Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – On Saturday, July 19, there was a Prayer Vigil for the youth held at Randwick Racecourse, on the theme of the 23rd World Youth Day. “Once again this evening we have heard Christ’s great promise – “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”. And we have heard his summons – “be my witnesses throughout the world,” the Holy Father said in his homily, as he recalled the Apostles gathered together in prayer with the women and Mary in the Upper Room. “Tonight, we do the same. Gathered before our much-travelled Cross and the icon of Mary, and under the magnificent constellation of the Southern Cross, we pray. Tonight, I am praying for you and for young people throughout the world. Be inspired by the example of your Patrons! Accept into your hearts and minds the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit! Recognize and believe in the power of the Spirit in your lives!”
Benedict XVI invited the youth to focus on “how” to become witnesses. “We need to understand the person of the Holy Spirit and his vivifying presence in our lives. This is not easy to comprehend... we do know that it is the Holy Spirit who, though silent and unseen, gives direction and definition to our witness to Jesus Christ.” The Christian witness is offered to a world which in many ways is fragile, the Holy Father said. “The unity of God’s creation is weakened by wounds which run particularly deep...Indeed, society today is being fragmented by a way of thinking that is inherently short-sighted.” The Christian response cannot be by our efforts alone: “God has made us for one another and only in God and his Church can we find the unity we seek.” In facing the temptation to construct artificially a “perfect” community, Benedict XVI mentioned that “To separate the Holy Spirit from Christ present in the Church’s institutional structure would compromise the unity of the Christian community, which is precisely the Spirit’s gift!... Unfortunately the temptation to ‘go it alone’ persists. Some today portray their local community as somehow separate from the so-called institutional Church, by speaking of the former as flexible and open to the Spirit and the latter as rigid and devoid of the Spirit.
Unity is of the essence of the Church; it is a gift we must recognize and cherish.”
The Pope then encouraged the youth to learn to listen “through the dissonance and division of our world,” to hear the concordant voice of humanity: “From the forlorn child in a Darfur camp, or a troubled teenager, or an anxious parent in any suburb, or perhaps even now from the depth of your own heart, there emerges the same human cry for recognition, for belonging, for unity. Who satisfies that essential human yearning to be one, to be immersed in communion, to be built up, to be led to truth? The Holy Spirit!” “The Spirit sustains the Church in union with the Lord and in fidelity to the apostolic Tradition. He inspired the Sacred Scriptures and he guides God’s People into the fullness of truth... So, the more we allow the Spirit to direct us, the more perfect will be our configuration to Christ and the deeper our immersion in the life of the Triune God.”
Even when we might be tempted to seek a certain fulfillment apart from God, “to turn away from him is only a futile attempt to escape from ourselves. God is with us in the reality of life, not the fantasy! It is embrace, not escape, that we seek! So the Holy Spirit gently but surely steers us back to what is real, what is lasting, what is true. It is the Spirit who leads us back into the communion of the Blessed Trinity!”
The Holy Father then told of the experience of Saint Augustine, who had three particular insights about the Holy Spirit as the bond of unity within the Blessed Trinity: “unity as communion, unity as abiding love, and unity as giving and gift,” that help explain “how the Spirit works.” After mentioning that “it is the Holy Spirit who brings about the wonderful communion of believers in Jesus Christ,” the Pope encouraged the youth, saying: “Inspired by the insights of Saint Augustine: let unifying love be your measure; abiding love your challenge; self-giving love your mission!” The gifts of the Spirit “are neither prizes nor rewards. They are freely given.” He later added that “What constitutes our faith is not primarily what we do but what we receive.”
Thus, “The Spirit’s gifts working within us give direction and definition to our witness. Directed to unity, the gifts of the Spirit bind us more closely to the whole Body of Christ, equipping us better to build up the Church in order to serve the world... Yes, the Church must grow in unity, must be strengthened in holiness, must be rejuvenated, must be constantly renewed. But according to whose standard? The Holy Spirit’s!”.
Lastly, Benedict XVI encouraged the youth to allow themselves to be shaped by the gifts of the Holy Spirit: “In accepting the power of the Holy Spirit you too can transform your families, communities and nations. Set free the gifts! Let wisdom, courage, awe and reverence be the marks of greatness!” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 21/7/2008)
