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'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my
path'
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps
119[118]:105) is the theme of the Holy Father's Message for the 21st World
Youth Day, to be celebrated in the Diocese of Rome and in other dioceses
on Palm Sunday, 9 April, this year. The following is a translation of the
Holy Father's Message, which was written in Italian and dated 22 February.
My dear young friends!
It is with great joy that I greet you as you prepare for the 21st World
Youth Day, and I relive the memory of those enriching experiences we had
in August last year in Germany. World Youth Day this year will be
celebrated in the local Churches, and it will be a good opportunity to
rekindle the flame of enthusiasm that was awakened in Cologne and which
many of you have brought to your families, parishes, associations and
movements. At the same time, it will be a wonderful chance to invite many
of your friends to join the young generation's spiritual pilgrimage
towards Christ.
The theme that I suggest to you is a verse from Psalm 119[118]: "Your
word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (v. 105). Our dearly
loved John Paul II commented on that verse of the psalm as follows: "The
one who prays pours out his thanks for the Law of God that he adopts as a
lamp for his steps in the often dark path of Life" (General Audience, 14
November 2001; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 21 November, p. 11).
God reveals himself in history. He speaks to humankind, and the word he
speaks has creative power. The Hebrew concept "dabar", usually translated
as "word", really conveys both the meaning of word and act. God says what
he does and does what he says. The Old Testament announces to the Children
of Israel the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of a "new"
covenant; in the Word made flesh He fulfils his promise. This is clearly
specified in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Christ, the Son of God
made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he
has said everything; there will be no other word than this one" (n. 65).
The Holy Spirit who has led the chosen people by inspiring the authors of
the Sacred Scriptures, opens the hearts of believers to understand their
meaning. This same Spirit is actively present in the Eucharistic
celebration when the priest, "in persona Christi", says the words of
consecration, changing the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of
Christ, for the spiritual nourishment of the faithful. In order to
progress on our earthly pilgrimage towards the heavenly Kingdom, we all
need to be nourished by the word and the bread of eternal Life, and these
are inseparable from one another!
Freedom must be set free
The Apostles received the word of salvation and passed it on to their
successors as a precious gem kept safely in the jewel box of the Church:
without the Church, this pearl runs the risk of being lost or destroyed.
My dear young friends, love the word of God and love the Church, and this
will give you access to a treasure of very great value and will teach you
how to appreciate its richness. Love and follow the Church, for it has
received from its Founder the mission of showing people the way to true
happiness.
It is not easy to recognise and find authentic happiness in this world
in which we live, where people are often held captive by the current ways
of thinking. They may think they are "free", but they are being led astray
and become lost amid the errors or illusions of aberrant ideologies.
"Freedom itself needs to be set free" (cf. the Encyclical Veritatis
Splendor, n. 86), and the darkness in which humankind is groping needs to
be illuminated. Jesus taught us how this can be done: "If you continue in
my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the
truth will make you free" (Jn 8:31-32). The incarnate Word, Word of Truth,
makes us free and directs our freedom towards the good.
My dear young friends, meditate often on the word of God, and allow the
Holy Spirit to be your teacher. You will then discover that God's way of
thinking is not the same as that of humankind's. You will find yourselves
led to contemplate the real God and to read the events of history through
his eyes.
You will savour in fullness the joy that is born of truth. On life's
journey, which is neither easy nor free of deceptions, you will meet
difficulties and suffering and at times you will be tempted to exclaim
with the psalmist: "I am severely afflicted" (Ps 119[118]:107). Do not
forget to add as the psalmist did: "give me life, O Lord, according to
your word... I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget
your law" (ibid., vv. 107, 109).
The loving presence of God, through his word, is the lamp that dispels
the darkness of fear and lights up the path even when times are most
difficult.
'An understanding heart'
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote: "Indeed, the word of God
is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it
divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the
thoughts and intentions of the heart" (4:12). It is necessary to take
seriously the injunction to consider the word of God to be an
indispensable "weapon" in the spiritual struggle. This will be effective
and show results if we learn to listen to it and then to obey it. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: "To obey (from the Latin
ob-audire,
to 'hear or listen to') in faith is to submit freely to the word that has
been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself"
(n. 144).
