus were welcomed into Elizabeth and Zechariah’s household. Let’s take a lesson in hospitality from these two old people! ”
Pope Francis urged young people to inquire about their connection with God from their parents, grandparents, and elders in their neighbourhoods. He said, “You will gain by learning from those who have gone before you.
Dear young people, now is the moment to move quickly toward real contacts and sincere acceptance of individuals who are different from ourselves.
Only in this way, he said, “would we be able to cross gaps across generations, socioeconomic classes, ethnic groupings, and other groups, and even put a stop to wars.” “Young people are always a symbol of the potential for renewed harmony among our shattered and estranged human family. But only if they are able to maintain memory, and only if they are able to hear the elderly’s fantasies and tragedies.
The Holy Father said that “Jesus himself” is his message to young people, adding that Mary is the role model who exemplifies how to spread Christ’s message across the globe.
Pope Francis spoke to the 1917 apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima and said that Mary “delivered to people of all eras the strong and glorious message of God’s love, which summons us to conversion and to genuine freedom” from Fatima.
He then extended an invitation to young people to visit Lisbon in August of 2019 while mentioning that World Youth Day events in his country would occur on November 20, the feast of Christ the King.
“Arise at this moment! Let us “arise and depart in haste, like Mary did; let us carry Jesus in our hearts and convey him to everyone that we encounter,” said Pope Francis. “Press on and do not put off any of the good that the Holy Spirit can perform in you at this lovely season of your life! I wish you luck on your aspirations and every step of your path.