Pope Francis advised the young people from Venice, to leave “the hypnotic world of social networks” and reminded them that God is his children and not a “digital profile.”
On 28 April, around 1,500 young people from Veneto were waiting for Pope Francis to the rhythm of the official soundtrack of WYD 2023 in Lisbon in the square in front of the Basilica of Saint Mary of Health, to which Pope Francis arrived by motorboat.
In his address to young people, the Holy Father reminded them that “we are called to fulfill the dream of the Lord: to be witnesses and experience his joy. There is nothing more beautiful,” he noted.
“I don’t know if you have had any experience so beautiful that you can’t keep it to yourself, but instead feel the need to share it. Today we are here for that: to rediscover in the Lord the beauty that we are and to rejoice in the name of Jesus, the young God who loves the young and who always surprises.”
In this sense, he reiterated that “our God always surprises” and invited us to discover it with the help of the Virgin Mary.
Taking the Mother of God as an example, he then proposed two essential verbs: “get up and go.”
Get off the couch!
Before thousands of young Italians, Pope Francis recalled that “we are made for heaven” and therefore encouraged them to get off the couch and “look up.”
“Get up to say ‘Here I am!’ to the Lord, who believes in us. Rise up to embrace the gift that we are, to recognize, before anything else, that we are precious and irreplaceable. It’s not self-esteem, it’s reality! Recognizing it is the first step you take in the morning when you wake up: you get out of bed and welcome yourself as a gift,” he advised.
Next, Pope Francis remarked: “For God you are not a digital profile, but a son, who has a Father in heaven and, therefore, you are a child of heaven.”
However, the Holy Father stated that “we often find ourselves fighting against a force of negative gravity that pulls us down, an oppressive inertia that wants us to see everything gray.”
To lift us up, he reminded us that “above all, we must allow ourselves to be lifted up: let the Lord take us by the hand, who never disappoints those who trust in Him, who always lifts us up and forgives.”
“When you feel like this, change your ‘framework’: do not look at yourself with your own eyes, but think about God’s gaze,” the Pontiff asked them.
Likewise, he recalled that “God knows that, in addition to being beautiful, we are fragile, and the two things go together: a bit like Venice, which is splendid and delicate at the same time. God does not tie our mistakes on his finger, but he extends his hand to us.”
Later, he explained that, “once we are standing, it is up to us to remain standing: to ‘stay’ when we feel like sitting down, to let go, to let go. It’s not easy, but it’s the secret.”
“Yes, the secret of great achievements is perseverance. Sometimes fragility comes, but perseverance is the secret,” said Pope Francis.
He then highlighted that today “we live on quick emotions, on momentary sensations, on instincts that last moments, but we don’t get far that way.”
He also warned about “the risk is leaving everything to improvisation: I pray if I feel like it, I go to mass when I feel like it, I do good things if I feel like it… This does not give results: you have to persevere, day after day. And do it together,” she stated.
In this sense, the Holy Father encouraged young people to go against the current without fear: “take life in your hands, put yourself on the line; turn off the TV and open the Gospel; Put down your cell phone and meet people!”
He reiterated that “only by rowing with perseverance can you go far” and explained that “getting up is accepting yourself as a gift, going is becoming a gift, the ability to fall in love.”
“We are in the world to make ourselves uncomfortable, to go out to meet those who need us,” he continued.
“We live immersed in man-made products, which make us lose our amazement at the beauty that surrounds us, however creation invites us to be creators of beauty in our turn, to do something that did not exist before,” he said.
Along these lines, he advised them to “get out of the hypnotic world of social networks that anesthetize the soul.”
“Do not be compulsive typing professionals, but rather creators of novelty! A prayer made from the heart, a page you write, a dream you realize, a gesture of love towards someone who cannot reciprocate: this is creating, imitating God’s style.”
Finally, Pope Francis encouraged them to take control of their lives, and “fall in love with it.” “Get up and go. “Jesus addresses this invitation to you,” he concluded.