Sr Lola Arrieta, Carmelite Sister of the Caridad de Vedruna

The text of Sr. Lola Arrieta, Carmelite Sister of the Caridad de Vedruna, expert in the accompaniment of young people is availble in PDF here.

Mons. Oscar Cantoni, Vescovo di Como

SANTA MESSA PER LE VOCAZIONI – OMELIA

Mons. Jean-Claude Hollerich, Arcivescovo del Lussemburgo

ACCOMPANIMENT OF A PERSON THROUGHOUT LIFE

Testimonianza – Giovane Seminarista Greco-Cattolico

Good morning! My name is Mate Szaplonczay. I am a Greek Catholic seminarist from Hungary. This is my last year in the seminary, so I am in the beautiful situation of being still accompanied and of having to be ready for accompanying others at the same time. I consider the accompaniment to be very important in general and in my personal life as well.

I am sure that my balanced relationship with God, and my vocation are thanks to the Holy Spirit, to God’s mercy, and to the people who accompanied me during my whole journey. I would like to talk briefly about my good experiences and thoughts about accompaniment.

I will try to organize them in some points.

1. The first is the importance of listening. Young people desire to be listened and to be asked about their opinions. They can be very creative and they have some really good suggestions. Here I would like to say thanks to CCEE for their kindly invitation, I am glad to be here with the other young speakers to share our experiences with you. I think CCEE did a good work, since I am convinced that, when we are talking about accompaniment of the youth we should invite them to the discussion. I am sure that the session of “Good practices” tomorrow morning will be also a great open-space for us to learn from each other.

2. So, my second point is about the good examples. When we talk about accompanying young people, we should keep in mind, that examples are always more important than any words. I will never forget what people said about Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop of Genève: “If the bishop is so good, how good can be the God”. He was a living example of God’s love. For the youth I think not the words what are counting but the acts and things behind them.

3. Support

Sometimes it seems to be not efficient to accompany a young person without the support of their relationships. Most of the cases in the contemporary Europe the family background doesn’t help youth to find the true meaning of their lives. It might be because there are more and more wounded families, or, for example in the post-soviet countries like Albania or Hungary a whole generation grew up without religion. Since not all the schools are religious, we have to create good parish groups and communities, where they can find precious friends, with whom they can support each other to a better way. I’d like to notice here, that the disciples of Emmaus were two of them, and I suppose they supported each other.

4. Go where they are

Don Bosco said: “Consider important what they think to be important, and then they will consider important what you think to be important.”

It is very rare that a young person goes to the church or to a religious communion by his own. We have to go among them. We have to go out, we have to go and bring the message of Jesus to others – as Pope Francis said explaining that the Good News is meant to be shared, not stored away. I would like to tell a good example to you. There is an initiation in Hungary called Central Point (Közös Pont). This is an ecumenical mission of the Catholic Church in cooperation with the Lutheran and Calvinist Churches, which is about pre-evangelization on the bigger music festivals. There are at least eighty-hundred thousand young people on these festivals, and we created a space where they can come in anytime, and where they are listened. When I first participated in this mission I was surprised how many of them came in to talk. Most of the incomers were atheist or indifferent, and we had a lot good experiences. Some of them came back in the following years, there were some who told that they were looking for this tent directly. There I was able to feel what pre-evangelization means.

5. Common Work

My personal experience is that work can bring people closer to each other. I am happy to see all the initiatives which involve volunteers. I and other young people tend to say that we are exhausted and overloaded. But don’t believe us! We have a lot of power and fuel inside, we are just lazy sometimes. But if we discover our stores, we will admit that these opportunities are important and precious, because all the youth can have a common goal to achieve, and the team-work can make them feel that they are connected, and that they have responsibilities for each other. I have a good example of my area in this topic: the Camp Saint Damien. The story of it goes back to the 90’s, when several seminarists decided to pray for disabled people together every day of the year. A few years later they organized a camp for 20 disabled children, and by now we have more than 200 disabled participants each summer with the help of more than 400 volunteers, who are not only take part in the Camp on the summer, but during the whole year there are weekly praying occasions for the participants.

6. Personal care

Each young person is unique and all of them need a special care. They can feel if it doesn’t come from your heart. A good human relation is necessary for the accompaniment. Let me cite Don Bosco again: “Young people must not only be loved; but they must know they are loved”.

Conclusion

An other quotation which – I think – summarizes very well the meaning of accompanying young people:

“For you I study, for you I work, for you I live and for you I am willing to give my life.” (Don Bosco)

At the end of my speech, I’d like to quote the sentence of the disciples of Emmaus:

“Were not our hearts burning within us, while he talked with us?”

