Pope encourages youth to entrust themselves to Mary, Mother of Peace

The Holy Father chose a theme related to the Year of the Rosary for the 18th World Youth Day at the diocesan level: "Behold, your mother!" (Jn 19: 27) While on the cross, Jesus entrusted to the apostle John what was most precious to him: his Mother, Mary. Mary gave human nature to the Son of God within her womb and at the foot of the Cross, she welcomed the whole of humanity within her heart in the person of John.

When Jesus was on the Cross, He poured out his suffering into his Mother's heart. In recalling this in his World Youth Day message for Palm Sunday, the Holy Father said that every child who suffers experiences that need. In his message he said: "You too, my dear young people, are faced with suffering: loneliness, failures and disappointments in your personal lives; difficulties in inserting yourselves in the adult world and in professional life; the separations and losses in your families; the violence of war and the death of the innocent." He told them that in difficult times "you are not alone: like John at the foot of the Cross, Jesus also gives his Mother to you so that she will comfort you with her tenderness."

Pope John Paul II recounted that it is Jesus who asks them to welcome Mary into their home and to learn from her, the one who "kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Lk 2:19). He assured them that it is Mary who will train and mold them until Christ is fully formed in them.

Having already entrusted his own life to Mary, Mother of divine grace, the Pope encouraged youth to entrust themselves to her with complete confidence. He wrote: "You will be radiant with the beauty of Christ. Open up to the breath of the Spirit, and you will become courageous apostles . . . It is only Jesus, who has loved them to the end, can fulfill their aspirations for only He knows what is in their hearts and what are their deepest desires."

In light of these times threatened by violence, hatred and war, the Holy Father said that humanity is in urgent need of the witness of free and courageous young people who dare to go against the tide and proclaim with vigor and enthusiasm their personal faith in God. He urged all youth to commit themselves to seeking and promoting peace, justice and fellowship and reminded them that "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Mt 5:9).