WORLD YOUTH DAY — 2002

THE WORLD NEEDS YOU

The world which you are inheriting is a world which desperately needs a new sense of brotherhood and human solidarity. It is a world which needs to be touched and healed by the beauty and richness of God's love. It needs witnesses to that love. It needs you.

"APOSTLES FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM"

As apostles for the Third Millennium, your task is to preserve and keep alive the awareness of the presence of our Savior Jesus Christ, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist ... You must keep alive the memory of the words of life which He spoke, the marvelous works of mercy and goodness which He performed. You must constantly remind the world of the "power of the Gospel to save" (Rom 1:16).

"HUMANIZE THE WORLD"

With your faith, hope and love, with your intelligence, courage, and perseverance, you have to humanize the world we live in.

"THE URGENCY OF GENUINE LOVE"

The aspiration that humanity nurtures, amid countless injustices and suffering, is the hope of a new civilization marked by freedom and peace... A new generation of builders is needed. Moved not by fear or violence but the urgency of genuine love, they must learn to build, brick by brick, the city of God within the city of man.

THE FUTURE IS YOURS

The future is in your hearts and in your hands. God is entrusting to you the task, at once difficult and uplifting, of working with Him in the building of the civilization of love.

LOVE JESUS, LOVE THE CHURCH

If you love Jesus, love the Church! Do not be discouraged by the sins and failings of some of her members... Think of the vast majority of dedicated and generous priests and religious whose only wish is to serve and do good!

"EVER MORE URGENT"

At difficult moments in the Church's life, the pursuit of holiness becomes ever more urgent. And holiness is not a question of age; it is a matter of living in the Holy Spirit.

"LET NO ONE SURPASS YOU"

Communicate to everyone the beauty of the contact with God that gives meaning to your lives. In the quest for justice, in the promotion of peace, in your commitment to brotherhood and solidarity; let no one surpass you.

"YOU ARE OUR HOPE"

I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young. You are our hope, the young are our hope.

(Sources: World Youth Day Evening Vigil, 7/27/02 and Concluding Mass 7/28/02, Toronto, Canada)