May the Holy Spirit help us to get the heart of the youth burning within them!

Thank You for listening!

Un Simposio in dodici punti

Mentre a Barcellona fervono i preparativi per l’avvio del Simposio Europeo sull’accompagnamento dei giovani, in questi mesi gli oltre 250 partecipanti si sono preparati all’appuntamento di fine mese (28-31 marzo) con l’aiuto di un sussidio in dodici punti. Tra i temi affrontati: 1) Gesù e l’accompagnamento; 2) Entusiasmo cristiano e volontà di Dio; 3) Diversità e relazione; 4) Identità e vita; 5) Comunità e famiglia; 6) Famiglia e Chiesa; 7) Speranza e pienezza di vita; 8) Gioia e vita; 9) Giovani e i loro linguaggi; 10) Accompagnamento e Spirito Santo; 11) Esame di coscienza e testimonianza; 12) Evangelizzazione e Cristo.

Il documento è il risultato di un’ampia consultazione. Nel settembre 2015, un comitato composto da rappresentanti di cinque ambiti pastorali (catechesi, scuola, università, giovani e vocazioni) si è incontrato a Malta e ha redatto un documento che è stato discusso durante la prima metà del 2016 in incontri separati con i delegati nazionali di tutti e cinque i settori. Il maggior numero possibile dei loro commenti è stato poi inserito nel documento finale, redatto a Madrid, da un altro piccolo comitato in rappresentanza dei cinque ambiti pastorali.

Il Sussidio è disponibile sul sito del simposio (symposium2017.ccee.eu).

“I giovani sono decisivi per la vita della Chiesa e della società! Essi hanno molti doni da condividere e che bisogna valorizzare: dedizione, creatività, generosità, desiderio di conoscere l’altro e di accoglierlo, o meglio, un grande desiderio di amare e di essere amati, di conoscere la verità e di aderire a essa. Essi credono di potere cambiare il mondo, ed è giusto e buono che lo credano…”, afferma mons. Duarte da Cunha, Segretario Generale del CCEE, e prosegue “Accompagnare i giovani diventa, quindi, una bellissima missione che Gesù ci affida. Significa per l’accompagnatore seguire insieme ai giovani la luce di Dio. La vita di chi accompagna non ha bisogno di essere perfetta ma egli deve guardare a Dio e vivere con impegno la realtà presente. Così, anche quando il giovane deve sorpassare ostacoli, l’accompagnatore è capace di dare un orientamento, una nuova perspettiva che diventa anche proposta attraente, al contrario del consumismo che non riesce a riempire il cuore. Amare i giovani porta a testimoniare con la vita e la parola che vale la pena andare avanti, che cosa sia il bene e il male, e che cos’è la felicità vera. Non c’è, infatti, gioia più grande per un educatore che vedere il giovane aver un rapporto personale con Gesù Cristo, diventare cosciente di poter dare anche lui liberamente la vita per gli altri così da diventare lui stesso un vero testimone e accompagnatore per gli altri. Dobbiamo quindi curare non solo i giovani ma anche le famiglie e le comunità perché esse siano sempre più disponibili e entusiasmate da questa missione di mostrare Cristo e di camminare con Lui. Per questo motivo, a Barcellona, le giornate saranno scandite da momenti di preghiera e dalla celebrazione quotidiana dell’Eucaristia durante la quale si pregherà per le vocazioni (mercoledì 29) e per la famiglia (giovedì 30)”.

Una veglia di preghiera dei giovani di Barcellona per i giovani di tutta l’Europa

Nella serata di mercoledì 29 marzo alle ore 19.45 presso la Chiesa di Sant’Anna (Plazoleta de Santa Anna, 29 – 08002  Barcellona), i giovani del servizio diocesano di pastorale giovanile animeranno una veglia di preghiera. La veglia, che vuole essere un momento di preghiera per i giovani dell’Europa, prevede alcune testimonianze intercalate da momenti di adorazione e da canti. Al termine, i giovani animatori di Barcellona incontreranno i partecipanti in un momento di convivialità.

I relatori

Durante il Simposio un certo numero di relatori si avvicenderanno per condividere con i partecipanti la loro riflessione attorno al tema dell’incontro.

I relatori, tutti di alto livello, rappresentano strutture vaticane, del CCEE o delle Conferenze episcopali preposte alla cura pastorale dei giovani. Naturalmente interverranno anche gli stessi giovani.

