Pope Francis with 1.5 Million at the World Youth Day Mass says "Loving like Jesus – that makes us luminous, that makes us do acts of love." FULL TEXT + Video
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At the concluding Mass for this year’s World Youth Day, Pope Francis echoed the words of the Apostles who witnessed the Transfiguration of Christ on the Mount: “It is good for us to be here!”
Pope Francis' homily at the Missioning Mass
The words of the Apostle Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration are the same words that, after these intense days, we want to make our own: "Lord, it is good that we are here!" (Mt 17:4).
It was good what we experienced with Jesus, what we lived together and how we prayed. But after these days, we ask ourselves: What will we take with us when we return to the valley of daily life?
From the Gospel we have heard, I want to answer this question with three verbs: shine, listen, do not fear.
Shining. Jesus was transfigured and-the text says-"his face shone like the sun" (Mt 17: 2). He had recently announced his passion and death on the cross, thus shattering the image of a powerful and worldly Messiah, and frustrating the expectations of the disciples. Now, in order to help them accept God's loving plan, which reaches glory by the way of the cross, Jesus takes three of them with him - Peter, James and John - leads them to the top of a mountain and transfigures himself: his face becomes radiant and his garments limpid. This "bath of light" prepares them for the night they will have to go through.
Dear friends, we too need something of light today to face the darkness that assails us in life, so many daily defeats, to confront them with the light of Jesus' resurrection. He is the light that does not go out, the light that shines even at night. The words of Ezra the priest come to mind, which we find in Sacred Scripture and which we too can repeat after these days spent together: "Our God has willed to make our eyes shine" (Ezra 9:8). Our God enlightens our eyes, enlightens our hearts, enlightens our minds and our will to do something with our lives.
But I would also like to tell you something: we do not become bright when we put ourselves under the spotlight, when we display a perfect image and feel strong and successful. But we shine when, by welcoming Jesus, we learn to love as he loved. Loving like Jesus - that makes us luminous, that leads us to do acts of love. Make no mistake, you will be light the day you do acts of love. If instead of doing acts of love, we look inward, selfishly, the light goes out.
The second verb is to listen. On the mountain, a bright cloud covers the disciples and the Father's voice indicates that Jesus is the beloved Son. The Father's command is simple and direct: "Listen to him" (Mt 17:5). Everything is here: everything that must be done in the Christian life is in this word: listen to him. Listen to Jesus, listen to what Jesus says, take the Gospel and read what Jesus says and your heart, because he has for us words of eternal life for all of us. He that reveals God is Father and love, He teaches us the way of love. Listen to Jesus, because although we have the best of wills, we follow paths that seem to be paths of love, but are selfishness disguised as love. Listen to the Lord, because he will tell us the way of love.
To shine, to listen and, finally, not to fear. These are the last words that Jesus utters on the mountain to encourage the frightened disciples: "Arise and do not be afraid" (Mt 17:7). An idea that is repeated so often in the Gospels: "Do not be afraid". To you, young people, who have big dreams but are often overshadowed by the fear of not seeing them realized; to you, young people, who sometimes think that you will not succeed; to you, young people, tempted at this time to be discouraged, to think you are inadequate or to hide your pain by disguising it with a smile; to you young people who want to change the world and who strive for justice and peace; to you young people who invest the best of your effort and imagination, but are left feeling that they are not enough; to you young people, whom the Church and the world need like the earth needs rain; to you young people who are the present and the future. It is precisely to you, young people, that Jesus says: "Do not be afraid".
Dear young people, I wish I could look each of you in the eye and say: do not be afraid! But I can tell you something much more beautiful: Jesus himself is looking at you now, he who knows you and reads your innermost being; he looks into your heart, he knows your joys and sorrows, your successes and defeats. And he says to you today, here in Lisbon, at this World Youth Day: "Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid! Be encouraged!".
Based on the Gospel we heard, I want to answer this question with three verbs: shine, listen, do not be afraid.
Shine. Jesus is transfigured and – the text says – “his face shone like the sun” (Mt 17:2). He had recently announced his passion and death on the cross, thus shattering the image of a powerful and worldly Messiah, and frustrating the disciples' expectations. Now, to help them accept God's loving plan, which reaches glory on the way of the cross, Jesus takes three of them with him – Peter, James and John – he leads them to the top of a mountain and is transfigured: his face becomes himself resplendent and his garments white. This «bath of light» prepares them for the night they will have to go through.
Dear friends, today too we need some light to face the darkness that assails us in life, so many daily defeats, to confront them with the light of Jesus' Resurrection. He is the light that does not go out, the light that shines even at night. The words of the priest Ezra come to mind, which we find in Sacred Scripture and which we too can repeat after these days spent together: “Our God wanted to make our eyes shine” (Ezr 9:8). Our God lights up our eyes, lights up our hearts, lights up our minds and our will to make something of our lives.
But I'd also like to tell you something: we don't become luminous when we put ourselves in the spotlight, when we put on a perfect image and feel strong and successful. But we shine when, welcoming Jesus, we learn to love as He loved. Loving like Jesus – that makes us luminous, that makes us do acts of love. Make no mistake, you will be light on the day you have acts of love. If, instead of doing acts of love, we selfishly look inward, the light goes out.
The second verb is to listen. On the mountain, a luminous cloud covered the disciples, and that cloud from which the Father speaks, what does he say? "Listen to him" (Mt 17,5). This is my beloved Son, listen to him. It's all here, and all that you have to do in life is in this word: Listen to it. Listen to Jesus, every secret is there. You listen to what Jesus tells you. "I don't know what he tells me." Grab the Gospel and read what Jesus says and what he says in your heart. Because He has words of eternal life for us; He reveals that God is Father, is love. He teaches us the way of love, listen to Jesus. Because, out there we with good will undertake paths that seem to be of love, but ultimately they are selfishness disguised as love. Be careful with selfishness disguised as love. Listen to him, because he is going to tell you what the path of love is. listen to it.
Shine, the first word, be luminous, listen, so as not to go wrong, and in the end, the third word, do not be afraid. "Do not be afraid". A word that is repeated so much in the Bible, in the Gospels, "do not be afraid". These were the last words that at this moment of the transfiguration Jesus said to the disciples: "Do not be afraid."
To you, young people, who have experienced this joy, I was about to say this glory —well, it is something of glory—, this meeting with us; to you who cultivate big dreams but sometimes obscured by the fear of not seeing them come true; to you, who sometimes think that you will not be able, a little pessimism sometimes creeps into us; to you, young people, tempted at this time by discouragement, perhaps by judging yourself as failures or by trying to hide the pain by disguising it with a smile; to you, young people, who want to change the world – and it is good that you want to change the world – and who want to fight for justice and peace; to you, young people, who put enthusiasm and creativity into life, but who think that it is not enough; to you, young people, that the Church and the world need [as] the earth needs the rain; to you, young people, who are the present and the future; Yes, precisely to you, young people, [Jesus] says today: "Do not be afraid".
In a little silence, each one repeat to himself, in his heart, these words: Do not be afraid.
Dear young people, I would like to look each one of you in the eye and tell you: do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. What's more, I tell you something very beautiful, it's not me anymore, it's Jesus himself who is looking at you at this moment. He is watching us. He knows you, he knows the heart of each one of you, he knows the life of each one of you, he knows the joys, he knows the sorrows, the successes and the failures, he knows your hearts. He reads your hearts and He tells you today, here in Lisbon, on this World Youth Day: "Do not be afraid". Take heart, "don't be afraid".
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