I am thinking of the missionaries, priests, women religious and lay people,
who have fallen in the trenches of love at the service of the Gospel. Fr Giancarlo
Bossi, for whom we prayed when he was kidnapped in the Philippines, will have
much to tell us about this and today we rejoice to have him with us. Through
him, I would like to greet and thank all those who spend their lives for Christ on
the frontiers of evangelization.
Dear young people, if the Lord calls you to live more intimately at his
service, respond generously. You may be certain: life dedicated to God is never
spent in vain.
Dear young people, I shall end my talk here, not without first having
embraced you with a father’s heart. I embrace you one by one and greet you
warmly. I greet the Bishops present, starting with Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco,
President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, and Archbishop Gianni Danzi who
has welcomed us into his Ecclesial Community. I greet the priests, the Religious
and the animators who have accompanied you. I greet the Civil Authorities and
all who organized this Meeting. We will be “virtually” united later and we will
see one another again tomorrow morning, at the end of this night of Vigil, for the
crowning point of our Meeting when Jesus makes himself truly present in his
Word and in the mystery of the Eucharist.
From this moment, I would like to make an appointment with you young
people in Sydney where, in a year’s time, the next World Youth Day will be
held. I know Australia is far away and for young Italians
it is literally at the other
end of the world... Let us pray that the Lord who works every miracle will grant
that many of you may be there. May he grant it to me, may he grant it to you.
This is one of our many dreams which tonight, as we pray together, we
entrust to Mary. Amen.
Loreto, 1 September 2007.
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