La lista dei relatori è ora disponibile sul sito del simposio.

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Informazioni per la stampa

I giornalisti interessati a coprire l’incontro possono accreditarsi entro il 24 marzo prossimo a questo indirizzo: http://symposium2017.ccee.eu/media/

Attenzione: l’accesso ai lavori e alla sala stampa sarà consentito solo ed esclusivamente ai giornalisti accreditati che riceveranno un badge specifico. Si prega di prestare attenzione alle condizioni di partecipazione contenute all’indirizzo: http://symposium2017.ccee.eu/media/

Una Conferenza Stampa di presentazione avrà luogo il 24 marzo prossimo alle ore 11.30 presso il Seminario Conciliar di Barcellona (Carrer de la Diputacío, 231 – 08007 Barcelona).

Interverranno: S.E. Mons. Juan José Omella Omella, Arcivescovo di Barcellona, Mons. Gil Tamayo, Segretario generale della Conferenza Episcopale Spagnola e don Michel Remery, Vice Segretario Generale del CCEE e Organizzatore del Simposio.

I giornalisti che intendono partecipare in loco e che vorrebbero ricevere la cartella stampa sono pregati di indicarlo al momento della richiesta dell’accredito o inviando una mail a media@ccee.eu

La conferenza stampa sarà ritrasmessa in streaming sul sito: symposium2017.ccee.eu

Testimonianza – Giovane donna dell’Albania

Sono felice di essere in mezzo a voi e dare la mia testimonianza. Mi chiamo Jona. Sono cresciuta in una famiglia musulmana. La mia nonna aveva una grande fede in Dio e pregava ogni giorno. Lei è stata la prima persona che mi ha parlato di Dio. Cosí ho cominciato a conoscere Dio ed a pregare da quando ho avuto tre anni. È interessante il fatto che la mia nonna era musulmana ma mi parlava di Dio come se fosse una fedele cattolica. Mi diceva sempre che Dio era un Padre che mi amava e che Lui non mi avrebbe mai abbandonato. Lei, senza saperlo, con le sue parole e con il suo amore, mi ha dato un’ importante testimonianza di fede cattolicà. A volte penso che il suo cuore già conosceva la verità di Dio, quella verità che non aveva avuto la possibilità di conoscere direttamente. Dico così perchè sono sicura che Gesù Cristo ha abbracciato ogni cuore umano di quelli che sono vissuti nel passato, di quelli che vivono oggi e di tutti quelli che vivrano nel futuro.

All’età di sei anni i miei genitori mi hanno iscritto nella scuola cattolicà delle suore del “Sacro Costato”. Così è iniziato il mio viaggio di fede. Ricordo con nostalgia il giorno in cui sono entrata per la prima volta nella scuola. Era un ambiente sereno. Appena sono entrata ho visto una grande croce. La seconda cosa che mi ha colpito era la stanza piena di bambini felici che ridevano e giocavano; c’erano tanti giocattoli e bei disegni fatti dai bambini. Una suora mi ha abbracciato e mi ha preso per mano a mostrarmi gli altri ambienti. Non ho mai dimenticato il suo sorriso. Mi sono sentita a casa.

Durante gli anni di studio pregavo tanto, quasi ogni giorno, nella cappella della scuola, ed ho cominciato piano piano a conoscere la fede cattolica. Le suore mi hanno dato un grande esempio di fede e anche di servizio e amore per gli altri. Noi studenti eravamo tutti come i loro figli. Crescendo in un ambiente cattolico, ho realmente capito cosa vuol dire essere rispettata e mi sono sentita rispettata. Ho imparato che ognuno deve essere amato, nonostante la sua condizione o i suoi sbagli, perchè ognuno è un figlio amato da Dio, ognuno ha un’unica identità. Ho imparato a vedere gli altri come fratelli e sorelle e anche ad amarli. Ho vissuto la forza e la infinita gioia che viene dalla preghiera: esperienze che poi mi hanno accompagnato per tutta la mia vita.

Le suore mi hanno accompagnato per nove anni della mia vità, dall’asilo fino al liceo. Loro sono state per me la mia seconda famiglia. Con loro frequentavo il catechismo, pregavo, ridevo, ballavo, cantavo e giocavo ogni giorno. Con loro ero felice. La cosa più importante di questo viaggio di nove anni é il fatto che io mi sono sempre sentita libera di essere me stessa, e anche amata senza condizioni . Durante questi anni ho imparato il valore e l`importanza dell`amore vero e puro, di quell’amore che non conosce limiti e condizioni umane.

