Questions to youth

“We are living in a social and political crisis that has its roots in the history of past decades, a crisis that especially reveals a particular anxiety about the future. Messages of apprehension about the future, in particular for those living in situations of professional precariousness. That’s why we need to stop to reflect on how we foresee our destiny. Who has the solutions for our future? What awaits us? What is our hope?”. These are the questions that the archbishop of Paris, the Most Rev. ANDRE’ VINGT-TROIS, has posed to the hundreds of young people who took part in the usual “Pilgrimage of Students” to Chartres on 25-26 March. The pilgrimage is now in its 71st year. THE CRUX OF THE QUESTION. The archbishop’s letter inevitably makes reference to the social tensions that have been inflaming France in recent days. In response to these tensions we need, the archbishop told the young, “to reflect on the way in which we represent our future. What are our expectations? And what is our hope?”. “For many – says Vingt-Trois – the sole hope that motivates us is that of security: security of work, standard of life, health. But who can make you believe he can guarantee these securities? Quite honestly – the archbishop continues – I think no one today is able to guarantee to you a standard of living comparable to that enjoyed by your parents”. The crux of the question is “knowing to what you should attribute the greatest value and what can lead you to the full realization of your life and of your capacities, what can lead you to an inner harmony that may permit you to experience happiness”. NOT A TRIVIAL HAPPINESS . “But not a trivial happiness measurable against the securities guaranteed by a collective contract or a protected profession – explains the archbishop -, but the genuine and deep happiness that only the joy of being in the world and living can give”. “This happiness – insists the archbishop – is not something that can be served to you on a silver platter with the talisman of a diploma or degree. We need to build it ourselves and reconstruct it day after day” because it is born “from the decision to place our life at the service of others and of dedicating ourselves to changing the world”. It is, in short, “the result of the love that transforms our life by giving it a new dimension. It is not rest after labour: it is the daily re-awakening of concern for our fellowmen”. PLAYING OUR PART. “The time has come for everyone to reflect on the world we are creating and to play our part in a serious and democratic debate”: that is the appeal made by Vingt-Trois to the young. He invites them to reason on the “contribution that Christians can make”. Recalling the Gospel passage of the healing of the man born blind ( John 9: 1-12), the archbishop emphasises that “to accept the light of Christ, we must be able to recognise that we ourselves are not the light, and that we have a need to be illuminated and healed. Our world, dominated by the means of communication, is chock-full of self-proclaimed experts, able to explain everything and persuade you that everything had been predestined. But where – asks the archbishop – is genuine wisdom, when the zoom of the telecamera confers an international dimension on partial events, while leaving in darkness the realities it does not think worthy of interest? Are we really children of the light if we let ourselves be swept away by the passion for images?”. FREEDOM IN CHRIST. “If on the other hand we truly hope that humanity can overcome its blindness, at least we must know from whence comes the light”. “With his word, his sacramental presence in the life of the Church, and his spirit that inhabits us, is Christ truly the light of our daily life?” And then a final provocation: “My dear friends, circumstances place us before a choice we cannot run away from: what is the supreme value of our life? Are we ready to place our trust in God and risk our securities in the service of our brothers? Or do we prefer the security of the consumer society and the protection of standard of life? No one can impose the reply to these questions. The reply – concludes Msgr. Vingt-Trois – must spring from your freedom and your desire to love and serve your fellowmen. But if you choose the freedom in Christ, I can guarantee you that God will not let you fall, and will fill you with joy”.