Pope Francis, quoting Saint John Paul II, tells us, “If you live with young people, you become young yourself, and the Church needs young people.” Thus begins the video with the prayer intention for August, produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, in which Pope Francis responds directly to questions posed by a few young people. In his responses, he also reminds them to follow Mary’s example, who, “as soon as she knew she was going to be the mother of God, didn’t stay there taking a selfie or showing off. The first thing she did was to set out on a journey, in haste, to serve.” And he concludes the video with the desire that this WYD be “a seed for the world’s future. A world where love is at the center, where we can sense that we are sisters and brothers.” “When I go to the church in my neighborhood, I see only old people. Is the Church only for old people? The Church is not an old people’s club any more than it is a youth club. If it becomes something for old people, it will die. Saint John Paul II used to say that if you live with young people you become young yourself. The Church needs young people so it doesn’t grow old. Dear Pope Francis, why did you choose the theme “Mary arose and went with haste” for this WYD? Because as soon as Mary knew she was going to be the mother of God, she didn’t stay there taking a selfie or showing off. The first thing she did was to set out on a journey, in haste, to serve, to help. You too have to learn from her to set out on a journey to help others.
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