Ho frequentato il liceo in una scuola dei Gesuiti. Gli esercizi spirituali, la santa messa e la preghiera erano diventati cibo per la mia anima. Sopratutto le frasi del Vangelo mi riempivano di profonda gioia, di amore per gli altri e di un grande coraggio nei confronti della vita.

Ho continuato cosí per i quattro anni di liceo. Nel 2011 ho cominciato l’Universitá e contemporaneamente è iniziato un periodo difficilissimo della mia vita: per la prima volta mi sono arrabbiata con Dio, ho smesso di pregare e non sono più andata in chiesa. Ho trascorso quattro anni nel buio, senza luce. Un giorno, dopo tanto tempo, sono andata a visitare le suore della scuola dove avevo studiato per nove anni. E` stato un momento chiave nella mia vita. Loro erano le stesse di sempre. Mi hanno abbracciato con amore e grande gioia. Dopo l’incontro con le suore, ho ricordato tutto: le messe e le preghiere vissute insieme, i giorni pieni di felicità. Quei ricordi sono stati una candela di luce in mezzo al buio profondo. Dopo tanto tempo, mi sono rimessa in piedi, per pregare. Ho capito che tutto quello che stavo ricordando aveva un solo nome: si chiamava amore. Tutta quella storia era la mia storia d`amore. Durante quel lungo e triste periodo, Dio stava scrivendo una storia d’amore per me. E questo, Dio lo fa con tutti. Lui ha una speciale storia d’amore con ognuno.

Da quel giorno, ho cominciato a leggere il Vangelo e ad andare in chiesa per pregare. Spesso durante la preghiera mi veniva un grande desiderio di ricevere il Battesimo. Era come una chiamata, una richiesta che veniva dalla profonditá della mia anima ma, a causa della famiglia e della mentalita` che esiste nel mio paese, non avevo il coraggio di accettare ciò che il mio cuore cercava e desiderava.

Un giorno, in un incontro di giovani, alla S.Messa, mi hanno incaricato di leggere questa preghiera: “Dio, fá che la luce che hai acceso in noi con il Battesimo, non si spenga mai, da nessuna difficoltà, ma sempre splenda per te”. Dopo questa preghiera, mi sono sentita fortemente convinta di voler ricevere il Battesimo, soprattutto ero convinta che Dio voleva farmi un grande regalo, ed io gli volevo fare una promessa per sempre, con il mio Battesimo.

La Domenica di Pasqua dello scorso anno, ho ricevuto il Battesimo e la Prima Comunione. Da quel giorno la mia vita é totalmente cambiata. Il buio é scomparso. La luce di Cristo ha riempito la mia vita. Ho cominciato a camminare con Gesù ogni giorno, facendo dei piccoli passi. Il Vangelo mi riempie ogni giorno di gioia e di felicitá profonda. Nel Vangelo ho trovato le risposte che cercavo per la mia vita. La santa Messa e la preghiera mi riempiono di profonda pace spirituale. Attraverso i Sacramenti della Sua Santa Chiesa, Dio mi ha fatto il regalo più grande che un Padre possa fare alla sua figlia: una nuova vita!

I cambiamenti sono venuti gradualmente, con il tempo, ma ciò che Dio mi ha regalato attraverso lo Spirito Santo, é la forza e il coraggio di cambiare.

Quello che vi voglio comunicare é che Dio continua a parlarci ogni giorno. Noi dobbiamo solo ascoltarlo. Lui non si stanca mai di dirci che ci ama.

Per me, vivere la fede cattolica, significa vivere ogni giorno una promessa d’amore. Con la croce di Gesù noi abbiamo una promessa d’amore, per sempre! Una promessa fatta dal Padre per tutti i suoi figli. Io, sempre, quando faccio il segno della croce, ricordo questa promessa. Gesù ha vinto sulla morte per dirci che l’amore di Dio sempre vincerà! Il suo amore é l’unica realtá che vincerá. Noi sappiamo questo con sicurezza, perché Gesù stesso lo ha dimostrato.

Allora, se realmente viviamo e abbracciamo forte questa promessa, ogni momento della nostra vita sará riempito di gioia vera e pura, gioia che viene solo da Dio.

Con Gesù possiamo sempre ricominciare di nuovo. Con Lui possiamo cambiare, trasformarci e anche rinascere in una nuova vita. Lui é nato perché noi possiamo rinascere di nuovo.

Testimonianza – Giovane Studente dei Paesi Bassi

My name is Simon Janssen, I am 21 years old and I am from the Netherlands.

