Sunteți pe pagina 1din 1

MENDOZA, Mikaella Louize C.

11821943 / BIBCHUR
Papal Message to the Youth Reaction Essay
Amidst the cold and unforgiving rain during Pope Francis’s arrival at the University of
Santo Tomas in 2015, the Filipino youth patiently waited to see and hear the Pope’s message
for them. Just like the youth’s eagerness to learn the answers about the common questions
about God and the world, I read the full transcript of Pope Francis’ impromptu speech as
translated by Fr. Mark Gerard Miles as well. The translated speech was clear in delivering the
highlights of the Pope’s message which include to ensure that women are represented in the
society; the need for us to “weep”; the need for “young and holy people”; the importance of
allowing God to “surprise” us; concern for the environment; and “love the poor”. In this essay, I
will be reflecting on the significance of his message in my life.
In the Pope’s first message in response to Jun and Glaizel’s experiences as a youth in the
streets, it was my first time to hear that the church encouraged more representation of women
in the society and that the church has no answer why God let bad things happen to innocent
people. He stated that when the heart can ask itself and weep, then we can understand that
this expression is a positive response because when we weep, we express compassion. And
when we express compassion, we better ourselves for others. I realized that crying or weeping
to express our emotions and our message to other people is healthy as certain realities of life
can only be seen through eyes cleansed by our own tears.
Second, I agree to the Pope’s positive response about the fast-paced sharing of
information. It is good and can help young people. However, with so much information, they
might be clueless what to do with it and eventually become a useless walking museum.
Therefore, we shall use this opportunity to help us become holy. Then I also loved his response
to Rikki, who started a foundation to serve the poorest of the poor. He thought of asking if he
understands his own poverty and accepts love from others while he does everything for other
people. Because if we actually love other people, that real love must start first from within. And
that what lacks Rikki, the ability to beg love from others. At this moment I realized that I may
have been closing doors to stop myself from feeling anxious about making others do anything
for me. I realized as well that I am restricting God to surprise me with his love. From now on, I
will try step by step to ask for help and accept gifts from other people as this will help me
mature in my commitment to give to others as the Pope says, “Learn how to open your hand
from your very own poverty.”
The whole message of Pope Francis was very refreshing and timely even up to this day.
This has helped me to remember to be more open to my spiritual life and challenge myself to
be more empathetic for the environment and the poor. The next time Pope Francis comes
around, I will try my best to visit and hear his message for the people of the Philippines again.

S-ar putea să vă placă și