Four tips for young people to stay close to Jesus

On April 25, Pope Francis hosted at the Vatican Consulate young people from the French diocese of Aire and Dax, whom he encouraged to stay close to Jesus Christ despite "the complex and painful issue of abuses committed by the members of the Church ".

"I encourage you to stay united to the Lord Jesus by listening to the Word, sacramental practices, fraternal life and service to others," the Holy Father counseled the youth.

In this line, the pontiff warned that "many people think that today it is harder to call oneself Christians and to live faith in Christ, and you surely encounter these difficulties, which sometimes become proofs. "

It is for this reason that Pope Francis cited the apostolic exhortation Christus Vivit (living Christ) to encourage young people to enjoy this pilgrimage to Rome and the joys and hopes, sorrows and anxieties of men. And he walks as he is, without resorting to any cosmetic surgery. "

In this line, the Holy Father declared that "the current context is not easy, because of the painful and complex problem of the violations committed by members of the Church." However, I would like to repeat that today is no more difficult than in other periods of the Church, it's only different, "he said.

"As I look at them, I recognize the work of the Lord Jesus who does not abandon his Church and who, thanks to his youth, his enthusiasm and his talents, allows him to renew and rejuvenate himself. different stages of its long history, "he said. Pope

For this reason, the Pontiff encouraged young people to let themselves "transform and renew by the Holy Spirit to bring Christ to all environments and to witness to the joy and youth of the Gospel". And, like St. Vincent de Paul, Landes like them, "make visible the love with which God filled them, loving the strength of his arms and the sweat of his brow".

In this sense, Francis urged young people to be "builders of bridges between peoples, trying to develop a culture of encounter and dialogue, in order to contribute to the realization of an authentic human fraternity".

"With their attention to the little ones and the poor, they can light stars in the night of those who, in different ways, are in trouble, they can express, by their gestures and words, that" God is always new "and that it leads us where humanity is most wounded and where the human being, under the appearance of superficiality and conformity, continues to seek the answer to the question of the meaning of life ", he says.

In the end, the pope exclaimed, "I count on you, the Church needs your drive, your intuitions and your faith," he concluded.