I would like to share with you my experiences and my vision on accompaniment of the youth in the Catholic Church, and in specific in the Netherlands. I would like to do that in three points. Firstly, I would like to tell you about the situation of the Church in the Netherlands. Next, I would like to share about my life with Christ and the Church so far and I would like to close with my vision and recommendation on accompaniment of the Youth.

1. The situation of the church in the Netherlands.

I’d like to start with some numbers. In 1975, 38% of the Netherlands was Catholic,

these days, 23% of the Dutch citizens calls themselves Catholic, but less than 1% of the Dutch citizens visits the Church weekly^[1]. When I sit in Church and look around, I see mostly grey hair, or no hair at all. Parishes are being merged and the Catholic youth day is, for now, not being organised because of lack of income(and interest).

Nevertheless, some great activities are organised by several different communities and organisations. Such as the teen summer and winter camp of the charismatic renewal, the eastern trilogy and others

2. My experiences in the Dutch Catholic church.

I was born and raised in a catholic family. Evening prayer, going to masses on Sundays and attending catholic summer camps was normal. In my young days, I knew two things; 1. masses were boring; especially until I did my first communion; it was the one hour being punished even though I did nothing wrong. However, after my first communion it was more easy for I was helping the priest on the altar and I could walk around during masses. The second thing I knew was that my catholic parents weren’t crazy. So even though I was not doing much with it I knew there was a God and it was not weird to believe in him.

As I became 13, i went to a Teen summer camp organised by the Catholic Charismatic renewal. It was my first encounter with non-pipe organ Christian music, but also my first encounter with personal prayer. People shared what God had done in their lives and for the first time I was invited to make a personal decision to be open to God. During adoration I told Jesus in a very simple prayer; Lord, I want to walk with you, show me what is good. In response God gave me so much happiness in my heart that I knew that it was good.

Although my own parish didn’t organise much in the church, from this day on I started to attend and organise all sorts of catholic activities. Every summer I went to the same camp, and in December I went to the winter version of it. For my parents were in the Emmanuel Community I also attended monthly weekends, and later I started organising them. Every of these activities helped me in four ways: Building catholic friendships by doing crazy stuff (like walking in the forest form 23.00 to 03.00 and getting lost), getting input on several subjects, especially the controversial subject like ethics and theology of the body. Also, the couple that was responsible was interested in everyone and very open. This way I felt really welcome the way I am. And last but not least: The sacraments and prayer time. We had praise, adoration, Priere du freres, possibility to confess and daily masses.

These four things were very important to me.

1. The friendships helped me to realise that although, I was the only catholic in high school, I was not alone. These open warm friendships helped me to be myself and I could really rely on my friends, for I knew that we were living the same things. It even got me and my friends to start a catholic praise band.
2. input: At the Camps, or the weekends, we had input about different subjects. This information helped me to understand my own faith, but also to defend it when it was attacked, for example in school.
3. At every weekend or camp, there were people that were not especially responsible for something. They were only there to talk. Whenever you had questions; about faith, about sex, about life or about friendships, they were open for a conversation, and these conversations were confidential. This helped me so much to understand things in my own life. How to implement my faith in daily life
4. Prayer and the sacraments: it learnt me to pray when i was at home, it gave me great joy to praise together or to celebrate mass together and it gave me so much grace.

After this high school, I attended a gap-year program with the Emmanuel community: the Emmanuel school of mission. The most important thing for me is that I was invited to share my faith, in the streets, in classrooms and with other events. To completely strange people I shared how God touched me, and that made it easier for me to share the same to people that are standing nearer to me.

Now, I’m studying in Nijmegen, which has a very good catholic student group, and I am a member of the Emmanuel community. This is a commitment members retake every year. This brings me to my last point: inviting and inviting for commitment. I was welcomed in the Emmanuel Community, and after several events, I was asked to commit and to help out in the community.

So now I have a household; a prayer and sharing group in the community, and I have accompaniment. A one hour talk with someone from the community(also laity). This person helps you to realise where you are standing in your faith and relationship with Christ, but does not give you advice. He (for males) can be seen as a mirror.

I like points; so here is my 6 point recommendation for accompaniment of the youth.

