Pope Francis at Prayer service with WYD pilgrims: ‘Put on Christ’
July 26, 2013: Pope Francis greeted young pilgrims taking part in World Youth Day
celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, ardently pleading with them to
‘put on Christ’. The sprawling sands of Rio’s famous Copacabana beach was the scene
of the gathering, which was the first official encounter of pilgrims with the Holy
Father during the week of events leading to the 28th World Youth Day on Sunday, July
28th.
The Copacabana appointment opened with an extraordinary display by 150
young people who offered an artistic interpretation of daily life in the “Marvelous
City”. The festivities centered on a prayer service that included a reading from the
Gospel according to St. Luke, which recounts the episode of the Transfiguration (9:28-36).
Prayers of the faithful were offered, as well as testimonies from five young people
representing every inhabited continent.
In brief words of greeting to the young
people, Pope Francis expressed his joy at being able to celebrate with them, and made
his own the hopeful words of encouragement spoken by Bl. John Paul II at the 1987
World Youth Day in his native Buenos Aires, “I have great hope in you! I hope above
all that you will renew your fidelity to Jesus Christ and to his redeeming Cross.”
Following
the Gospel reading, the Holy Father delivered a homily in which he focused on the
twin themes of faith in and faithfulness to Christ, in spiritual commitment and the
discipleship of everyday life. As he has since the very beginning of his pontificate,
Francis spoke of the spirit of adventure the imbues a life given over to Christ, and
renewed his call never to tire of asking God’s forgiveness when there is need of it
in one’s life.
Below, please find the full texts of Pope Francis’ greeting
and homily:
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Words of greeting
from Pope Francis to WYD pilgrims Thursday, July 25th, 2013 Copacabana, Rio
de Janeiro
Dear Young Friends,
Good evening! In you I see the beauty
of Christ’s young face and I am filled with joy. I recall the first World Youth Day
on an international level. It was celebrated in 1987 in Argentina, in my home city
of Buenos Aires. I still cherish the words of Blessed John Paul II to the young people
on that occasion: “I have great hope in you! I hope above all that you will renew
your fidelity to Jesus Christ and to his redeeming Cross” (Address to Young People,
Buenos Aires, 11 April 1987).
Before I continue, I would like to call to mind
the tragic accident in French Guiana in which young Sophie Morinière was killed and
other young people were wounded. I invite all of you to observe a minute’s silence
and to pray for Sophie, for the wounded, and for their families.
This year,
World Youth Day comes to Latin America for the second time. And you, young people,
have responded in great number to the invitation extended by Pope Benedict XVI to
celebrate this occasion. We express to him our heartfelt thanks. I am looking at the
large crowd before me – there are so many of you! And you have come from every continent!
In many cases you have come from afar, not only geographically, but also existentially,
culturally, socially and humanly. But today you are all here, or better yet, we are
all here together as one, in order to share the faith and the joy of an encounter
with Christ, of being his disciples. This week Rio has become the centre of the Church,
its heart both youthful and vibrant, because you have responded generously and courageously
to the invitation that Christ has made to you to be with him and to become his friends.
The train of this World Youth Day has come from afar and has travelled across
all of Brazil following the stages of the project entitled “Bota fé – put on faith!”
Today the train has arrived at Rio de Janeiro. From Corcovado, Christ the Redeemer
embraces us and blesses us. Looking out to this sea, the beach and all of you gathered
here, I am reminded of the moment when Jesus called the first disciples to follow
him by the shores of Lake Tiberias. Today Christ asks each of us again: Do you want
to be my disciple? Do you want to be my friend? Do you want to be a witness to my
Gospel? In the spirit of The Year of Faith, these questions invite us to renew our
commitment as Christians. Your families and local communities have passed on to you
the great gift of faith, Christ has grown in you. I have come today to confirm you
in this faith, faith in the living Christ who dwells within you, but I have also come
to be confirmed by the enthusiasm of your faith!
I greet you with great affection.
