Pope encourages youth to respond to Lord's call; remembers priests, Paul VI

August 05, 2013 - Pope Francis on Sunday urged Catholics to pray with him for young people who participated in the World Youth Day in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, that the event may not be a mere flash in the pan, but rather a stimulus that will lead them to respond to God’s call in their daily lives. “In their daily conduct and also in their important life choices, responding to the personal call of the Lord,” the Pope stressed, addressing a large crowd in St. Peter's Square before reciting his weekly midday ‘Angelus’ prayer with them. Speaking from the studio window of the papal apartment, overlooking the square, the Pope however cautioned, “we must not forget that World Youth Day is not just ‘fireworks,’ moments of enthusiasm for their own sake.” Rather, “they are stages of a long journey” to follow Christ, the Pope said a week after closing the World Youth Day on July 28. “Always remember, youth don’t follow the Pope, they follow Jesus Christ, carrying his cross. And the Pope guides and accompanies them in this journey of faith and hope.” Recalling the words, “Vanity of vanities… all is vanity,” from the first reading of Sunday Mass, Pope Francis said young people are particularly sensitive to the emptiness of meaning and values which surrounds them, and unfortunately, they pay the consequences. But, he said, “meeting the living Jesus, in his large family that is the Church, fills the heart with joy.” He added that God fills the heart with “true life, a profound goodness that does not pass away.” Recalling the joy on the faces of the youth in Rio, he said this experience must confront today’s vanities, the poison of emptiness that creeps into our societies” from a consumerist mentality obsessed with “having.” “True wealth is the love of God, shared amongst brothers,” said the Pope. “Someone who has experienced this does not fear death, and receives peace of heart.”
After praying the ‘Angelus’ Pope Francis recalled priests around the world as well as his predecessor, Pope Paul VI. Sunday being the feast of St. John Mary Vianney, the patron of priests, especially parish priests, Pope Francis said, “I would like to assure parish priests and all priests of the world a special remembrance, because today is the feast of their patron. “”We are united in prayer and in charity,” he told his brother priests. Pope Francis recalled with gratitude Pope Paul VI, in view of his 35^th death anniversary on Tuesday, August 6. The 80-year old pontiff died in 1978 at the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, just outside Rome.