1. we need strong examples; we need to see our parents, accompinateurs, priests, brothers and sisters loving God and we need them to be enthusiastic about Jesus. It shows us that, although the world tells us differently, we are not crazy.
2. We need friendships: people around us that we can rely on, talk to, share our difficulties with and just to have fun. For me when I was sixteen, this helped me to not get drunk with my friends from school, but spend the weekend learning to play praise songs together and sharing about my faith.
3. We need Input: we need information about our faith, about how we can explain catholic teaching and so much more. As I said, this helped me to defend and explain my faith, but as I understood more, It helped me in growing in faith.
4. We need to talk: We need to share our difficulties with persons with experience in life and in faith. As it may be a lot of questions when we are young, later; it becomes a mirror where it can help us to see where we are standing and how our relationship with God is doing.
5. We need prayer and the sacraments. We need to learn to pray, to learn to make time to pray and we need the grace given by God in the sacraments; especially in mass and in in the sacrament of reconciliation.
6. we need to be invited to go to activities that help us grow in faith, and if we are invited, we need to be invited to commit. We live in a society where commitment is rare, because the youth thinks that commitment makes you less free; instead they need to be invited to give themselves in the parish, in communities or at activities to see that commitment gives you so much more.

So i’ll repeat the six points:

Examples, friendships, input, talking, prayer and sacraments and we need to be invited, and be invited to commit.

If you have any questions, I’ll be very happy to answer them.

Thank you very much.

^[1] Kaski Radboud University

Cardinale Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Vice-Presidente della Conferenza Episcopale Spagnola

HOMILIA

El texto bíblico que acabamos de proclamar en esta oración de alabanza matutina nos habla del amor de Dios, un amor tierno y apasionado por su pueblo. Este amor suyo llega hasta el extremo al enviarnos su Hijo al mundo, venido en carne, despojándose de su rango y rebajándose hasta lo último en una muerte como la de la Cruz. No cabe más amor. Por eso, aquí está la clave de todo: acercarse a Cristo, encontrarse con El, llevar a los hombres, a los Jóvenes, hasta El, llevarles a la luz que es Cristo. El que es la Luz y la Verdad, ha venido para dar testimonio de la Verdad, que se realiza en el amor, un amor sin medida como el de Jesús: la verdad de Dios y la verdad del hombre. Nada de lo humano le es ajeno a El. Es la clave para ver y comprender esa gran y fundamental realidad que es el hombre. No se puede comprender y ver al hombre hasta el fondo sin Cristo. O más bien, el hombre no es capaz de verse a sí mismo, de comprenderse a sí mismo hasta el fondo y llegar a ser lo que es y está llamado a ser hasta el fondo sin Cristo. No puede entender quién es, ni cuál es su verdadera dignidad, ni cuál es su vocación, ni su destino final. No puede ver y entender todo esto sin Cristo. Y por esto no se puede excluir a Cristo de la historia del hombre en ninguna parte. Excluir a Cristo de la historia del hombre es un acto contra el hombre; la historia de cada hombre se desarrolla en Jesucristo; en El se hace historia de salvación, historia del amor de Dios en favor del hombre.

Todo hombre,- también el hombre roto de hoy, las nuevas generaciones -todo lo humano, la cultura y las culturas en las que se expresan las búsquedas e inquietudes de la humanidad – también la cultura quebrada de nuestra época- están hechos para el encuentro con Cristo, y sólo en Cristo podrán encontrar el camino de la realización plena de la propia humanidad. El mundo actual necesita ver; son muchos los hechos, las corrientes de pensamiento en la cultura dominante, los comportamientos de los hombres que están expresando que el mundo necesita ver, que reclama una profunda reconstrucción para que pueda tener otras miradas que le conduzcan por sendas de humanidad verdadera. Los países de vieja tradición cristiana, la vieja Europa necesita de una inmensa tarea de reconstrucción. Esta reconstrucción ha de empezar por la recuperación de la persona humana. La clave para esa recuperación es el encuentro con Jesucristo, el Redentor del hombre, el que nos guía y nos hace participar de la verdad que libera. De ahí que urja el encuentro personal de los jóvenes con Cristo, y así habrá esa reconstrucción tan necesaria como urgente y por ello la necesidad apremiante de una nueva evangelización de los jóvenes de hoy que les conduzca a ese encuentro con Cristo.

Por ello la reconstrucción de un mundo humano y la evangelización son como dos caras de la misma realidad. No habrá reconstrucción sin una nueva evangelización y al revés, una evangelización que no generase una humanidad nueva, una nueva cultura no sería una evangelización verdadera. Urge el que las nuevas generaciones vengan al encuentro con Cristo, para hallar el verdadero, el pleno, el profundo significado de ser hombre o el profundo significado de palabras y realidades tan claves como paz, amor, justicia. La tarea es enorme, pero tenemos todos los motivos del mundo para la esperanza: en medio de la gran dificultad del momento, el drama del corazón humano permanece ahí, y ese corazón humano está hecho para el encuentro con Cristo, sus ojos están hechos para ver la luz y abrirse a la verdad, que es Cristo, el corazón del hombre, el corazón del joven están hechos para ese encuentro, para que vea y siga a Cristo.

