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November 18, 2024Dear young people, let us celebrate the Eucharist, let us celebrate God’s love for us and for all humanity. What exactly are we celebrating? The love of God that Jesus revealed to us with the gift of his life. He gave himself for all of us, to free us from our sins and to open the way to happiness. To endless joy.
Joy and Jubilee. We must keep these two fundamental words before our eyes. Jesus did not come to bring us sadness or condemnation or to give us fear. Jesus came to bring us the joy of being loved, the joy of being children of God, free from all fear.
Can we be happy if we remain isolated? Can we be joyful if we remain alone? Or can we be happy if we argue or if we fight to dominate others? No. We travel the path of joy when we discover that we are loved. To tell the truth: when you discover that someone loves you, you are happy. Without love there is no happiness. This is why you can never be happy alone but always in friendship with each other. This is why it is beautiful to be together. Jesus wants us to be his friends and friends among ourselves.
Perhaps we can say: but we are so different from each other, we come from many different countries, we speak different languages, how can we be friends among ourselves?
We are friends among ourselves because Jesus is our friend; we have all received the same baptism, we nourish ourselves with the consecrated bread and wine. We are united with Jesus and we are united among ourselves and we form the same body, with many different members.
But someone might say: not only are we different, but we are limited and sinners, many times we commit sins, we argue, we want to prevail over others. How can we be united if we are sinners and fragile?
Here is the secret of unity and true friendship: God forgives us. Being forgiven is like being born again. So let us ask God for forgiveness and forgive each other. In this way we will always be united and we will always be stronger. The love of God is our strength. Our weapons are not those that make war, our most powerful weapon is forgiveness, it is the love of God that makes us new creatures.
The letter to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the one who gave his life once and for all to free us from evil: therefore we are free, truly free. We no longer want to be slaves to evil, slaves to sin, dependent on the idols of success, power and career and domination over others. These desires make us slaves and sad. Jesus has freed us from all this.
We are now free to love and be loved. Be happy to be Christians, be happy to be Catholics, young Catholics, as was Carlo Acutis who was your age and was always united to Christ and a friend to all. He loved prayer, he loved the Eucharist, he loved others, the poor and the needy.
Carlo Acutis teaches us to be protagonists of a better future. We are not photocopies but originals. Each of you has a mission to accomplish on earth. Jesus wants us to be his friends to build a new world together, a world of peace and joy. Learn from Carlo Acutis to be free young people, capable of having great desires. Be faithful to prayer today. Prayer makes our friendship with Jesus grow. Prayer unites us.
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks to us of the end of the world, when he will return from heaven and bring all things to completion. But we know that Jesus comes to us every day, in the Eucharist and in the Christian community. Let us welcome Jesus in our hearts. With him there is true joy, the one that does not deceive and that lasts for eternal life. Today we begin a joy that will never end. May the Lord bless you.
Photo Album of the Retreat
