Meeting with a group of disadvantaged young people of the rehabilitation community
of the University of Notre Dame in the Church of the Sacred Heart in Sydney. Discourse
of the Holy Father (excerpts)
Dear Young Friends, I am pleased to be with you at Darlinghurst today, and I
warmly greet all those taking part in the “Alive” programme, as well as the staff
who run it. I pray that you will all benefit from the assistance offered by the Archdiocese
of Sydney’s Social Services Agency, and that the good work being done here will continue
long into the future. The name of the programme you are following prompts us to
ask the question: what does it really mean to be “alive”, to live life to the full?
This is what all of us want, especially when we are young, and it is what Christ wants
for us. In fact, he said: “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly”
(Jn 10:10). The most basic instinct of all living things is to stay alive, to grow,
to flourish, and to pass on the gift of life to others. So it is only natural that
we should ask how best to do this. You might think that in today’s world, people
are unlikely to start worshipping other gods. But sometimes people worship “other
gods” without realizing it. False “gods”, whatever name, shape or form we give them,
are nearly always associated with the worship of three things: material possessions,
possessive love, or power. Let me explain what I mean. Material possessions,
in themselves, are good. We would not survive for long without money, clothing and
shelter. We must eat in order to stay alive. Yet if we are greedy, if we refuse
to share what we have with the hungry and the poor, then we make our possessions into
a false god. How many voices in our materialist society tell us that happiness is
to be found by acquiring as many possessions and luxuries as we can! But this is
to make possessions into a false god. Instead of bringing life, they bring death. Authentic
love is obviously something good. Without it, life would hardly be worth living.
It fulfils our deepest need, and when we love, we become most fully ourselves, most
fully human. But how easily it can be made into a false god! People often think
they are being loving when actually they are being possessive or manipulative. People
sometimes treat others as objects to satisfy their own needs rather than as persons
to be loved and cherished .This is worship of a false god. Instead of bringing life,
it brings death. The power God has given us to shape the world around us is obviously
something good. Used properly and responsibly, it enables us to transform people’s
lives. Every community needs good leaders. Yet how tempting it can be to grasp at
power for its own sake, to seek to dominate others or to exploit the natural environment
for selfish purposes! This is to make power into a false god. Instead of bringing
life, it brings death. The cult of material possessions, the cult of possessive
love and the cult of power often lead people to attempt to “play God”: to try to seize
total control, with no regard for the wisdom or the commandments that God has made
known to us. This is the path that leads towards death. By contrast, worship of
the one true God means recognizing in him the source of all goodness, entrusting ourselves
to him, opening ourselves to the healing power of his grace and obeying his commandments:
that is the way to choose life. A vivid illustration of what it means to turn
back from the path of death onto the path of life is found in a Gospel story that
I am sure you all know well: the parable of the prodigal son. Many of you must have
had personal experience of what that young man went through. Perhaps you have made
choices that you now regret, choices that led you down a path which, however attractive
it appeared at the time, only led you deeper into misery and abandonment. The choice
to abuse drugs or alcohol, to engage in criminal activity or self-harm, may have seemed
at the time to offer a way out of a difficult or confusing situation. You now know
that, instead of bringing life, it brings death. I wish to acknowledge your courage
in choosing to turn back onto the path of life, just like the young man in the parable.
You have accepted help – from friends or family, from the staff who run the “Alive”
programme: from people who care deeply for your well-being and happiness. Dear
friends, I see you as ambassadors of hope to others in similar situations. You can
convince them of the need to choose the path of life and shun the path of death, because
you speak from experience. All through the Gospels, it was those who had taken wrong
turnings who were particularly loved by Jesus, because once they recognized their
mistake, they were all the more open to his healing message. It was those who were
willing to rebuild their lives who were most ready to listen to Jesus and become his
disciples. You can follow in their footsteps, you too can grow particularly close
to Jesus because you have chosen to turn back towards him. You can be sure that,
just like the Father in the story of the prodigal son, Jesus welcomes you with open
arms. He offers you unconditional love – and it is in loving friendship with him
that the fullness of life is to be found. I mentioned earlier that when we love
we are fulfilling our deepest need and becoming most fully ourselves, most fully human.
Loving is what we are programmed to do, what we were designed for by our Creator.
Naturally, I am not talking about fleeting, shallow relationships, I am talking about
real love, the very heart of Jesus’ moral teaching: “You must love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength”
and “You must love your neighbour as yourself” (cf. Mk 12:30-31). That is what human
beings are called to do, that is what it means to be truly alive. In the power
of the Holy Spirit, choose life and choose love, and bear witness before the world
to the joy that it brings. That is my prayer for each one of you this World Youth
Day. May God bless you all.
The full text of the Holy Father's discourses
are available on the Holy See's website: www.vatian.va, and in
the vatican newspaper "L' Osservatore Romano"