Is there any Hope in the Young?? from Pope John Paul II

Dearest all,
nice quotes from our late Pope,

quoted from "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" chapter "Is There any Hope in the Young?"

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What is Youth? It is not only a period of life that corresponds to a certain number of years, it is also a time given by Providence to every person and given to him as a responsibility. During that time he searches, like the young man in the Gospel, for answers to basic questions; he searches no only for the meaning of life but also for a concrete way to go about living his life. This is the fundamental characteristic of youth...

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Clearly then, the fundamental problem of youth is profoundly personal. In life, youth is when we come to know ourselves. It is also a time of communion. Young people, whether boys or girls, know they must live for and with others, they know that their life has meaning to the extent that it becomes a free gift for others. Here is the origin of all vocations...

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We need the enthusiasm of the young. We need their joie de vivre. In it is reflected something of the original joy God had in creating man. The young experience this same joy within themselves. This joy is teh same everywhere, but it is also ever new and original. The young know how to express this joy in their own special way...

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The very day of the inauguration of my papal ministry, on October 22, 1978, at the conclusion of the liturgy, I said to the young people gathered in St. Peter's Square: "You are the hope of the Church and of the world. You are my hope." I have often repeated these words.

I would like to sum up by stressing that the young are searching for God, they are searching for the meaning of life, they are searching for definitive answeres: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luk10:25). In this search, they cannot help but to encounter the Church. And the Church also cannot help but encounter the young. The only necessity is that the Church have a profound understanding of what it means to be young, of the importance that youth has for every person. It is also necessary that the young know the Church, that they perceive Christ in the Church, Christ who walks through the centuries alongside each person. He walks alongside each person as a friend. An important day in a young person's life is the day on which he becomes convinced that this is the only Friend who will not disappoint him, on whom he can always count.

---By Pope John Paul II