To all of you assembled here from the five continents and, through you, to all young
people of the world, and in particular to those who have not been able to come to
Rio de Janeiro but who are following us by means of radio, television and internet,
I say: Welcome to this immense feast of faith! In several parts of the world, at this
very moment, many young people have come together to share this event: let us all
experience the joy of being united with each other in friendship and faith. And be
sure of this: my pastoral heart embraces all of you with universal affection. From
the summit of the mountain of Corcovado, Christ the Redeemer welcomes you to this
beautiful city of Rio!
I wish to extend greetings to the President of the Pontifical
Council for the Laity, the dear and tireless Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko, and to all
who work with him. I thank Archbishop Orani João Tempesta, of São Sebastião do Rio
de Janeiro, for the warm welcome given to me and for the considerable work of preparation
for this World Youth Day, together with the many Dioceses of this vast country of
Brazil. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the national, state and local
authorities and to those who have worked to make possible this unique moment of celebration
of unity, faith and fraternity. Thank you to my brother Bishops, to the priests, seminarians,
consecrated persons and the lay faithful that have accompanied the young from various
parts of the world on their pilgrimage to Jesus. To each and every one of you I offer
my affectionate embrace in the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, dear friends, welcome
to the XXVIII World Youth Day in this marvellous city of Rio de Janeiro!
In
off the cuff remarks during his greeting Pope Francis revealed he had Pope Emeritus
Benedict XVI to accompany him in prayer to Rio and the Holy Father said Pope Benedict
accepted this request with joy and is now in front of his TV watching this event.
During
his greeting he also added, that Bishops sometimes have problems that make them sad.
How terrible, a sad Bishop, he exclaimed, "and why am I not sad," because he said,
he had come to be infected by the spirit of the young people at World Youth Day.
Homily
of Pope Francis Copacabana prayer service July 25th, 2013 Rio de Janeiro
Dear
Friends,
“It is good for us to be here!”, Peter cries out after seeing the
Lord Jesus transfigured in glory. Do we want to repeat these words with him? I think
the answer is yes, because here today, it is good for all of us to be gathered together
around Jesus! It is he who welcomes us and who is present in our midst here in Rio.
In the Gospel we have heard God the Father say: “This is my Son, my chosen one; listen
to him!” (Lk 9:35). If it is Jesus who welcomes us, we too ought to welcome him and
listen to his words; it is precisely through the welcome we give to Jesus Christ,
the Word made flesh, that the Holy Spirit transforms us, lights up our way to the
future, and enables us joyfully to advance along that way with wings of hope (cf.
Lumen Fidei, 7).
But what can we do? “Bota fé – put on faith”. The World Youth
Day Cross has proclaimed these words throughout its pilgrimage in Brazil. “Put on
faith”: what does this mean? When we prepare a plate of food and we see that it needs
salt, well, we “put on” salt; when it needs oil, then you “put on” oil. “To put on”,
that is, to place on top of, to pour over. And so it is in our life, dear young friends:
if we want it to have real meaning and fulfilment, as you want and as you deserve,
I say to each one of you, “Put on faith”, and your life will take on a new flavour,
it will have a compass to show you the way; “put on hope” and every one of your days
will be enlightened and your horizon will no longer be dark, but luminous; “put on
love”, and your life will be like a house built on rock, your journey will be joyful,
because you will find many friends to journey with you. Put on faith, put on hope,
put on love!
But who can give us all this? In the Gospel we have just heard
the answer: Christ. “This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him!” Jesus is the one
who brings God to us and us to God. With him, our life is transformed and renewed,
and we can see reality with new eyes, from Jesus’ standpoint, with his own eyes (cf.
Lumen Fidei, 18). For this reason, I want to insist with you today: “Put on Christ!”
in your life, and you will find a friend in whom you can always trust; “put on Christ”
and you will see the wings of hope spreading and letting you journey with joy towards
the future; “put on Christ” and your life will be full of his love; it will be a fruitful
life.