WYD is a gathering of young people from all over the world with the Pope. It is a meeting to build and strengthen the bonds of faith, friendship and hope, symbolizing the union between people of different cultures and countries. WYD is a testimony of a living Church that is continually being renewed. The main goal of WYD is to inspire young people with Christ's message.
“Jesus is calling [on] you to be a disciple with a mission,” Francis told the crowd, according to CatholicHerald.co.uk. He added that the best way to evangelize the young is another young person, and that the Church needs their enthusiasm, creativity and joy.
“Dear young people Jesus Christ is counting on you, the Church is counting on you, the Pope is counting on you!” Francis said.
Francis has spent the week emphasizing a core message: of the need for Catholics, lay and religious, to shake up the status quo, get out of their stuffy sacristies and reach the faithful on the margins of society or risk losing them to rival churches.
Pope Francis’ message can be repeated in our church and among Protestant churches. Our threat is not the risk of losing them to rival churches, but a roving enemy called the devil. Young people shake up the status quo because they are bold and want to make a difference in our communities and world. It is clear that Jesus Christ is counting on them and the church needs to make room for their ideas and leadership.
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Young people must read 1 & 2 Timothy. It gives directives to change the world around you.
1 Timothy 4:11-14
Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
Those who are not young should read those books so they can value youth as God does and give them room to change our world.