From the window of a helicopter, a crowd of two million young people, gathered at Tor Vergata, could seem like a huge multi-colored “carpet” covering the periphery of Rome. Questions and concerns, desires to live according to ideals and worldly temptations swarmed in the mind of every young person attending the 15th World Youth Day in 2000. Under the leadership of John Paul II they experienced a kind of “laboratory of faith”. At the beginning of the third millennium of Christianity, they gave witness to Christ, they were looking for in a variety of life experiences, sometimes not even realizing it.
The One Catechesis
The World Youth Day of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 started on 15 August, on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The inauguration took place in two stages. First, the Pope greeted the Italian youth gathered around the Basilica of St. John Lateran. And this was followed by greeting young people from all over the world at the St. Peter’s Square.
For the next three days the young participated in the catechesis preached in 32 languages by 320 bishops. The focal point of each day was the Eucharist. Young people also willingly participated in the sacrament of penance. At the Circus Maximus, near the ruins of the imperial palaces, 300 confessionals were set up and every day until late at night confessions took place there. On Friday evening the Way of the Cross, leading from Piazza Venezia to the Coliseum, was organized. It was attended by half a million young people. The next day a prayer vigil took place on the fields of the campus at Tor Vergata. The martyrs of the Church were remembered, witnesses of faith were given, prayers for peace and reconciliation, and also for freedom and sanctity were said. After speech, the Holy Father gave the young the Gospel, to make it for them light on their path of life. The participants were holding lighted lamp as a sign of faith in Christ, who is the light of the world. The youth meeting ended with Sunday Eucharist. In those days, John Paul II gave several speeches. He combined them into one catechesis whose main theme was the faith in Christ.
The Laboratory of Faith
The evening vigil at Tor Vergata and the Sunday Eucharist were some kind of “laboratory of human spirit”. The Lord – just like the Apostles – is leading us to the “laboratory of faith” to let us see what creates our faith and what makes us mature to be responsible for this faith. According to John Paul II we are living in the times of mingling of faith and unbelief. Many people who say they believe have not experienced the meeting with Christ personally. They have not confessed together with Thomas the Apostle: “My Lord and my God”. They easily declare that God is the Lord of everything but their life proves that He is not the Lord of their hearts.
We should bow down over the revealed word of God, feel the touch of His grace, hear Jesus’ question: Do you love me? There should be also a personal answer: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”. It is hard to be a believer in the today’s world – the Pope said – but with the help of grace it is possible. Standing up for Jesus requires sometimes a heroic attitude. Before our eyes, a kind of a “new martyrdom” is shaped. The “martyrdom” of many people who pay the highest price for their faithfulness to Jesus. The Holy Father assured the young that if they said “yes” to Christ, they confirmed this way all the noblest ideals.
A Humble Presence
In the Sunday homily, the Pope remarked that when it came to Mass, Jesus was not “willing to make concessions”. His question – “Do you also want to leave?” – posed to the Apostles in Capernaum after the teaching about the “living bread” is the evidence of such a point of view. Also today, the attitudes dominated by materialism disturb finding time for Christ present in the Eucharist. The Mass is the experience of faith that could not be replaced. It is a personal encounter with the Lord, a direct path to Him. It is His presence that enriches us spiritually and inspires the ideals of human dignity, solidarity and fraternal community.
To make the Eucharist the center of one’s life means to accept in everyday life the “logic of the Cross and service”. It is expressed in sacrificial love for God and people. Pointing to the primacy of the Eucharist in the life of faith, John Paul II ensures that Jesus not only lets His presence be felt, but also teaches the humble quest for excellence and courage in the fight against sin.
Watchmen of the Morning
The Church is rich in young people who entrust their life to Christ. John Paul II thanked God for the gift of the youth. He named young people “watchmen of the morning” who watch at the beginning of the new millennium to protect Christian hope against the “secularized messianisms of modernity”. “I look with confidence – he said – to this new humanity which you are now helping to prepare”. New people are needed to defend the peace at the cost of life, and to build, with commitment, a just world and to make the earth hospitable for all people, including unborn children.
The Pope saw in the eyes of young people “shining hope of the Church and the world”. He was able to sustain it and taught how to develop it. He responded to the need for the meaning of life. He poured into the hearts the pride in the Christian past and in the mission the youth received from Christ. Paraphrasing St. Catherine of Siena’s words, he talked about the witness flowing from the faith: “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze”.
Saint John Paul II believed in the power of the evangelical truth which is able to respond to the concerns of people of every epoch. He showed that today’s youth could listen to old words that would never grow old, because they were carrying a message of God’s love for people.
Fr. Andrzej Dobrzyński