Youth's noble mission today

While so many people from all walks of life keep complaining about the widespread malaise in the world today, one must also look positively at the incessant efforts made by the late Pope John Paul II and now by Benedict XVI, in their ardent appeals to young people to build their house on solid rock, namely on Jesus Christ.

It is opportune to remember Pope Benedict's exhortation to Polish youth in his pastoral visit to Poland in May 2006: "Do not be discouraged at the sight of crumbling houses, frustrated desires and faded longings. God the Creator, who inspires in young hearts an immense yearning for happiness, will not abandon you in the difficult construction of the house called life."

So very often in his papal audiences on St Peter's Square and during his pastoral visits, the Holy Father reminds his listeners not to be at all discouraged when, in the process of building the house of their life, they encounter those who scorn the foundations on which young people and adults are building their present and hopefully their future, more secure world.

A strong faith must endure tests. A living faith must always grow, and the more we live on faith the stronger our faith becomes.

Nowadays, more than ever, for our faith to become stronger we must frequently face others' lack of faith.

Worthy of special mention is Pope Benedict's appeal to youth on Palm Sunday 2006, World Youth Day, in Rome, when a group of young Germans consigned the World Youth Day Cross to young people from Australia, where the next international World Youth Day, will be celebrated in 2008.

The Holy Father focused on the cross, which he so very wisely called the "new weapon that Jesus places in our hands", "God's new, true rainbow", the great 'Yes' and "the true tree of life". In his appeal the Pope stressed that "if we want to encounter Jesus and then to walk with him on his path, we must ask: on what path does he want to lead us? What do we expect of him? What does he expect of us?"

During his pastoral visit to Loreto, Italy, on September 2, followed by that other pastoral visit to Austria only a week later, Pope Benedict told thousands of young people that God seeks young people today: "He seeks young people with great hearts who can make room for Him in their lives to be protagonists of the New Covenant. To accept a proposal as fascinating as the one Jesus offers us, to make the Covenant with him it is necessary to be youthful within, to be capable of letting oneself be called into question by his newness, to set out with him on new roads... He respects their freedom but never tires of proposing loftier goals for life to them: the newness of the Gospel and the beauty of holy behaviour."

One special point the Holy Father stressed at Loreto in his meeting with young people was the very vital role they had to play as active volunteers in life and in the protection of the environment: "Following Christ, dear young people, also entails the constant effort to make one's own contribution to building a society that is more just and sober and in which all may enjoy the goods of the earth... I know that many of you are generously dedicated to witnessing to your faith in the various social environments, active as volunteers and working to promote the common good, peace and justice in every community.

"There is no doubt that one of the fields in which it seems urgent to take action is that safeguarding creation. The future of the planet is entrusted to the new generations, in which there are evident signs of a development that has not always been able to protect the delicate balances of nature. Before it is too late, it is necessary to make courageous decisions that can recreate a strong alliance between humankind and the earth. A decisive 'yes' is needed to protect creation and also a strong commitment to invert those trends which risk leading to irreversibly degrading situations."