Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth
The Diocese of Portsmouth covers Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, the Channel Isles and parts of Berkshire, Dorset and Oxfordshire
Youth
World Youth Day 2009
| XXIV World Youth Day - Sunday 4th April 2009 | |||||
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Pope Benedict’s message for XXIV World Youth Day on Palm Sunday, 5th April 2009 has the theme,
 "We have set our hope on the living God" (1 Tim 4:10).
The full text of the message can be found on the Vatican website here or as a PDF document here. Extracts from the message can be found below.
During the celebrations in Rome, the young people of Australia handed the WYD cross and icon over to the young people of Spain, in preparation for the next international gathering in Madrid in 2011.
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Youth is a special time of hope because it looks to the future with a whole range of expectations. When we are young we cherish ideals, dreams and plans. Youth is the time when decisive choices concerning the rest of our lives come to fruition. Perhaps this is why it is the time of life when fundamental questions assert themselves strongly: Why am I here on earth? What is the meaning of life? What will my life be like?
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For Paul, hope is not simply an ideal or sentiment, but a living person: Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Profoundly imbued with this certainty, he could write to Timothy: "We have set our hope on the living God" (1Tim 4:10).
The "living God" is the Risen Christ present in our world. He is the true hope: the Christ who lives with us and in us and who calls us to share in his eternal life. If we are not alone, if he is with us, even more, if he is our present and our future, why be afraid? A Christian’s hope is therefore to desire "the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit".
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Be his faithful disciples, and in that way you will be able to help form Christian communities that are filled with love, like those described in the Acts of the Apostles. The Church depends on you for this demanding mission. Do not be discouraged by the difficulties and trials you encounter. Be patient and persevering so as to overcome the natural youthful tendency to rush ahead and to want everything immediately.
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Make Christ known, among your own age group and beyond, to those who are in search of “the great hope” that would give meaning to their lives. If Jesus has become your hope, communicate this to others with your joy and your spiritual, apostolic and social engagement. Let Christ dwell within you, and having placed all your faith and trust in him, spread this hope around you.
Make choices that demonstrate your faith.
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Make space for prayer in your lives! To pray alone is good, although it is even more beautiful and fruitful to pray together, because the Lord assured us he would be present wherever two or three are gathered in his name (cf. Mt 18:20). There are many ways to become acquainted with him. There are experiences, groups and movements, encounters and courses in which to learn to pray and thus grow in the experience of faith.
Take part in your parish liturgies and be abundantly nourished by the word of God and your active participation in the Sacraments.
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