Christian Perspectives

‘Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith’

Pope’s message on World Youth Day:

I often think back on the World Youth Day held in Sydney in 2008. There we had an experience of a great festival of faith in which the Spirit of God was actively at work, building deep communion among the participants who had come from all over the world.

That gathering, like those on previous occasions, bore rich fruit in the lives of many young people and in the life of the whole Church. Now we are looking forward to the next World Youth Day, to be held in Madrid in August 2011. Back in 1989, several months before the historic fall of the Berlin Wall, this pilgrimage of young people halted in Spain, in Santiago de Compostela. Now, at a time when Europe greatly needs to rediscover its Christian roots, our meeting will take place in Madrid with the theme: “Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith”.

I encourage you to take part in this event, which is so important for the Church in Europe and for the universal Church. I would like all young people – those who share our faith in Jesus Christ, but also those who are wavering or uncertain, or who do not believe in him – to share this experience, which can prove decisive for their lives. It is an experience of the Lord Jesus, risen and alive and of his love for each of us.

In thinking of my own youth, I realize that stability and security are not the questions that most occupy the minds of young people. True enough, it is important to have a job and thus to have firm ground beneath our feet, yet the years of our youth are also a time when we are seeking to get the most out of life.

Part of being young is desiring something beyond everyday life and a secure job, a yearning for something really, truly greater. Is this simply an empty dream that fades away as we become older? No! Men and women were created for something great, for infinity. Nothing else will ever be enough.

The desire for a more meaningful life is a sign that God created us and that we bear his ‘imprint’. God is life, and that is why every creature reaches out towards life. Because human beings are made in the image of God, we do this in a unique and special way. We reach out for love, joy and peace. So we can see how absurd it is to think that we can truly live by removing God from the picture! God is the source of life. To set God aside is to separate ourselves from that source and, inevitably, to deprive ourselves of fulfilment and joy.

In some parts of the world, particularly in the West, today’s culture tends to exclude God, and to consider faith a purely private issue with no relevance for the life of society. Even though the set of values underpinning society comes from the Gospel — values like the sense of the dignity of the person, of solidarity, of work and of the family —, we see a certain ‘eclipse of God’ taking place, a kind of amnesia which, albeit not an outright rejection of Christianity, is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity.

For this reason, dear friends, I encourage you to strengthen your faith in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the future of society and of the Church! As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Colossae, it is vital to have roots, a solid foundation! This is particularly true today. Many people have no stable points of reference on which to build their lives, and so they end up deeply insecure.

The first image is that of a tree which is firmly planted thanks to its roots, which keep it upright and give it nourishment. Without those roots, it would be blown away by the wind and would die. What are our roots? Naturally our parents, our families and the culture of our country are very important elements of our personal identity.

But the Bible reveals a further element. The prophet Jeremiah wrote: “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit”. For the prophet, to send out roots means to put one’s trust in God. From him we draw our life. Without him, we cannot truly live. “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son”. Jesus himself tells us that he is our life.

Consequently, Christian faith is not only a matter of believing that certain things are true, but above all a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is an encounter with the Son of God that gives new energy to the whole of our existence. When we enter into a personal relationship with him, Christ reveals our true identity and, in friendship with him, our life grows towards complete fulfilment. There is a moment, when we are young, when each of us wonders: what meaning does my life have? What purpose and direction should I give to it? This is a very important moment, and it can worry us, perhaps for some time. We start wondering about the kind of work we should take up, the kind of relationships we should establish, the friendships we should cultivate.

Here, once more, I think of my own youth. I was somehow aware quite early on that the Lord wanted me to be a priest. Then later, after the war, when I was in the seminary and at university on the way towards that goal, I had to recapture that certainty. I had to ask myself: is this really the path I was meant to take? Is this really God’s will for me? Will I be able to remain faithful to him and completely at his service? A decision like this demands a certain struggle. It cannot be otherwise. But then came the certainty: this is the right thing! Yes, the Lord wants me, and he will give me strength. If I listen to him and walk with him, I become truly myself. What counts is not the fulfilment of my desires, but of his will. In this way life becomes authentic.

To those Christians influenced by ideas alien to the Gospel the Apostle Paul spoke of the power of Christ’s death and resurrection. This mystery is the foundation of our lives and the centre of Christian faith. All philosophies that disregard it and consider it ‘foolishness’ reveal their limitations with respect to the great questions deep in the hearts of human beings. As the Successor of the Apostle Peter, I too want to confirm you in the faith.

