The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

Pope Francis tells young people: ‘Christ is alive’!

“The very first words then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!” (Pope Francis, “Christus Vivit,” #1)

In his postsynodal apostolic exhortation titled “Christus Vivit” (“Christ is Alive”), Pope Francis reflects on themes explored during the October 2018 Synod of Bishops on “young people, the faith and vocational discernment” in Rome, adding his own thoughts and employing what some call “Bergoglioisms”—language and images that are distinctive to Pope Francis.

Readers are encouraged to read the full text of this important apostolic exhortation, but here is a brief 10-point summary of some of the main ideas in “Christus Vivit”:

• Both the Old and New Testaments show that God welcomes, and encourages, the active engagement of young people in the history of our salvation. As the Holy Father observes, “Jesus had no use for adults who looked down on the young or lorded it over them. On the contrary, he insisted that ‘the greatest among you must become like the youngest’ ” (#17, Lk 22:26).

• In St. Luke’s Gospel, the adolescent Jesus himself gives witness to what it means for young people to be fully engaged in the life of the Church. “Jesus does not teach you, young people, from afar or from without, but from within your very youth” (#31).

• Young people are not just the world’s future. “They are its present, even now, they are helping to enrich it” (#64). Young people today face unimaginable challenges. For this reason, it is necessary to listen to them without resorting to “pre-packaged answers and ready-made solutions, without allowing their real questions to emerge and facing the challenges they pose” (#65).

• To all young people, Pope Francis offers three great truths: a) God loves you; b) Christ saves you; and c) He is alive! “In these truths, the Father appears and Jesus appears. And where they are, there is also the Holy Spirit. Invoke the Holy Spirit each day. You have nothing to lose, and he can change your life, fill it with light and lead it along a better path. He takes nothing away from you, but instead helps you to find all that you need, and in the best possible way” (#131).

• “No matter how much you live the experience of these years of your youth, you will never know their deepest and fullest meaning unless you encounter each day your best friend, the friend who is Jesus” (#150). Pope Francis challenges young people to be “courageous missionaries” who give witness to the Gospel with their lives. “Learn to swim against the tide,” the pope says. “Learn to share Jesus and the faith he has given you. … There are no borders or limits. He sends us everywhere” (#177).

• “When young and old alike are open to the Holy Spirit … the old dream dreams and the young see visions” (#192). That is why both young and old need to take risks together, walking together. “Roots are not anchors chaining us, but a fixed point from which we can grow and meet new challenges” (#200).

• “The family should be the first place of accompaniment and then the community” (#242). “All should regard young people with understanding, appreciation and affection, and avoid constantly judging them or demanding of them a perfection beyond their years” (#243).

• “Vocation is a call to missionary service to others for our life on Earth reaches full stature when it becomes an offering” (#254). According to Pope Francis, vocation “has to do with finding our true selves in the light of God and letting our lives flourish and bear fruit” (#257). This ‘being there for others’ normally has to do with two basic issues: forming a new family and working” (#258).

• “Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend” (#279). “A vocation, while a gift, will undoubtedly also be demanding. God’s gifts are interactive; to enjoy them we have to be ready to take risks” (# 289).

• Pope Francis’ concluding wish: “Dear young people, my joyful hope is to see you keep running the race before you, outstripping all those who are slow or fearful. Keep running, attracted by the face of Christ, whom we love so much, whom we adore in the Holy Eucharist and acknowledge in the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters. The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith. And when you have arrived where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us” (#299).
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †