Once I asked you the question: "Where is your treasure? In what does your   
   heart find its rest?". Our hearts can be attached to true or false treasures,   
   they can find genuine rest or they can simply slumber, becoming lazy and   
   lethargic. The greatest good we can have in life is our relationship with God.   
   Are you convinced of this? Do you realise how much you are worth in the eyes   
   of God? Do you know that you are loved and welcomed by him unconditionally, as   
   indeed you are? Once we lose our sense of this, we human beings become an   
   incomprehensible enigma, for it is the knowledge that we are loved   
   unconditionally by God which gives meaning to our lives. Do you remember the   
   conversation that Jesus had with the rich young man? The evangelist Mark   
   observes that the Lord looked upon him and loved him, and invited him to   
   follow him and thus to find true riches. I hope, dear young friends, that this   
   loving gaze of Christ will accompany each of you throughout life.   
    Youth is a time of life when your desire for a love which is genuine,   
   beautiful and expansive begins to blossom in your hearts. How powerful is this   
   ability to love and to be loved! Do not let this precious treasure be debased,   
   destroyed or spoiled. That is what happens when we start to use our neighbours   
   for our own selfish ends, even as objects of pleasure. Hearts are broken and   
   sadness follows upon these negative experiences. I urge you: Do not be afraid   
   of true love, the love that Jesus teaches us and which St. Paul describes as   
   "patient and kind". Paul says: "Love is not jealous or boastful; it is not   
   arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or   
   resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears   
   all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things".   
    In encouraging you to rediscover the beauty of the human vocation to love, I   
   also urge you to rebel against the widespread tendency to reduce love to   
   something banal, reducing it to its sexual aspect alone, deprived of its   
   essential characteristics of beauty, communion, fidelity and responsibility.   
   Dear young friends, "in a culture of relativism and the ephemeral, many preach   
   the importance of ‘enjoying' the moment. They say that it is not worth making   
   a life-long commitment, making a definitive decision, ‘for ever', because we   
   do not know what tomorrow will bring. I ask you, instead, to be    
   evolutionaries, I ask you to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to   
   rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that   
   ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility, that believes you are   
   incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you. Have the   
   courage to ‘swim against the tide'. And also have the courage to be happy".   
    You young people are brave adventurers! If you allow yourselves to discover   
   the rich teachings of the Church on love, you will discover that Christianity   
   does not consist of a series of prohibitions which stifle our desire for   
   happiness, but rather a project for life capable of captivating our hearts.   
    3. ... for they shall see God   
    In the heart of each man and woman, the Lord's invitation constantly   
   resounds: "Seek my face!". At the same time, we must always realise that we   
   are poor sinners. For example, we read in the Book of Psalms: "Who can climb   
   the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? The one who has   
   clean hands and a pure heart". But we must never be afraid or discouraged:   
   throughout the Bible and in the history of each one of us we see that it is   
   always God who takes the first step. He purifies us so that we can come into   
   his presence.   
    When the prophet Isaiah heard the Lord's call to speak in his name, he was   
   terrified and said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean   
   lips". And yet the Lord purified him, sending to him an angel who touched his   
   lips, saying: "Your guilt is taken away, and your sin is forgiven". In the New   
   Testament, when on the shores of lake Genessaret Jesus called his first   
   disciples and performed the sign of the miraculous catch of fish, Simon Peter   
   fell at his feet, exclaiming: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord".   
   Jesus' reply was immediate: "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be fishers   
   of men". And when one of the disciples of Jesus asked him: "Lord, show us the   
   Father, and we shall be satisfied", the Master replied: "He who has seen me   
   has seen the Father.   
    The Lord's invitation to encounter him is made to each of you, in whatever   
   place or situation you find yourself. It suffices to have the desire for "a   
   renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to   
   letting him encounter you; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day".   
