In anticipation of World Youth Day 2024 and the feast of Christ the King, Nick Wilson, Diocesan Young Catholics Team Leader, reflects on Pope Francis’ message of renewal, highlighting the important role young people play in shaping a hopeful and transformative future.
Pope Francis has released a special message for all young people around the world in anticipation of the Global Celebration of Youth and Young Adults, set for the feast of Christ the King on November 24, 2024. Using the theme of the 2024 celebration, “Those who hope in the Lord will run and not be weary (cf. Is 40:31),” Pope Francis tells young people that “the Lord is opening a highway before you, and He invites you to set out on it with joy and hope!”
We are so blessed to have a Pope who recognizes the value of our young people and encourages our rangatahi to greatness! In his Apostolic Exhortation to Young People, titled Christus Vivit, he makes it clear that they are not the future of the Church; they are the now of the Church! In this present moment, he invites us all—the youth (and the youth with experience)—to set out again with great joy and hope, bringing the element of expectation to life.
And what can we expect? How long is a piece of string? When we open ourselves to God, we are responding to God’s Universal Call to Holiness, powered by the Spirit alive in us from Baptism and sealed in the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Pope recently described Baptism as the Sacrament of Birth and Confirmation as the Sacrament of Growth. As Catholics, we should understand that through the Sacraments, we are animated to live vibrantly the faith we profess.
What we profess, we become. Therefore, we need to think carefully about what we input, as there is a corresponding output. As young people, what are we listening to? What are we eating? What are we watching? These choices either build us up or fill our hearts and minds with things that do not nourish us.
Is that okay? Or do we need to exercise one of the gifts with which we were sealed—discernment or right judgment—to ensure the choices we make reflect the goodness of God, our Creator, and God’s intention for us, which is flourishing (cf. John 10:10)?
One thing we might hope to see in our rangatahi is full and vibrant flourishing. This is the vibrant hope and joy in Jesus today; we are not storing it up for tomorrow! For no one is promised tomorrow. Therefore, people like you and I—the ‘youth with experience’—have a role to play in finding our own joy in being disciples and living that joy openly. When we live this way, we encourage younger people through our role modeling and our openness in their own hikoi of faith.
Our young people need encouragement! The issues they face daily are often beyond the grasp of the ‘youth with experience,’ as their challenges are so different from those we encountered.
With all this in mind, let us be courageous in renewing our own youthful missionary vigor to relentlessly pursue God, just as God relentlessly pursues us!
With every good wish and blessing for World Youth Day and the Feast of Christ the King!
Ngā manaakitanga,
Nick Wilson