"I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ and which led you to discover the beauty of his love." (Pope Benedict 16 during the homily on Sunday)
Some events and experiences in life are bigger than life itself. They neither begin nor end, but comes as a gentle breeze, lifting us up into an ecstasy that mind can neither comprehend nor understand, but ever continues the process of self realization that manifests in its various expressions of love, joy and pure bliss.
It is this love and peace that I was honoured and privileged to experience during the last six odd days. With more than a million of my brothers and sisters from all across the world, we celebrated the gift of love, the gift of faith and above all, the gift of God himself. We sang our songs at noon when the sun was burning down at 40 degrees, we danced at midnight in jam packed metro stations, we raised our hearts and minds higher than the flags in our hands and when the rains came down, tears of joy flowed out of our eyes for we knew, that grace in its abundance was being bestowed upon us. How blessed O Lord, to see with awe and wonder the beauty and majesty of Your holy and ever Catholic Church. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Ps 84:10)
Love and faithfulness will meet; Justice and peace shall embrace (Ps 85:10). Indeed the supreme love of the holy Mother Church met with more than a million young hearts, united in their yearning to follow Christ, to serve Him, to be faithful to Him and trying to be firm in our faith. The chants of "Esta Es La Juventud Papa", came from deep within our hearts. The heart of the Church speaking to those hearts, that would one day shape and lead the same Church. There was no young and old there, for we were all young; we had the same dreams, the same visions, the same trials, the same sufferings and ever more, the same destiny. Yes, in our laughter, our songs and our dancing, making a joyful noise to the Lord we prayed ever more sincerely, so much so, that when the blessed Sacrament was exposed, even the raging winds calmed down as if not to disturb the union of God with us, Emmanuel.
The image of young men and women standing in the middle of the crowded airport runway of Cuatro Vientos at 2am in the morning and confessing their lives to priests who had no sleep, would always be in my heart. In my moments of struggle from now on, it would be you my friends, and what you said, holy father that would sustain me with hope and love. "Yes, dear friends, God loves us. This is the great truth of our life; it is what makes everything else meaningful. We are not the product of blind chance or absurdity; instead our life originates as part of a loving plan of God. To abide in his love, then, means living a life rooted in faith, since faith is more than the mere acceptance of certain abstract truths: it is an intimate relationship with Christ, who enables us to open our hearts to this mystery of love and to live as men and women conscious of being loved by God."
Some events and experiences in life are bigger than life itself. They neither begin nor end, but comes as a gentle breeze, lifting us up into an ecstasy that mind can neither comprehend nor understand, but ever continues the process of self realization that manifests in its various expressions of love, joy and pure bliss.
It is this love and peace that I was honoured and privileged to experience during the last six odd days. With more than a million of my brothers and sisters from all across the world, we celebrated the gift of love, the gift of faith and above all, the gift of God himself. We sang our songs at noon when the sun was burning down at 40 degrees, we danced at midnight in jam packed metro stations, we raised our hearts and minds higher than the flags in our hands and when the rains came down, tears of joy flowed out of our eyes for we knew, that grace in its abundance was being bestowed upon us. How blessed O Lord, to see with awe and wonder the beauty and majesty of Your holy and ever Catholic Church. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Ps 84:10)
Love and faithfulness will meet; Justice and peace shall embrace (Ps 85:10). Indeed the supreme love of the holy Mother Church met with more than a million young hearts, united in their yearning to follow Christ, to serve Him, to be faithful to Him and trying to be firm in our faith. The chants of "Esta Es La Juventud Papa", came from deep within our hearts. The heart of the Church speaking to those hearts, that would one day shape and lead the same Church. There was no young and old there, for we were all young; we had the same dreams, the same visions, the same trials, the same sufferings and ever more, the same destiny. Yes, in our laughter, our songs and our dancing, making a joyful noise to the Lord we prayed ever more sincerely, so much so, that when the blessed Sacrament was exposed, even the raging winds calmed down as if not to disturb the union of God with us, Emmanuel.
The image of young men and women standing in the middle of the crowded airport runway of Cuatro Vientos at 2am in the morning and confessing their lives to priests who had no sleep, would always be in my heart. In my moments of struggle from now on, it would be you my friends, and what you said, holy father that would sustain me with hope and love. "Yes, dear friends, God loves us. This is the great truth of our life; it is what makes everything else meaningful. We are not the product of blind chance or absurdity; instead our life originates as part of a loving plan of God. To abide in his love, then, means living a life rooted in faith, since faith is more than the mere acceptance of certain abstract truths: it is an intimate relationship with Christ, who enables us to open our hearts to this mystery of love and to live as men and women conscious of being loved by God."
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