Cardinale Vincent Nichols, Vice-Presidente del CCEE

Homily

The first reading in our Mass this evening is one of the most beautiful and evocative passages in the Bible. These words of Ezekiel flow throughout the Biblical texts. They are echoed in the words of Jesus as he proclaims: ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me. Let him come and drink!’ (Jn 7:37). They appear in the Book of Revelation where we read this: ‘Then the angel showed me the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and flowing crystal-clear down the middle of the city street. On either side of the river were the trees of life’ (Rev 22:1-2).

Ezekiel’s vision of an issue of water flowing from the Temple came to him on a day when the Temple of Jerusalem had been destroyed. It is, then, a vision of great hope, a vision of a life-giving stream, that widens and deepens until it makes wholesome even the sea itself. On the banks of the great river stand trees that are not supremely fruitful but whose leaves bring about the healing of the people.

The Gospel of John gives us the interpretation of this vision: ‘As scripture says: From his breast shall flow fountains of living water. He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive’ (Jn 7:38-39). Thus we can readily see that the side of the Temple, of which Ezekiel speaks, is indeed the side of Jesus, from which flowed forth blood and water (Jn 19:34), two of the three witnesses about which John speaks in his First Letter. The third and invisible witness is the Holy Spirit, poured out afresh from the wounds of Christ (1 Jn 5:7-8).
I have long been fascinated by a detail to be found in most images of Christ crucified. I am no doctor, but I know that the heart is situated on the left side of our chest. Yet in all classical crucifixes, the wound through which the heart of Jesus is pierced is to be seen on the right hand side of his body. It is the visual expression of this same text: that the saving waters, the gift of the Holy Spirit, flow from the right side of the Holy Temple, which is his Body.

From the very first moments of his conception, which we have just celebrated, the life of Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is as if he being is filled to overflowing with that presence and power. Today’s Gospel is an example. It is in the power of that Holy Spirit that Jesus cures the sick man and, in doing so, begins the process whereby he identifies himself with the new Temple. The person of Jesus is like a jar, filled to the brim with the Holy Spirit. It is only when this alabaster jar is shattered, during his Passion, that its content and fragrance fills the whole house. And that house is, in the first place, the Church.

Indeed we can say that the last breath of Jesus is the first breath of the Church. As he breathes his last, the Church breathes in the new life of the Holy Spirit that is to flow from her, giving healing and life to all who come to those waters. These words are engraved above the baptismal font at the Lateran Basilica: ‘This is the wellspring that cleansed the whole world – having its source in the wound of Christ’ (Fons hic est qui totum diluit orbem sumens de Christi vulnere principium).
Today, as we strive to live in the Church by that same Spirit, there is a solemn warning that we do well to heed.

It was spoken by the future Patriarch Ignatius IV: ‘Without the Holy Spirit, God is far away, Christ stays in the past, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church simply an organisation,authority a matter of domination, mission a matter of propaganda, liturgy no more than an evocation, Christian living a slave morality. But with the Holy Spirit, the cosmos is resurrected and groans with the birth pangs of the kingdom, the risen Christ is there, the Gospel is the power of life, mission is a Pentecost, the liturgy is both memorial and anticipation, and human action is deified’ (Bishop Ignatius Hazim, Address to the Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Uppsala, 1968).

As we ponder and explore the theme of this Symposium – accompanying young people – we remember that our task is always to help them discern the will of God for them, the greatness to which our loving Father is summoning them. As Pope Benedict said, we are made not for comfort, but for greatness. Our stance, then, is always one of being open to the Holy Spirit, of wanting, in humble obedience, to discern the promptings of that Spirit and to respond, step by step, to that challenging call.

The Spirit is first poured out in the act of creation in which is first written the basic grammar of our human nature. And it is, as I said this afternoon, a grammar of gift. We who receive life as a gift, find the fulfilment of our lives when we give our lives as a gift, a gift made in faithfulness and love. Yet we are also fallen creatures. Left to ourselves we lose our way in the multitude of options and attractions which confront us. We stand in need, then, of receiving the drama of our salvation, and that drama is so vividly described in that stream of water, flowing from the right side of the Temple, becoming a great torrent of love, which brings healing and growth to all who are caught in its embrace. The salvation offered to us in Jesus is for the healing of our nature so that we may indeed attain the fulfilment for which we have been made: the fulfilment that comes with the utter, unrestricted gift of ourselves.