We firmly believe that Jesus Christ offered himself on the Cross in order to give us his love. In his passion, he bore our sufferings, took upon himself our sins, obtained forgiveness for us and reconciled us with God the Father, opening for us the way to eternal life. Thus we were freed from the thing that most encumbers our lives: the slavery of sin. We can love everyone, even our enemies, and we can share this love with the poorest of our brothers and sisters and all those in difficulty.

In the Gospel we find a description of the Apostle Thomas’ experience of faith when he accepted the mystery of the Cross and resurrection of Christ. Thomas was one of the twelve Apostles. He followed Jesus and was an eyewitness of his healings and miracles. He listened to his words, and he experienced dismay at Jesus’ death. That Easter evening when the Lord appeared to the disciples, Thomas was not present. When he was told that Jesus was alive and had shown himself, Thomas stated: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe”.

We too want to be able to see Jesus, to speak with him and to feel his presence even more powerfully. For many people today, it has become difficult to approach Jesus. There are so many images of Jesus in circulation which, while claiming to be scientific, detract from his greatness and the uniqueness of his person. That is why, after many years of study and reflection, I thought of sharing something of my own personal encounter with Jesus by writing a book. It was a way to help others see, hear and touch the Lord in whom God came to us in order to make himself known. Jesus himself, when he appeared again to his disciples a week later, said to Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe”.

Enter into a personal dialogue with Jesus Christ and cultivate it in faith. Get to know him better by reading the Gospels and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Converse with him in prayer, and place your trust in him. He will never betray that trust! “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 150). Thus you will acquire a mature and solid faith, one which will not be based simply on religious sentiment or on a vague memory of the catechism you studied as a child. You will come to know God and to live authentically in union with him, like the Apostle Thomas who showed his firm faith in Jesus in the words: “My Lord and my God!”.

Jesus said to Thomas: “Have you believed because you have seen me?”

The Creed that we proclaim at Sunday Mass protects us from the danger of believing in a God other than the one revealed by Christ: “Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 166).

Throughout this year, carefully prepare for the meeting in Madrid with the Bishops, priests and youth leaders in your dioceses, parish communities, associations and movements. The quality of our meeting will depend above all on our spiritual preparation, our prayer, our common hearing of the word of God and our mutual support. Dear young people, the Church depends on you! She needs your lively faith, your creative charity and the energy of your hope. Your presence renews, rejuvenates and gives new energy to the Church. That is why World Youth Days are a grace, not only for you, but for the entire People of God. The Church in Spain is actively preparing to welcome you and to share this joyful experience of faith with you. I thank the dioceses, parishes, shrines, religious communities, ecclesial associations and movements, and all who are hard at work in preparing for this event. The Lord will not fail to grant them his blessings.

May the Virgin Mary accompany you along this path of preparation. At the message of the angel, she received God’s word with faith. It was in faith that she consented to what God was accomplishing in her. By proclaiming her ‘fiat’, her ‘yes’, she received the gift of immense charity which led her to give herself entirely to God. May she intercede for each one of you so that, in the coming World Youth Day you may grow in faith and love. I assure you of a paternal remembrance in my prayers and I give you my heartfelt blessing.

Christian Thought for the Week

The Lord says, ‘The time is coming when I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, and they will be my people. In the desert I showed mercy to those people who had escaped death. When the people of Israel longed to rest, I appeared to them from far away. People of Israel, I have always loved you, so I continue to show you my constant love. Once again I will rebuild you.’

Parable on the text

The Lord told his people of Israel that he would come and deliver them from harm. He showered mercy on those who escaped death and now the time is nigh for his prophecy to come true. When one nation rise against the other, the Israelis long for peace in the midst of raging wars but they can rest in the comfort of his words when He assured His love for them. He promised He will rebuild them. Here, the Lord’s words are symbolic in that He will rebuild them in His kingdom. As much as the Israelis are urged to trust in the Lord, He speaks the same to all of us Christians.

Gwen Herat from the Holy Bible

Weekly devotions:

Focussing on soul and Spirit

Sunitha Sahayam

It is good to understand how God made us. Genesis 1:26 shows us that the three persons of the Trinity conferred and came to a decision. ‘Let us make man’.

