Pope Francis at the World Youth Day, Poland 2016

“In my years as a bishop, I have learned one thing. Nothing is more beautiful than seeing the enthusiasm, 奉献, zeal and energy with which so many young people live their lives. When Jesus touches a young person’s heart, he or she becomes capable of truly great things. It is exciting to listen to you share your dreams, your questions and your impatience with those who say that things cannot change. 对我来说, it is a gift of God to see so many of you, 面对你所有的问题, 想要有所作为. It is beautiful and heartwarming to see all that restlessness!

“Today the Church looks to you and wants to learn from you, to be reassured that the Father’s Mercy has an ever-youthful face, and constantly invites us to be part of his Kingdom.

“…a merciful heart is motivated to move beyond its comfort zone. A merciful heart can go out and meet others; it is ready to embrace everyone. A merciful heart is able to be a place of refuge for those who are without a home or have lost their home; it is able to build a home and a family for those forced to emigrate; it knows the meaning of tenderness and compassion. A merciful heart can share its bread with the hungry and welcome refugees and migrants. To say the word “mercy” along with you is to speak of opportunity, 未来, 承诺, 信任, 开放, 热情好客, 同情与梦想.

“Let me tell you another thing I have learned over these years. It pains me to meet young people who seem to have opted for ‘early retirement’. I worry when I see young people who have ‘thrown in the towel’ before the game has even begun, who are defeated even before they begin to play, who walk around glumly as if life has no meaning. Deep down, young people like this are bored. . . 和无聊的! 但这也很难, 和令人不安的, to see young people who waste their lives looking for thrills or a feeling of being alive by taking dark paths and in the end having to pay for it… and pay dearly. It is disturbing to see young people squandering some of the best years of their lives, wasting their energies running after peddlers of fond illusions (where I come from, 我们称他们为“烟贩”。), 是谁夺走了你身上最好的东西.

Instead, “…All together…we ask the Lord: ‘Launch us on the adventure of mercy! Launch us on the adventure of building bridges and tearing down walls, barriers and barbed wire. Launch us on the adventure of helping the poor, 那些感到孤独和被抛弃的人, or no longer find meaning in their lives. 寄给我们, 就像伯大尼的马利亚, to listen attentively to those we do not understand, 其他文化和民族的文化, even those we are afraid of because we consider them a threat. 求你使我们敬奉长辈, 就像拿撒勒的马利亚对以利沙伯一样, 为了学习他们的智慧.

“主啊，我们在这里! 让我们分享你仁慈的爱. We want to welcome you in our midst…We want to affirm that our lives are fulfilled when they are shaped by mercy, 因为这是更好的部分, 它永远不会从我们身边被夺走.”