This is the heart of every vocation. Today we strive to understand the dynamic of the Holy Spirit at work in young lives, and to understand our part in serving that dynamic. At this moment, during this Mass, we open ourselves entirely to that same Spirit, here as we stand at the foot of the Cross and partake afresh in the outpouring of the Spirit from the wounds of Jesus, held before us in this Sacrifice.

We pray again the words of the ancient prayer:
Anima Christi, sanctifica me,
Corpus Christi, salva me,
Sanguis Christi, inebria me,
Aqua lateris Christi, lava me.
Soul of my Saviour sanctify my breast,
Body of Christ be thou my saving guest,
Blood of my Saviour bathe me in thy tide,
Wash me with water flowing from thy side.
Amen.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols is Archbishop of Westminster and Vice-President of CCEE

Don Michel Remery, Vice Segretario General del CCEE

The path towards the Symposium and presentation of the programme

At the beginning of this Symposium, I am glad to reiterate briefly the steps that led us to the European event we are starting today. The idea for this Symposium was born two years ago during a meeting of the CCEE commission for Catechesis, School and University. The importance of continuity in the accompaniment of young people was recognised, together with the fact that this continuity goes beyond the specific contribution of the various pastoral sectors. This was the start of a truly European path of preparation, which involved the delegates from all the members of CCEE for the pastoral sectors of Catechesis, School, University, Youth and Vocations.

In September 2015, a committee representing the five sectors convened in Malta and drafted a document, which was discussed during the first half of 2016 at separate meetings with the national delegates from all five sectors. Many of you have participated in one of these meetings. The result was a reflection aid document, drafted in Madrid and Rome on the basis of your reactions by another committee representing the five sectors, together with the bishops responsible for these fields in Europe. Hopefully the document has been of help in preparing yourself for this Symposium!

Another result of the Europe-wide consultation was a great amount of suggestions for the programme, which we have tried to incorporate as much as possible. This has led to the present programme, which consists of three main parts.

• First, we will look at the person being accompanied. This part will be introduced by the president of the CCEE Commission for Catechesis, School, and University, His Grace Marek Jędraszewski. And then we will see a video made by young people from Barcelona, giving an insight into the challenges, problems and joys of young people today in Europe.

• Second, we will study accompaniment Four young people will speak about the theme on the basis of their personal experience of receiving accompaniment. This section will be introduced by the person who organizes the World Youth Days, Fr João Chagas. With the help of His Grace Jean-Claude Hollerich and five expert delegates, we will think about what it means to accompany a person throughout their entire life.

• Third, we will reflect on the person who accompanies. The contribution of Sr Lola Arrieta, who herself has great experience in accompanying young people, will be further illustrated by three brief video testimonials about accompaniment.

In order for the Symposium to be as beneficial to you as possible, we invite you to make use of the opportunities provided, to intervene during the moments of dialogue with the assembly. Furthermore, there are two planned moments of dialogue in smaller groups. Another way of exchanging among yourselves will be the market of “best practices”, which intends to be more than just a moment of marketing, inviting you to also look beyond the actual projects presented towards the fact that there are many ways to work on evangelisation and that this work is very much worth the effort.

Knowing that in the end the fruits of accompaniment do not depend on our own doing, but on God, prayer will be given an important place in the programme, with a prayer vigil with young people, and votive Masses for vocations and the family. The apex of our liturgical journey during this Symposium will be the celebration of Mass in the basilica of the Sagrada Família.

Indeed, Barcelona is the home of this very precious example of sacred architecture, which was designed by Antoni Gaudí. Our visit to this masterpiece will serve as an example of alternative ways of accompanying young people, in casu through beauty, art, architecture and liturgy.

The announcing in October last year by our Holy Father, Pope Francis, of a Synod of Bishops in 2018 on “Youth, faith and vocational discernment” has been a further stimulus in the development of the programme of our CCEE Symposium. The General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, will inform us about the preparation of the Synod.

Please allow me to express my gratitude to you, the participants in this Symposium. Your reply to our invitation to participate was literally overwhelming. With some 275 delegates present, from almost all the members of CCEE, this is a great witness to our European continent that the Church takes the questions regarding the accompaniment of young people very seriously. It is our hope that you will return home with new ideas and new enthusiasm to continue to accompany young people to freely respond to Christ’s call. I ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and wish you all a very fruitful Symposium.