   We are all sinners, needing to be purified by the Lord. But it is enough to   
   take a small step towards Jesus to realise that he awaits us always with open   
   arms, particularly in the sacrament of Reconciliation, a privileged   
   opportunity to encounter that divine mercy which purifies us and renews our   
   hearts.   
    Dear young people, the Lord wants to meet us, to let himself "be seen" by us.   
   "And how?", you might ask me. St. Teresa of Avila, born in Spain five hundred   
   years ago, even as a young girl, said to her parents, "I want to see God". She   
   subsequently discovered the way of prayer as "an intimate friendship with the   
   One who makes us feel loved". So my question to you is this: "Are you   
   praying?" Do you know that you can speak with Jesus, with the Father, with the   
   Holy Spirit, as you speak to a friend? And not just any friend, but the   
   greatest and most trusted of your friends! You will discover what one of his   
   parishioners told the Curé of Ars: "When I pray before the tabernacle, ‘I look   
   at him, and he looks at me'".   
    Once again I invite you to encounter the Lord by frequently reading sacred   
   Scripture. If you are not already in the habit of doing so, begin with the   
   Gospels. Read a line or two each day. Let God's word speak to your heart and   
   enlighten your path. You will discover that God can be "seen" also in the face   
   of your brothers and sisters, especially those who are most forgotten: the   
   poor, the hungry, those who thirst, strangers, the sick, those imprisoned.   
   Have you ever had this experience? Dear young people, in order to enter into   
   the logic of the Kingdom of Heaven, we must recognise that we are poor with   
   the poor. A pure heart is necessarily one which has been stripped bare, a   
   heart that knows how to bend down and share its life with those most in need.   
    Encountering God in prayer, the reading of the Bible and in the fraternal   
   life will help you better to know the Lord and yourselves. Like the disciples   
   on the way to Emmaus, the Lord's voice will make your hearts burn within you.   
   He will open your eyes to recognise his presence and to discover the loving   
   plan he has for your life.   
    Some of you feel, or will soon feel, the Lord's call to married life, to   
   forming a family. Many people today think that this vocation is "outdated",   
   but that is not true! For this very reason, the ecclesial community has been   
   engaged in a special period of reflection on the vocation and the mission of   
   the family in the Church and the contemporary world. I also ask you to   
   consider whether you are being called to the consecrated life or the   
   priesthood. How beautiful it is to see young people who embrace the call to   
   dedicate themselves fully to Christ and to the service of his Church!   
   Challenge yourselves, and with a pure heart do not be afraid of what God is   
   asking of you! From your "yes" to the Lord's call, you will become new seeds   
   of hope in the Church and in society. Never forget: God's will is our   
   happiness!   
    4. On the way to Krakow   
    "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God". Dear young men and   
   women, as you see, this beatitude speaks directly to your lives and is a   
   guarantee of your happiness. So once more I urge you: Have the courage to be   
   happy!   
    This year's World Youth Day begins the final stage of preparations for the   
   great gathering of young people from around the world in Krakow in 2016.   
   Thirty years ago St. John Paul II instituted World Youth Days in the Church.   
   This pilgrimage of young people from every continent under the guidance of the   
   Successor of Peter has truly been a providential and prophetic initiative.   
   Together let us thank the Lord for the precious fruits which these World Youth   
   Days have produced in the lives of countless young people in every part of the   
   globe! How many amazing discoveries have been made, especially the discovery   
   that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life! How many people have realised   
   that the Church is a big and welcoming family! How many conversions, how many   
   vocations have these gatherings produced! May the saintly Pope, the Patron of   
   World Youth Day, intercede on behalf of our pilgrimage toward his beloved   
   Krakow. And may the maternal gaze of the Blessed Virgin Mary, full of grace,   
   all-beautiful and all-pure, accompany us at every step along the way.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 17 February 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed   
   Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, apostolic nuncio in the Democratic Republic of   
   Congo, as apostolic nuncio in Australia.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)