While Abraham exemplifies this way of listening which is obedience,
Solomon in his turn shows himself to be a passionate explorer of the
wisdom contained in the Word. When God said to him: "Ask what I should
give you", the wise king replied: "Give your servant therefore an
understanding heart" (I Kgs 3:5, 9).
The secret of acquiring "an understanding heart" is to train your heart
to listen. This is obtained by persistently meditating on the word of God
and by remaining firmly rooted in it through the commitment to persevere
in getting to know it better.
My dear young friends, I urge you to become familiar with the Bible,
and to have it at hand so that it can be your compass pointing out the
road to follow. By reading it, you will learn to know Christ. Note what St.
Jerome said in this regard: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of
Christ" (PL 24, 17; cf. Dei Verbum, n. 25).
'Lectio' to 'contemplatio'
A time-honoured way to study and savour the word of God is lectio
divina which constitutes a real and veritable spiritual journey marked out
in stages. After the lectio, which consists of reading and rereading a
passage from Sacred Scripture and taking in the main elements, we proceed
to meditatio. This is a moment of interior reflection in which the soul
turns to God and tries to understand what his word is saying to us today.
Then comes oratio in which we linger to talk with God directly. Finally we
come to contemplatio. This helps us to keep our hearts attentive to the
presence of Christ whose word is "a lamp shining in a dark place, until
the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (II Pt 1:19).
Reading, study and meditation of the Word should then flow into a life of
consistent fidelity to Christ and his teachings.
St. James tells us: "Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who
deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they
are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at
themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But
those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere,
being not hearers who forget but doers who act — they will be blessed in
their doing" (1:22-25).
Those who listen to the word of God and refer to it always, are
constructing their existence on solid foundations. "Everyone then who
hears these words of mine and acts on them", Jesus said, "will be like a
wise man who built his house on rock" (Mt 7:24). It will not collapse when
bad weather comes.
To build your life on Christ, to accept the word with joy and put its
teachings into practice: this, young people of the third millennium,
should be your programme! There is an urgent need for the emergence of a new generation of apostles anchored firmly in the
word
of Christ, capable of responding to the challenges of our times and
prepared to spread the Gospel far and wide.
It is this that the Lord asks of you, it is to this that the Church
invites you, and it is this that the world — even though it may not be
aware of it — expects of you! If Jesus calls you, do not
be afraid to
respond to him with generosity, especially when he asks you to follow him
in the consecrated life or in the priesthood. Do not be afraid; trust in
him and you will not be disappointed.
'You will be my witnesses'
Dear friends, at the 21st World Youth Day that we will celebrate on 9
April, Palm Sunday, we will set out, in our hearts, on a pilgrimage
towards the world encounter with young people that will take place in
Sydney in July 2008. We will prepare for that great appointment reflecting
together on the theme The Holy Spirit and the mission in successive
stages. This year our attention will focus on the Holy Spirit, Spirit of
Truth, who reveals Christ to us, the Word made flesh, opening the heart of
each one to the Word of salvation that leads to the fullness of Truth.
Next year, 2007, we will meditate on a verse from the Gospel of John:
"Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another" (13:34). We
will discover more about the Holy Spirit, Spirit of Love, who infuses
divine charity within us and makes us aware of the material and spiritual
needs of our brothers and sisters. We will finally reach the world meeting
of 2008 and its theme will be: "You will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8).
From this moment onwards, my dear young friends, in a climate of
constant listening to the word of God, call on the Holy Spirit, Spirit of
fortitude and witness, that you may be able to proclaim the Gospel without
fear even to the ends of the earth. Our Lady was present in the cenacle
with the Apostles as they waited for Pentecost. May she be your mother and
guide. May she teach you to receive the word of God, to treasure it and
to ponder on it in your heart (cf. Lk 2:19) as she did throughout her
life.
May she encourage you to declare your "yes" to the Lord as you live
"the obedience of faith". May she help you to remain strong in the faith,
constant in hope, persevering in charity, always attentive to the word of
God. I am together with you in prayer, and I bless each one of you with
all my heart.
From the Vatican, 22 February 2006, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter
Apostle
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