Ten Things Pope Francis Said at World Youth Day

by | Feb 9, 2019 | Eastern Province, Formation, Inspiration

We all know Pope Francis has a way with words. Here are ten things Pope Francis said at World Youth Day.

The media of all kinds and all countries have tended to select quotes that fit the agenda in their own country. Everyone who heard (or read the texts) Pope Francis probably took away their own set of memories. A member of the Congregation of the Mission from Portugal shared 10 things that moved him. Here they are with links added to the full document. What would your favorite be?

  1. A disciple is not merely someone who arrives at a certain place, but one who sets out decisively, who is not afraid to take risks and keep walking. (Welcome Ceremony And Opening Of WYD, WYD 2019)
  2. A love which unites is a love that does not overwhelm or oppress, cast aside or reduce to silence, humiliate or domineer. (Welcome Ceremony And Opening Of WYD, WYD 2019)
  3. Mary found the courage to say “yes”. She found the strength to give life to God’s dream. This is what is asked of us today: Do you want to make God’s dream take flesh with your hands, with your feet, with your gaze, with your heart? Do you want the Father’s love to open new horizons for you and bring you along paths never imagined or hoped for, dreamt or expected, making our hearts rejoice, sing and dance? Do we have the courage to say to the angel, as Mary did: “Behold the servants of the Lord; let it be done”? (Welcome Ceremony And Opening Of WYD, WYD 2019)
  4. And all of us today have something that needs to be renewed within. Today we have to allow God to renew something in our hearts. (Vigil With Young People, WYD 2019)
  5. Dreaming of a future means learning how to answer not only the question what I am living for, but also who I am living for, the one who makes it worthwhile for me to offer my life. (Vigil With Young People, WYD 2019)
  6. The world will be better when more people are willing and enthused enough to give birth to the future and believe in the transforming power of God’s love. (…) Do not be afraid to tell Jesus that you too want to be a part of his love story in this world, that you are ready for something greater! (Vigil With Young People, WYD 2019)
  7. Your life today is today. Your taking risks is today. Your space is today. (…) You are the present. You are not the future of God, you young people are the now of God. (Mass for World Youth Day)
  8. Let our limitations, our weaknesses and even our sins not hold us back and stop us from living the mission, because God invites us to do what we can and ask for what we cannot, in the knowledge that his love is taking hold of us and transforming us progressively. (Meeting With The WYD Volunteers, WYD 2019)
  9. The things we pray over, we feel them and live them more profoundly. Prayer gives substance and vitality to everything we do. (Meeting With The WYD Volunteers, WYD 2019)
  10. Now is the moment when you are sent forth:go out and tell, go out and bear witness, go out and spread the word about everything you have seen and heard. And don’t do this with lots of words but rather, as you did here, with simple and ordinary gestures, those that transform and renew all things. Gestures capable of creating a mess, a constructive mess, a loving mess. (Meeting With The WYD Volunteers, WYD 2019)

Any one of these texts stimulates much thought and prayer regardless of our age.

What would be your favorites or the ones that challenge you most?