Next month, Pope Francis will welcome hundreds of thousands of young people to the 16th international celebration of World Youth Day. Its theme recalls the moment in the Gospel of Luke just after Mary learns that both she and Elizabeth will soon give birth to sons: “Mary arose and went with haste.” It seems like an unexpected choice for a theme. Why highlight this important but rather unremarkable moment, especially when what comes before — the Annunciation — and after — the Visitation — are so significant?
Perhaps the answer lies in understanding who the youth of today are and what they need most. Speaking to them directly, Pope Francis declares: “Dear young people, God is also watching over you and calling you. And when God does so he is looking at all the love you are able to offer.” His message is one of invitation and expectation: God sees you, knows you, loves you and asks for your love in return. This is a message the youth long for, and one the world alone does not give.
To be sure, the world prizes being “seen” more than ever before. Many believe that today’s young people are better off precisely because they are more “seen” and therefore more understood by the world than previous generations. “We accept and affirm you,” the world vows. “Spend a little time on social media,” it says, “and you’ll find a million ways to feel connected, to be noticed, to express your personal ‘truth.’ Do whatever makes you happy. Choose your identity. Follow your own path. Heal yourself.”
And yet, so many young people are lost and unhappy. They have no roots from which to grow. So many are searching for a direction, a purpose, salvation. Many live in despair. Indeed, it seems with every passing year young people suffer more. Increases in rates of anxiety, depression, loneliness and isolation are regularly noted in the news. We hear reports about excessive screen time and the negative impact of social media. We see the tragic effect of harmful ideologies on vulnerable young men and women. A recent study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that nearly half of American high school students are experiencing “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.” The youth are far less happy than older adults, Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program recently reported.
Against the world’s empty promises, the church offers young people a radically different kind of affirmation. In his apostolic letter “Dilecti Amici,” St. John Paul II spoke of the youth as a sign of hope: “In you there is hope, for you belong to the future, just as the future belongs to you.” The special vocation of youth is to be a sign of possibility, of where we are heading and what we might become. In the young, Pope Francis says, we see “roads open up that lead us to a better, fairer, less cruel and more humane world.” The youth are the reminder of Christ’s promises and the sign of his renewal. In their passion and joy, the whole church rediscovers its passion and joy. In their resilience, the church finds its strength and perseverance restored. Above all, young people are a reminder that generation after generation, Christ remains.
My friends, to be this sign of hope is both a privilege and a tremendous responsibility. The world offers many empty substitutes for true hope. But the deepest longings of the heart will never be satisfied by platitudes, ideologies or empty promises. Only in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, are we truly “seen” and truly understood. Only in being seen and understood by the Author of Life are we filled with the light of hope and are able to bear that light to others. And only in bearing that light to others do we find our true purpose and fulfillment.
Perhaps that is why this year’s World Youth Day theme meditates on the words of St. Luke: “Mary arose and went in haste.” It is a small moment, but a crucial one. For in that moment, between the mystery of the Annunciation and the joy of the Visitation, Mary made a profound choice to live as a sign of hope. In the knowledge that she is known and loved by God, she sets forth in haste to bear that hope to the world. May we pray that all young men and women find the same solace in the Lord and, like Mary, live as signs of hope.
