Welcoming the numerous young people from the north of Italy who came to see the Pope as he visited his father's hometown, the Pope reiterated an invitation to the upcoming World Youth Day in Lisbon.
The theme of the 2023 Youth Day is from Luke's Gospel, "Mary arose and went with haste."
"Our Lady did this when she was young, and she tells us that the secret to remaining young is found precisely in those two verbs, to arise and to go," he said.
Then the Pope added:
I like to think of Our Lady who went in haste. She really went quickly; she went in haste. And many times, I pray to Our Lady: “Hey, hurry up and resolve this problem!”
Last week, at the Wednesday general audience, the Pope expressed the same urgency in calling for prayer for Ukraine. As Jesus urged Zacchaeus to make haste, the Pope said, "We can pray for Ukraine by saying, 'Make haste, Lord.'"
Wasting lives, slaves to mobile phones
The Pope encouraged the youth and all of us to follow Mary's example: "To arise and to go – not to stay still thinking about ourselves, wasting our lives and chasing after comforts or the latest fads, but to aim for the heights, get on the move, leaving behind our own fears to take someone in need by the hand."
Pope Francis emphasized the need to swim against the current in following our faith:
And today, we need young people who are truly “transgressive,” young people who are truly “transgressives,” non-conformists, who are not slaves to their mobile phones, but who change the world like Mary, bearing Jesus to others, taking care of others, building fraternal communities with others, making dreams of peace come true!
Pray for peace
The Holy Father mentioned various prayer intentions, saying we are living a famine of peace and asking us to "roll up our sleeves."
Right now, we are living a famine of peace: We are living a famine of peace. Let’s think of how many places in the world are scourged by war, in particular of war-torn Ukraine. Let’s roll up our sleeves and continue to pray for peace!
Let us also pray for the families of the victims of the serious fire that happened in these past days in a refugee camp in Gaza, in Palestine, where several children also died. May the Lord welcome into heaven those who lost their lives and console those people who have suffered years of conflct.
And let us now invoke the Queen of Peace, Our Lady, to whom this beautiful Cathedral is dedicated. To her, let us entrust our families, the sick, and each one of us, with the worries and good intentions we bear in our hearts.
