"Young people are the mirror of the world. Look at them, and see if society is well."
hese words are from an E-mail sent by a group of young people, "Young People for Peace", of the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo, Brazil. They write: "We came together with the simplicity of the young, who are always ready to do all to better humanity, of young Christians who have grown into daring to think that for God nothing is impossible, and with the certainty of His help....
"We are young with our dramas, our worries, our dreams. And we ask: 'Why so many of us decide to find refuge in drugs? Why the world-over young people fear for their future? We, of the "Young People for Peace", though poor, have committed ourselves to become indomitable, with compassion in our hearts, always ready to love, to take risks, to find new ways to give help. Young people who know how to care for those who see themselves as lost, whom the world considers as lost, and in which they themselves feel lost, to help them to find again God and the meaning of life...
"Wherever God will send us we will go with the enthusiasm of the young. We will go with the will to never accept evil and never think that anything is impossible for those who trust wholly in the Lord. Together we will have the courage to count always on the sincere heart of the young...
Our group, which has already more than 400 members, has written a 'Manifesto of the Young' by which each member declares his/her commitment:
"I want to find the meaning of my life, which is one and unique, to live it without war, violence or fear; I want to hope in the future.
I will do my part for every man and every woman to value his/her potential, so that no one may be exploited.
I want to live in a world where there is forgiveness and whence revenge is abolished.
I want to fight against the slavery they have proposed under the mask of freedom and which has killed many a young man and young woman such as I am.
I will do my part so that all may have access to the means of communication and that information serve the human person.
I want to love and understand, in freedom, what is truth.
I will do what I can so that work may be good for all of humanity.
I want to have the liberty to believe, and to profess my faith anywhere in the world.
I will contribute my effort so that all resources and riches be equitably utilized and distributed; I will contribute to the construction of a better world, and to the proper respect due to Mother Earth.
Only by bringing parents and children together again will we be able to offer new hope to humanity, being that the first step belongs to the young by showing that they are ready to change their own lives.
We believe that, young people can join forces to spread this vision for a radical change without leaving anyone out, because Jesus told us: 'I have other sheep that are not of this fold. These I have to lead as well, and they shall listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock since there is one Shepherd' (John 10:16).
We invite all young people to know our vision of life and the task assumed, in God’s name, by this 'Arsenal of Hope'."
Utopia? Young people's enthusiasm? Commitment? Act of faith? Commitment?
It's' a statement of hope, of youthful hope, a hope that is faith directed to the future, the hope that someday, by the grace of God, there will come the time of the renewal of all things: 'Behold, I make all things new'.
These young people have declared their faith-filled confidence in Jesus Christ who, as John Paul II is fond of saying "is the answer to which every human life is the question".
(From Xaverian Mission Newsletter)