PANAMA CITY — Lisbon, Portugal, will open its doors to the
world's young people in 2022 for the next World Youth Day.
The announcement of Portugal was made by Cardinal Kevin Farrell,
head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, at the final
Mass of World Youth Day Jan. 27. World Youth Day officials confirmed the year
and city.
Upon hearing the location of the next celebration, Portuguese
erupted in cheers, waving their country's flag and chanting "We are the
pope's youth!"
Pope Francis then greeted Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de
Sousa, who attended the Mass.
In the early morning hours, pilgrims were awakened by sounds of
upbeat music as the hot Panamanian sun rose. Despite the heat, the pilgrims
danced and sang along, awaiting Pope Francis' arrival.
In his homily, Pope Francis encouraged young Catholics to be engaged
in the world today to ensure a better tomorrow.
"You, dear young people, are not the future but the now of
God. He invites you and calls you in your communities and cities to go out and
find your grandparents, your elders; to stand up and with them to speak out and
realize the dream that the Lord has dreamed for you," he said.
The pope reflected on the Sunday Gospel reading from St. Luke in
which Jesus begins his public ministry by proclaiming in the synagogue that
"this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Proclaiming the Good News of God's promise to free captives and
the oppressed was an important moment in Jesus' life, the pope said.
Nevertheless, he continued, many of those in the synagogue were
incredulous and not prepared "to believe in someone they knew and had seen
grow up."
"The same thing can also happen with us. We do not always
believe that God can be that concrete and commonplace, that close and real, and
much less that he can become so present and work through somebody like a
neighbor, a friend, a relative," the pope said.
Young people, he warned, risk looking at their mission, vocation
and even their lives as something far off in the future and "having
nothing to do with the present" while adults can fall into the trap of
inventing a "hygienically sealed future without consequence where
everything is safe, secure and 'well insured.'"
"The Lord and his mission are not a 'meantime' in our life,
something temporary. They are our life," Pope Francis said. "Do you
want to live out your love in a practical way? May your 'yes' continue to be
the gateway for the Holy Spirit to give us a new Pentecost for the world and
for the church."