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9/26/2010
PILGRIM'S PRAYER
Lord, lead me along the path of your love and keep
me faithful to the journey I make.
With the fire of your Spirit illumine the road
I travel and help me up when I stumble and fall.
With your Word of truth make me a faithful
pilgrim and help me to choose what is right and
just and true.
From your heart of love give me the grace I need to
love my fellow pilgrims and to share with them your peace.
With the power of your cross teach me to pour
myself out in service of the poor,
that my life might be filled with your love.
From the table of your Word and your Body & Blood,
nourish me with food that gives life.
Lead my steps safely along your path
and gather me in with all your sons and daughters,
together with our Holy Father,
and all who make their way to you and the life you promise.
Grant this and all good things through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
6/22/2010
A message about WYD and from the Holy See!
Dear friends, do not be afraid to build on the rock!
The Holy Father encourages us to construct on the safest ground: Jesus Christ
My friends, in the heart of every man there is the desire for a house. Even more so in the young person's heart there is a great longing for a proper house, a stable house, one to which he can not only return with joy, but where every guest who arrives can be joyfully welcomed. There is a yearning for a house where the daily bread is love, pardon and understanding. It is a place where the truth is the source out of which flows peace of heart. There is a longing for a house you can be proud of, where you need not be ashamed and where you never fear its loss. These longings are simply the desire for a full, happy and successful life. Do not be afraid of this desire! Do not run away from this desire! Do not be discouraged at the sight of crumbling houses, frustrated desires and faded longings. God the Creator, who inspires in young hearts an immense yearning for happiness, will not abandon you in the difficult construction of the house called life.
To build on Christ and with Christ means to build on a foundation that is called "crucified love". It means to build with Someone who, knowing us better than we know ourselves, says to us: "You are precious in my eyes and honoured, and I love you" (Is 43:4). It means to build with Someone, who is always faithful, even when we are lacking in faith, because he cannot deny himself (cf. 2 Tim 2:13). It means to build with Someone who constantly looks down on the wounded heart of man and says: " I do not condemn you, go and do not sin again" (cf. Jn 8:11). It means to build with Someone who, from the Cross, extends his arms and repeats for all eternity: "O man, I give my life for you because I love you."
In short, building on Christ means basing all your desires, aspirations, dreams, ambitions and plans on his will. It means saying to yourself, to your family, to your friends, to the whole world and, above all to Christ: "Lord, in life I wish to do nothing against you, because you know what is best for me. Only you have the words of eternal life" (cf. Jn 6:68). My friends, do not be afraid to lean on Christ! Long for Christ, as the foundation of your life! Enkindle within you the desire to build your life on him and for him! Because no one who depends on the crucified love of the Incarnate Word can ever lose.
One does not need great mental acuity to be aware of the many ways of rejecting Christ, even on our own doorstep. Often, Jesus is ignored, he is mocked and he is declared a king of the past who is not for today and certainly not for tomorrow. He is relegated to a storeroom of questions and persons one dare not mention publicly in a loud voice. If in the process of building the house of your life you encounter those who scorn the foundation on which you are building, do not be discouraged! A strong faith must endure tests. A living faith must always grow. Our faith in Jesus Christ, to be such, must frequently face others' lack of faith.
My friends, once again: what does it mean to build on the rock? Building on the rock also means to build on Peter and with Peter. In fact the Lord said to him: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16:18). If Christ, the Rock, the living and precious stone, calls his Apostle "rock", it means that he wants Peter, and together with him the entire Church, to be a visible sign of the one Saviour and Lord.
WORLD YOUTH DAY 2011 MAIN PAGE
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