Most of us youth in today's fast
moving world are easily thrown off by difficulties and worries. Some of us use
it as an excuse to turn their backs on God and stay away from the Church. They
often wonder why they should have to go through all what they are experiencing
if God truly loves and cares for them. Of course, the Lord cares for each and
every one of us. He allows everything that happens in our lives for a reason.
This is my strong conviction. All we need is time, trust and patience to realize
that God is a God of mercy Who is good all the time. He never wavers. He is
always true to His Word.
The youth play a very important part in our Church.
Over the years, the Holy Fathers have dedicated much to see that this generation
is not left out. For the young are the leaders of tomorrow, not only in the
Church but also in the society at large. Scripture reminds young adults to
"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth." This counsel from
Ecclesiastes 12:1 sets the pace for this brief reflection of what it means to be
young and be faithful to God. In the midst of the troubles of life that shake
our faith also lie the mysteries of the divine - "the painful experience of the
Cross". In his Message of the Holy Father to the Youth of the World on the
Occasion of the 15th World Youth Day, Blessed John Paul II has this to say:
"Dear young people, faced with these great
mysteries, learn to lift your hearts in an attitude of contemplation. Stop and
look with wonder at the infant Mary brought into the world, wrapped in swaddling
clothes and laid in a manger: the infant is God himself who has come among us.
Look at Jesus of Nazareth, received by some and scorned by others, despised and
rejected: He is the Saviour of all. Adore Christ, our Redeemer, who ransoms us
and frees us from sin and death: He is the living God, the source of Life" (3).
True! Christ came to save us from sin. He won
salvation for us by taking sin upon Himself and using it as the raw material for
our redemption. He did this as the Letter to the Hebrews tells us so that we too
can now offer our own sacrifice as part of His eternal offering, through Him,
with Him and in Him. As young adults, we face many distractions in our faith,
especially with the advent of new technological developments in a fast growing
circularized society. But we always have the Cross as our reminder. Each time we
sign ourselves in the course of each day, be it when we pray at home, before or
after meals, at Mass or wherever we find ourselves, the Lord blesses and
strengthens us.
We have the Holy Scriptures and the Sacraments
to help us through. God speaks to us, not only through His Word, but also
via the events in our lives. Our sufferings, worries, difficulties and our
most down moments. He equally ministers to us in the happy moments we share
with others. We should therefore learn to listen. For most of us, prayer is
talking to God. We often miss out on the listening part. We should not try
to find Him in the hustle and bustle of our lives, in the high tech gadgets
or in the fast moving world. He is rather present in a special way in the
gentle breeze that blows in the pains of others, in the illnesses of others,
in the hunger or thirst of a neighbor or friend, in the needy. Whatever we
do for others, we do for Christ.
God answers all prayers. There are three basic
answers to which we must learn to be open to: "yes", "no" and "wait". We
would always prefer the first one, deny the second one and never even think
of the third one. Since we like the "yes" so much, why do we always use the
"no" against His will for us or the "wait", I am not yet ready? Baptism as
we know takes away original sin. But it does not take away our human
weakness. Christ won salvation for us, but He did not take the Cross away
from our lives. Carrying it is a continuous task if we want to follow Him
faithfully. As youth and young adults, we should learn to embrace the Cross
and draw inspiration therefrom.
In his message, the Holy Father reminds us that
"Fifteen years ago, at the close of the Holy
Year of the Redemption, I entrusted to you a great wooden Cross, asking you
to carry it across the world as a sign of the love which the Lord Jesus has
for mankind and to proclaim to everyone that only in Christ who died and is
risen is there salvation and redemption. Since that day, carried by generous
hands and hearts, the Cross has made a long, uninterrupted pilgrimage across
the continents, to demonstrate that the Cross walks with young people and
young people walk with the Cross" (1).
Like Our Blessed Mother, let us learn to abandon
ourselves to the Will of God, and "walk with the Cross ", even without
knowing the consequences. We have every guarantee that He never fails. While
on earth, Christ was always in communion with the Father. Mary was the same
with her Son and with the Father through Him. Let us pray to the Holy Spirit
to give us the grace to know the Son so that we can also know and love the
Father and selflessly accept His Will for us. By so doing, we will be able
to positively build the Body of Christ here on earth, so that at the end of
time, we are called from this life, we would be worth of the eternal
communion in the love of the Trinity.
