In chapter five of Christus Vivit, Pope Francis also entreats all to let their heart ever be young and the fire of their youth constantly rekindled. The Holy Father also reminds the young people not to be photocopies of others.
Fraternal Communion
The Pontiff charges young ones to share in the joys of fraternal communion. They must rejoice and mourn with others (CV 167). They are called to be committed and let lay vocations be directed to charity in the family and the social and political milieu (CV168). He calls on the young to go beyond small groups and built social friendship where everyone works for the common good. (CV169). He also tells the young people to visit the poor and the infirmed.
Courageous Missionaries
Young people are also charged to be protagonist of change and they should not to be bystanders (CV 174). The Pontiff reminds the young that they are missionaries and they must be courageous missionaries. Yet he cautions them that the mission of Christ is not limited, not soft and not easy. (CV C177-178). In a more convincing way, the Pontiff tells the youth not to wait for the future before they do something. He says their youth is not an ‘in between time’. They are the now of God who must bear fruits (CV 178). “the best way to prepare a bright future is to experience the present as best we can, with commitment and generosity.” (CV178)
Respect For Our Roots
The crucial nature of the root is affirmed by the Holy Father when he reminds the young people of their roots. In chapter six the Pontiff talks about the young people with roots. He establishes that the young though beautiful if they are without roots will not grow well and they wall fall along the way. The young are not to be cut off from their roots.
The Cult of Youth
The Pontiff talks about the cult of youth which proposes that everything which is not young is outmoded. The Holy father uses the analogy of the image of the labourer even though dirty and unkempt has beauty in him because he earns food for the family. Pope Francis warns the young people of a spirituality without God, an affection without community, a fear of the poor viewed as dangerous and a variety of claims to offer a future paradise yet seems distant (CV 184).
Cultural Colonization
He speaks against ‘cultural colonization’ and the tendency to ‘homogenize’ young people which tend to server them from their cultural and religious roots (CV 185-186). Also he tells young people to pay attention to the memory of the past, parents, grandparents, and cultural experience of the society. (CV 187). The Pontiff states that the world has never benefited, nor will it ever benefit, from a rupture between generations. (CV 191). Giving it a biblical touch, the Holy father draws inspiration from Joel 3:1 in which the young and old are open to the Holy Spirit. The old dream dreams, and the young see visions. The dreams and memories of the old help the young have visions which broaden their horizon (CV 192-193)
The Old Need the Young and the Young Need the Old
At this point the Pontiff appeals to the elderly to remind, to tell and to teach the young and both the young and old are called to take risk together. The Pontiff describes the church as a canoe with young and old coming together climbing aboard the same canoe. The old need the young and the young need the old (CV 198-201).
Source: Fr. Alphonse Bulloro
