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Benedict XVI in Lebanon, September 2012 |
Dear
friends,
you are living today in this part of the world which witnessed
the birth of Jesus and the growth of Christianity. It is a great honour!
It is also a summons to fidelity, to love of this region and, above
all, to your calling to be witnesses and messengers of the joy of
Christ. The faith handed down from the Apostles leads to complete
freedom and joy, as the many Saints and Blesseds of this country have
shown. Their message lights up the universal Church. It can light up
your lives as well. Many of the Apostles and saints lived in troubled
times and their faith was the source of their courage and their witness.
Find in their example and intercession the inspiration and support that
you need!
...
You have a special place in my heart and in
the whole Church, because the Church is always young! The Church trusts
you. She counts on you! Be young in the Church! Be young with the
Church! The Church needs your enthusiasm and your creativity! Youth is
the time when we aspire to great ideals, when we study and train for our
future work. All this is important and it takes time. Seek beauty and
strive for goodness! Bear witness to the grandeur and the dignity of
your body which "is for the Lord" (1 Cor 6:13b). Be thoughtful, upright
and pure of heart! In the words of Blessed John Paul II, I say to you:
"Do not be afraid! Open the doors of your minds and hearts to Christ!"
An encounter with Jesus "gives life a new horizon and a decisive
direction" (
Deus Caritas Est, 1). In Christ you will find the strength
and courage to advance along the paths of life, and to overcome
difficulties and suffering. In him you will find the source of joy.
Christ says to you: "Salàmi ō-tīkum" This is the true revolution brought
by Christ: that of love.
...
Bring
the love of Christ to everyone! How? By turning unreservedly to God the
Father, who is the measure of everything that is right, true and good.
Meditate on God’s word! Discover how relevant and real the Gospel can
be. Pray! Prayer and the sacraments are the sure and effective means to
be a Christian and to live "rooted and built up in Christ, and
established in the faith" (Col 2:7). The Year of Faith, which is about
to begin, will be a time to rediscover the treasure of the faith which
you received at Baptism. You can grow in knowledge and understanding of
this treasure by studying the Catechism, so that your faith can be both
living and lived. You will then become witnesses to others of the love
of Christ. In him, all men and women are our brothers and sisters. The
universal brotherhood which he inaugurated on the cross lights up in a
resplendent and challenging way the revolution of love. "Love one
another as I have loved you" (Jn 13:35). This is the legacy of Jesus and
the sign of the Christian. This is the true revolution of love!
Christ
asks you, then, to do as he did: to be completely open to others, even
if they belong to a different cultural, religious or national group.
Making space for them, respecting them, being good to them, making them
ever more rich in humanity and firm in the peace of the Lord. I know
that many among you take part in various activities sponsored by
parishes, schools, movements and associations. It is a fine thing to be
engaged with and for others. Experiencing together moments of friendship
and joy enables us to resist the onset of division, which must always
be rejected! Brotherhood is a foretaste of heaven!
...
Yesterday I signed the
Apostolic Exhortation
Ecclesia in Medio Oriente. This letter is also
addressed to you, dear young people, as it is to the entire People of
God. Read it carefully and meditate upon it so as to put it into
practice. To help you, I remind you of the words of Saint Paul to the
Corinthians: "You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written
in your hearts, to be known and read by all men; and you show that you
are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with
the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of
human hearts" (2 Cor 3:2-3). Dear friends, you too can be a living
letter of Christ. This letter will not be written with pen and paper,
but with the witness of your lives and your faith. In this way, with
courage and enthusiasm, you will enable those around you to understand
that God wants the happiness of all without distinction and that
Christians are his servants and his faithful witnesses.
Young
people of Lebanon, you are the hope and the future of your country. You
are Lebanon, a land of welcome, of openness, with a remarkable power of
adaptation. At this moment, we cannot forget those millions of
individuals who make up the Lebanese diaspora and maintain solid bonds
with their land of origin. Young people of Lebanon, be welcoming and
open, as Christ asks you and as your country teaches you.
I
should like now to greet the young Muslims who are with us this evening.
I thank you for your presence, which is so important. Together with the
young Christians, you are the future of this fine country and of the
Middle East in general. Seek to build it up together! And when you are
older, continue to live in unity and harmony with Christians. For the
beauty of Lebanon is found in this fine symbiosis. It is vital that the
Middle East in general, looking at you, should understand that Muslims
and Christians, Islam and Christianity, can live side by side without
hatred, with respect for the beliefs of each person, so as to build
together a free and humane society.
I understand, too, that
present among us there are some young people from Syria. I want to say
how much I admire your courage. Tell your families and friends back home
that the Pope has not forgotten you. Tell those around you that the
Pope is saddened by your sufferings and your griefs. He does not forget
Syria in his prayers and concerns, he does not forget those in the
Middle East who are suffering. It is time for Muslims and Christians to
come together so as to put an end to violence and war.
In
conclusion, let us turn to Mary, the Mother of the Lord, our Lady of
Lebanon. From the heights of Mount Harissa she protects and accompanies
you with a mother’s love. She watches over all the Lebanese people and
over the many pilgrims who come from all directions to entrust to her
their joys and their sorrows! This evening, let us once more entrust to
the Virgin Mary and to Blessed John Paul II, who came here before me,
your own lives and the lives of all the young people of Lebanon and the
countries of the region, particularly those suffering from violence or
from loneliness, those in need of strength and consolation. May God
bless you all! And now together, let us lift up our prayer to Mary: "A
salamou á-laïki ya Mariam" (Hail Mary)
Benedict XVI, Meeting with the youth of Lebanon, 15 September 2012