Pope Francis Tells 50,000 Youth at Mass Receiving Holy Communion “we experience that Jesus is ‘with us’ with an “act of love, which is the Eucharist”
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GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE
XIII INTERNATIONAL PILGRIMAGE OF ALTAR SERVERS
(COETUS INTERNATIONALIS MINISTRANTIUM)
St. Peter’s Square
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
___________________________
Dear boys and girls, good evening! Guten Abend!
St. Peter’s Square is always beautiful, but with you it is even more beautiful! Vielen Dank for coming to Rome; perhaps for some of you it is the first time. Willkommen!
The theme of your pilgrimage strikes me: “With you”. “Mit dir”. “With you”. “Avec toi”. Do you know why it strikes me? Because it says it all in two words. It is beautiful, and leaves room for research, for finding possible meanings.
With you. It is an expression that contains the mystery of our life, the mystery of love. When a human being is conceived in the womb, the mother says to him or her: “Do not be afraid, I am with you”. But mysteriously the mother also feels that the little creature says to her, to the mother: “I am with you”. And this, in a different way, also applies to the father!
Thinking of you, and now looking at you, this “with you” is filled with new meanings! I would like to tell you the ones that I found most beautiful and important.
Your experience of service in the Liturgy makes me think that the first subject, the protagonist of this “with you” is God. Jesus said: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). And this is realized to the maximum in the Mass, in the Eucharist: there the “with you” becomes a real presence, a concrete presence of God in the Body and Blood of Christ. The priest sees this mystery happen every day in his hands; and you too see it, when you serve at the altar. And when we receive Holy Communion, we can experience that Jesus is “with us” spiritually and physically. He tells you: “I am with you”, but not with words, he says it in that gesture, in that act of love that is the Eucharist. And you too, in Communion, can say to the Lord Jesus: “I am with you”, not with words, but with your heart and with your body, with your love. Precisely because He is with us, we too can truly be with Him.
And here, dear boys and girls, is the key point! I hope I can make myself understood: the “with you” that we can give to others. In this way his commandment can be fulfilled: “Love one another as I have loved you”. If you, as an altar server, guard in your heart and in your flesh, like Mary, the mystery of God who is with you, then you become capable of being with others in a new way. You too – thanks to Jesus, always and only thanks to Him – you too can say to your neighbor “I am with you”, but not with words, but with deeds, with gestures, with your heart, with concrete closeness – do not forget concrete closeness – cry with those who cry, rejoice with those who rejoice, without judgments, without prejudices, without closures, without exclusions. Even with you, who I do not like; with you, who are different from me; with you, who are a foreigner; with you, who do not feel understood; with you, who never come to church; with you, who say you do not believe in God.
Boys, girls, what a great mystery in these two words: with you! Thanks to those who chose them, and above all thanks to you for having come here, pilgrims, to share the joy of belonging to Jesus, of being servants of his Love, servants of his wounded Heart that heals our wounds, that saves us from death, that gives us eternal life.
Danke, liebe junge Freunde! And one heartfelt Weg zusammen with Jesus! Danke, vielen Dank!
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE
XIII INTERNATIONAL PILGRIMAGE OF ALTAR SERVERS
(COETUS INTERNATIONALIS MINISTRANTIUM)
St. Peter’s Square
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
___________________________
Dear boys and girls, good evening! Guten Abend!
St. Peter’s Square is always beautiful, but with you it is even more beautiful! Vielen Dank for coming to Rome; perhaps for some of you it is the first time. Willkommen!
The theme of your pilgrimage strikes me: “With you”. “Mit dir”. “With you”. “Avec toi”. Do you know why it strikes me? Because it says it all in two words. It is beautiful, and leaves room for research, for finding possible meanings.
With you. It is an expression that contains the mystery of our life, the mystery of love. When a human being is conceived in the womb, the mother says to him or her: “Do not be afraid, I am with you”. But mysteriously the mother also feels that the little creature says to her, to the mother: “I am with you”. And this, in a different way, also applies to the father!
Thinking of you, and now looking at you, this “with you” is filled with new meanings! I would like to tell you the ones that I found most beautiful and important.
Your experience of service in the Liturgy makes me think that the first subject, the protagonist of this “with you” is God. Jesus said: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). And this is realized to the maximum in the Mass, in the Eucharist: there the “with you” becomes a real presence, a concrete presence of God in the Body and Blood of Christ. The priest sees this mystery happen every day in his hands; and you too see it, when you serve at the altar. And when we receive Holy Communion, we can experience that Jesus is “with us” spiritually and physically. He tells you: “I am with you”, but not with words, he says it in that gesture, in that act of love that is the Eucharist. And you too, in Communion, can say to the Lord Jesus: “I am with you”, not with words, but with your heart and with your body, with your love. Precisely because He is with us, we too can truly be with Him.
And here, dear boys and girls, is the key point! I hope I can make myself understood: the “with you” that we can give to others. In this way his commandment can be fulfilled: “Love one another as I have loved you”. If you, as an altar server, guard in your heart and in your flesh, like Mary, the mystery of God who is with you, then you become capable of being with others in a new way. You too – thanks to Jesus, always and only thanks to Him – you too can say to your neighbor “I am with you”, but not with words, but with deeds, with gestures, with your heart, with concrete closeness – do not forget concrete closeness – cry with those who cry, rejoice with those who rejoice, without judgments, without prejudices, without closures, without exclusions. Even with you, who I do not like; with you, who are different from me; with you, who are a foreigner; with you, who do not feel understood; with you, who never come to church; with you, who say you do not believe in God.
Boys, girls, what a great mystery in these two words: with you! Thanks to those who chose them, and above all thanks to you for having come here, pilgrims, to share the joy of belonging to Jesus, of being servants of his Love, servants of his wounded Heart that heals our wounds, that saves us from death, that gives us eternal life.
Danke, liebe junge Freunde! And one heartfelt Weg zusammen with Jesus! Danke, vielen Dank!
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