Pope Francis explains "... it's nice to work together....and can help the Church grow towards an ever fuller unity, more in conformity with the will of Christ the Lord."
.png)
GREETING FROM THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE CHAPELLERS OF SCHOOLS OF SWITZERLAND ROMANDA
Friday, October 7, 2022
Dear brother,
Dear brothers and sisters,
Thank you for introducing me to your service experience alongside young students from French-speaking Switzerland. A demanding job, but one that certainly gives a lot to those who live it with a strong motivation and a generous soul.
I thank your "spokesperson" for his presentation - very clear, even your final questions -, which highlighted some aspects of the reality of youth. This is precious because they are not things you have read in books: it is the fruit of your being with the children, accompanying them, listening to them ... And also bringing them before the Lord, in prayer. It is there, in the silence, that the faces, the stories, the smiles and the tears, the dreams re-emerge ... And it is there that you also find the inner momentum, because a job like yours absorbs a lot of energy and can exhaust the spirit if not there is the "sap" of the Lord that recharges it.
I like to see your work in the background of the Synod for and with young people, which we experienced four years ago. Even that Synod did not end with a beautiful final document, but it was the culminating moment of an ecclesial journey that precedes and follows the assembly. And I would say that, by being close to young people, you too can, in a certain sense, write new pages of the Letter that came out of that Synod: the Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit (25 March 2019).
Every time one of you joins two or three young people on the way, he listens to them, listens to the disappointments, the failures, the doubts they carry inside, and then speaks to them about Jesus Christ, awakening hope in their hearts, there he is renewed. something of the experience of the disciples of Emmaus. It does not depend on your skill: it is the living Christ who passes by, it is his Spirit who acts; but it is important that you are there, your presence next to them is necessary. Be there, accompany.
And another aspect that deserves to be emphasized is the ecumenical one: you are Catholics and Protestants and you work together. We used to burn ourselves! Now it's nice to work together, it's nice to work in collaboration. And this is good, gives good witness, and can help the Church grow towards an ever fuller unity, more in conformity with the will of Christ the Lord. I encourage you to continue on this path.
Dear brothers and sisters, I thank you again for your visit. I wish you all the best in your work. I cordially bless you, your colleagues and your families. And I ask you to please pray for me.
Source: Vatican.va
TO THE CHAPELLERS OF SCHOOLS OF SWITZERLAND ROMANDA
Friday, October 7, 2022
Dear brother,
Dear brothers and sisters,
Thank you for introducing me to your service experience alongside young students from French-speaking Switzerland. A demanding job, but one that certainly gives a lot to those who live it with a strong motivation and a generous soul.
I thank your "spokesperson" for his presentation - very clear, even your final questions -, which highlighted some aspects of the reality of youth. This is precious because they are not things you have read in books: it is the fruit of your being with the children, accompanying them, listening to them ... And also bringing them before the Lord, in prayer. It is there, in the silence, that the faces, the stories, the smiles and the tears, the dreams re-emerge ... And it is there that you also find the inner momentum, because a job like yours absorbs a lot of energy and can exhaust the spirit if not there is the "sap" of the Lord that recharges it.
I like to see your work in the background of the Synod for and with young people, which we experienced four years ago. Even that Synod did not end with a beautiful final document, but it was the culminating moment of an ecclesial journey that precedes and follows the assembly. And I would say that, by being close to young people, you too can, in a certain sense, write new pages of the Letter that came out of that Synod: the Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit (25 March 2019).
Every time one of you joins two or three young people on the way, he listens to them, listens to the disappointments, the failures, the doubts they carry inside, and then speaks to them about Jesus Christ, awakening hope in their hearts, there he is renewed. something of the experience of the disciples of Emmaus. It does not depend on your skill: it is the living Christ who passes by, it is his Spirit who acts; but it is important that you are there, your presence next to them is necessary. Be there, accompany.
And another aspect that deserves to be emphasized is the ecumenical one: you are Catholics and Protestants and you work together. We used to burn ourselves! Now it's nice to work together, it's nice to work in collaboration. And this is good, gives good witness, and can help the Church grow towards an ever fuller unity, more in conformity with the will of Christ the Lord. I encourage you to continue on this path.
Dear brothers and sisters, I thank you again for your visit. I wish you all the best in your work. I cordially bless you, your colleagues and your families. And I ask you to please pray for me.
Source: Vatican.va
Comments