Pope Benedict XVI - World Youth Day 2008 |
"Choose
the Path of Life and Shun the Path of Death"
Address to Disadvantaged Youth
His Holiness Benedict XVI
Sydney, Australia
July 18, 2007
The following is
the address Pope Benedict XVI gave to a group of disadvantaged young
people of the rehabilitation community at the university of Notre
Dame. The meeting took place at the Church of the Sacred Heart.
Dear Young Friends,
I am pleased to be with you at Darlinghurst today, and I warmly
greet all those taking part in the “Alive” programme, as well as the
staff who run it. I pray that you will all benefit from the
assistance offered by the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Social Services
Agency, and that the good work being done here will continue long
into the future.
The name of the programme you are following prompts us to ask the
question: what does it really mean to be “alive”, to live life to
the full? This is what all of us want, especially when we are young,
and it is what Christ wants for us. In fact, he said: “I have come
that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). The
most basic instinct of all living things is to stay alive, to grow,
to flourish, and to pass on the gift of life to others. So it is
only natural that we should ask how best to do this.
For the people of the Old Testament, this question was just as
urgent as it is for us today. No doubt they listened attentively
when Moses said to them: “I set before you life or death, blessing
or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may
live in the love of the Lord your God, obeying his voice, clinging
to him – for in this your life consists” (Dt 30:19-20). It was clear
what they had to do: they had to turn away from other gods and
worship the true God who had revealed himself to Moses – and they
had to obey his commandments. You might think that in today’s world,
people are unlikely to start worshipping other gods. But sometimes
people worship “other gods” without realizing it. False “gods”,
whatever name, shape or form we give them, are nearly always
associated with the worship of three things: material possessions,
possessive love, or power. Let me explain what I mean.
Material possessions, in themselves, are good. We would not survive
for long without money, clothing and shelter. We must eat in order
to stay alive. Yet if we are greedy, if we refuse to share what we
have with the hungry and the poor, then we make our possessions into
a false god. How many voices in our materialist society tell us that
happiness is to be found by acquiring as many possessions and
luxuries as we can! But this is to make possessions into a false
god. Instead of bringing life, they bring death.
Authentic love is obviously something good. Without it, life would
hardly be worth living. It fulfils our deepest need, and when we
love, we become most fully ourselves, most fully human. But how
easily it can be made into a false god! People often think they are
being loving when actually they are being possessive or
manipulative. People sometimes treat others as objects to satisfy
their own needs rather than as persons to be loved and cherished.
How easy it is to be deceived by the many voices in our society that
advocate a permissive approach to sexuality, without regard for
modesty, self-respect or the moral values that bring quality to
human relationships! This is worship of a false god. Instead of
bringing life, it brings death.
The power God has given us to shape the world around us is obviously
something good. Used properly and responsibly, it enables us to
transform people’s lives. Every community needs good leaders. Yet
how tempting it can be to grasp at power for its own sake, to seek
to dominate others or to exploit the natural environment for selfish
purposes! This is to make power into a false god. Instead of
bringing life, it brings death.
The cult of material possessions, the cult of possessive love and
the cult of power often lead people to attempt to “play God”: to try
to seize total control, with no regard for the wisdom or the
commandments that God has made known to us. This is the path that
leads towards death. By contrast, worship of the one true God means
recognizing in him the source of all goodness, entrusting ourselves
to him, opening ourselves to the healing power of his grace and
obeying his commandments: that is the way to choose life.
A vivid illustration of what it means to turn back from the path of
death onto the path of life is found in a Gospel story that I am
sure you all know well: the parable of the prodigal son. When that
young man left his father’s house at the beginning of the story, he
was seeking the illusory pleasures promised by false “gods”. He
squandered his inheritance on a life of indulgence, and ended up in
abject poverty and misery. When he reached the very lowest point,
hungry and abandoned, he realized how foolish he had been to leave
his loving father. Humbly, he returned and asked forgiveness.
Joyfully his father embraced him and exclaimed: “This son of mine
was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found” (Lk
15:24).
Many of you must have had personal experience of what that young man
went through. Perhaps you have made choices that you now regret,
choices that led you down a path which, however attractive it
appeared at the time, only led you deeper into misery and
abandonment. The choice to abuse drugs or alcohol, to engage in
criminal activity or self-harm, may have seemed at the time to offer
a way out of a difficult or confusing situation. You now know that,
instead of bringing life, it brings death. I wish to acknowledge
your courage in choosing to turn back onto the path of life, just
like the young man in the parable. You have accepted help – from
friends or family, from the staff who run the “Alive” programme:
from people who care deeply for your well-being and happiness.
Dear friends, I see you as ambassadors of hope to others in similar
situations. You can convince them of the need to choose the path of
life and shun the path of death, because you speak from experience.
All through the Gospels, it was those who had taken wrong turnings
who were particularly loved by Jesus, because once they recognized
their mistake, they were all the more open to his healing message.
Indeed, Jesus was often criticized by self-righteous members of
society for spending so much time with such people. “Why does your
master eat with tax collectors and sinners?”, they asked. He
responded: “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick
… I did not come to call the virtuous but sinners” (cf. Mt 9:11-13).
It was those who were willing to rebuild their lives who were most
ready to listen to Jesus and become his disciples. You can follow in
their footsteps, you too can grow particularly close to Jesus
because you have chosen to turn back towards him. You can be sure
that, just like the Father in the story of the prodigal son, Jesus
welcomes you with open arms. He offers you unconditional love – and
it is in loving friendship with him that the fullness of life is to
be found.
I mentioned earlier that when we love we are fulfilling our deepest
need and becoming most fully ourselves, most fully human. Loving is
what we are programmed to do, what we were designed for by our
Creator. Naturally, I am not talking about fleeting, shallow
relationships, I am talking about real love, the very heart of
Jesus’ moral teaching: “You must love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all
your strength” and “You must love your neighbour as yourself” (cf.
Mk 12:30-31). This, if you like, is the programme that is hard-wired
into every human person, if only we had the wisdom and generosity to
live by it, if only we were ready to sacrifice our own preferences
so as to be of service to others, to give our lives for the good of
others, and above all for Jesus, who loved us and gave his life for
us. That is what human beings are called to do, that is what it
means to be truly alive.
Dear young friends, my message to you today is the same one that
Moses proposed all those years ago. “Choose life, so that you and
your descendants may live in the love of the Lord your God”. Let his
Spirit guide you onto the path of life, so that you obey his
commandments, follow his teachings, leave behind the wrong turnings
that lead only to death, and commit yourselves to a lifelong
friendship with Jesus Christ. In the power of the Holy Spirit,
choose life and choose love, and bear witness before the world to
the joy that it brings. That is my prayer for each one of you this
World Youth Day. May God bless you all.
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