Pope Francis encouraged young people to “wake up.” He said that if someone realizes that he is “dead inside,” he can trust that Christ can give them new life to “arise,” as he did with the young man in Luke 7:14.
“When we are ‘dead,’ we remain closed in on ourselves. Our relationships break up, or become superficial, false and hypocritical. When Jesus restores us to life, he ‘gives’ us to others,” he said.
The pope called upon young people to bring about “cultural change” that will allow those “isolated and withdrawn into virtual worlds” to arise.
“Let us spread Jesus’ invitation: ‘Arise!’ He calls us to embrace a reality that is so much more than virtual,” he said.
“This does not involve rejecting technology, but rather using it as a means and not as an end,” the pope added.
Pope Francis said that a person who is alive in Christ encounters reality, even tragedy, that leads him to suffer with his neighbor.
“How many situations are there where apathy reigns, where people plunge into an abyss of anguish and remorse! How many young people cry out with no one to hear their plea! Instead, they meet with looks of distraction and indifference,” Francis said.
“I think too of all those negative situations that people of your age are experiencing,” he said. “One young woman told me: ‘Among my friends I see less desire to get involved, less courage to get up.’ Sadly, depression is spreading among young people too, and in some cases even leads to the temptation to take one’s own life.”
With Christ, who brings new life, a young person can become more aware of those who are suffering draw near to them, he said.
“You too, as young people, are able to draw near to the realities of pain and death that you encounter. You too can touch them and, like Jesus, bring new life, thanks to the Holy Spirit,” he said. “You will be able to touch them as he does, and to bring his life to those of your friends who are inwardly dead, who suffer or have lost faith and hope.”