The plurality of the triune God is clear here. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, were of one mind. ‘Let us make man in our image.’

So from this verse we understand that God created the humans in His own image. The main reason being that we could respond and have fellowship with God, which in turn will bring God pleasure.

As God created us in His image, morally too Adam and Eve reflected God’s image before the fall - they were sinless, holy possessing wisdom and love to state the obvious, and many beautiful characteristics of God. God is triune being, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and-Adam and Eve were tripartite, made up of body, soul and spirit, this is so even where we are concerned. All of us are made up of body, soul and spirit. Unlike the plants and animals. Adam and Eve were given a mind, and emotions and also a will - with which they could respond to God. We too possess all these inner being of Adam and Eve.

The fall of man however, brings about a severe damage to the perfection with which the human personhood was created as ‘evil’ creeps in. The body is to age and face death. Morality - no more holy but sinful, and evil.

God was not pleased with this change, he willed man to live forever reflecting Him. Again, you find that the Trinity conferred and came to a decision:

Genesis 3:22

‘And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.’

In God’s wisdom He knew that He could not allow man to have eternal life in the state that he was in. Even today we can agree with God on that score, because humans are selfish and can stoop to do evil just to obtain power and materialistic gain.

Education does not seem to improve his avariciousness.

So God’s perfect will was for man to know what was ‘good’ only and depend on God, but Satan had lured man into ‘evil’ - but God being a God of love does make provision for man to find everlasting life again the way God intended man in the first instance - and this is through the sacrifice that God made through Christ on the cross.

John 3:16 says ‘God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’

In order to understand this, it helps to understand how God has created us to ultimately find Him .

Our very make up is designed so that we could grasp God’s plan for us. There are definite choices to be made as to which part of your personhood you give prominence to.

The body - This part of you is worldly and fleshy. By giving vent to its needs alone, you cannot find God. It will in fact distract you from God. Adam and Eve did just this, they wanted to consume a fruit that God had prohibited. Satan was able to tempt them by making it look more attractive than it really was, the devil used every sensuous feelings rise up for both Adam and Eve to fall.

You must understand that the body is useful only up to our lifetime on earth and once we die, which I hasten to add all of us must do - it disintegrates into dust, the very components it is made of.

We seem to spend a lot of time and energy looking after this part of our human personhood, because it is seen by others and people form impressions by looking at our outward frame.

Up to a decree we should be of good appearance but wait, once you understand the functions of the rest of your personhood, you will realize how important it is to give attention to your soul and spirit, as these are the two that are going to decide for you as to where you are going to have eternal life- in the presence of God or if you are going to face a second death, which means you will be banished forever from God’s presence.

The Soul and Spirit on the other hand are the two sections of your personhood that are going to live forever.

The soul is the innermost part of you which consists of your mind, emotions, and will.

You could say that it is the non-material part of you that people cannot see as opposed to your body.

As you understand what your soul is made up of, you can take in how important a part of you the Soul is.

The Soul is made up of:

1. Your mind - if this breaks, you are finished. You will not be capable of even looking after your body . This in itself shows to us that we must be careful how we look after our minds. Our thought life is important - we must feed the right food and keep our minds at peace.

2. Your emotions. But what exactly are emotions. Definition of emotion: A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling: the emotions of joy, sorrow, reverence, hate, and love. People may think that any emotion that makes us feel good is good and any that makes us feel bad is bad!

But as Christians I think - Any emotion that brings us into closer relationship with God is good and any emotion that leads us away from God is bad.

(As you read on remember that God made us in His image so that He could communicate with us)

3. The will. Another important part of our Soul. Our will ultimately is the one that decides, taking all what one’s mind tells as well as the emotions one is going through - it even takes the bodily comforts and discomforts – just about everything that affects the personhood and makes a final decision. This I say is a step before the final action.

One could define will as the mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action.

The third part of you is The Spirit. God has created a part of you that longs for Him - this I would call is the Spirit.

There are three functions within the spirit - (1) Conscience, enabling man to know what God justifies and what God condemns (2) Fellowship, that man may contact God (3) Intuition, giving man a direct sense of God and a direct knowledge of God.

If you desire in your mind which is a part of your soul to find God , the spirit is awakened.

But if you choose not to look for God, the spirit lies dormant. This is why Jesus told Nichodemus, the Pharisee who came to Him by night in John 3:5

‘Verily, verily I say unto thee Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God’.