EXCERPTS FROM THE WORDS OF THE POPE

"STRIVE FOR HIGH IDEALS, BE HOLY! EVERY AGE IS MATURE FOR CHRIST"

CONCERT IN HONOR OF THE HOLY FATHER
Friday, June 1st, La Scala Theater
A shadow is cast over this concert–which should have been a joyous celebration on the occasion of the convergence of people from almost all the nations in the world–by the earthquake which brought great suffering to many people in our country. The words taken from Schiller's Ode to Joy sound empty to us; indeed, they do not seem true. We have no experience at all of the divine sparks of Elysium. We are not drunk with fire but rather paralyzed with the pain of so much incomprehensible destr­uction which has taken human lives, has swept away the houses and dwellings of many. Even the hypothesis that a good father must live above the starry firmament seems to us to be disputable. Is the good father to be found only above the starry firmament? Does his goodness not reach down to us? We seek a God that does not reign from a distance but enters our life and our suffering. At this time we would almost like Beethoven's words, "Friends, not these sounds..." to refer to Schiller's. Not these sounds. We are not in need of an unreal discourse by a distant God, or of a brotherhood which is not challenging. We seek a God who is close. We seek a brotherhood which sustains others in the midst of suffering and thereby helps them journey on. After this concert many will go to the Eucharistic Adoration, to the God who immersed Himself in our suffering and continues to do so, to the God who suffers with us and for us and thus made m­en and women capable of sharing the suffering of the other and transforming it into love. It is precisely to this that we feel called by this concert.

MEETING WITH THE CANDIDATES
FOR CONFIRMATION
Saturday, June 2nd, Meazza Stadium
Dear young people, the whole of Christian life is a journey, it is like following a path that winds up a mountain–therefore it is not always easy but climbing a mountain is something beautiful–in the company of Jesus. With these precious gifts your friendship with Him will become even truer and closer. It is continually nourished with the sacrament of the Eucharist, in which we receive His Body and His Blood. For this reason I invite you always to take part joyfully and faithfully in Sunday Mass, when the entire community gathers together to pray, to listen to the word of God and to take part in the Eucharistic sacrifice. And also receive the sacrament of Penance and Confession: it is an encounter with Jesus who forgives our sins and helps us to do good. Receiving the gift, starting out anew is a great gift in life, knowing that I am free, that I can start again, that everything is forgiven. Then do not omit your personal, daily prayer. Learn to converse with the Lord, confide in Him, tell Him of your joys and anxieties and ask Him for enlightenment and support for your journey.... Do not be lazy but be hard-working boys and girls and young people, especially in your studies, with a view to your future life. It is your daily duty and is a great opportunity you have in order to develop and to prepare for the future. Be available and generous to others, overcoming the temptation to focus on yourselves, because selfishness is the enemy of true joy. If you now taste the beauty of belonging to Jesus' community, you too will be able to make your contribution to increase it and will be able to invite others to belong to it. Allow me also to tell you that every day, and also here today, the Lord calls you to great things. Be open to what He suggests to you and if He should call you to follow Him on the path of the priesthood or of the consecrated life, do not say "no" to Him! It would be a mistaken laziness! Jesus will fill your heart for your whole life!
Dear young men, dear young women, I tell you, forcefully, strive for high ideals, everyone can attain a high standard, not only a few! Be holy! But is it possible to be holy at your age? I answer you: of course it is! St. Ambrose too, a great Saint of your city, says so in one of his works where he writes, "Every age is mature for Christ" (De Virginitate, 40).... Holiness is the normal path for Christians; it is not reserved for a few chosen ones but is open to all. Naturally, with the light and strength of the Holy Spirit whom we will not lack if we hold out our hands and open our hearts! And with the guidance of our Mother. Who is our Mother? She is Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Before dying on the Cross Jesus entrusted all of us to her. May the Virgin Mary therefore always preserve the beauty of your "yes" to Jesus, her Son, the great and faithful Friend of our life.

EVENING OF WITNESS
Saturday, June 2nd, Bresso Park
I would very much like to know something about your own family and when you were very young like me.
The most important moment for our family was always Sunday, but Sunday really began on Saturday afternoon. My father would read out the Sunday readings from a book that was very popular in Germany at that time, which also included explanations of the texts. That is how we began our Sunday, entering into the Liturgy in an atmosphere of joy.... We were one in heart and soul, enjoying so many experiences together, even though times were hard, as this was during the war: first we had the dictatorship and then poverty. But the mutual love that we shared, our joy, even in simple things, was so strong that it enabled us to endure and overcome these things. I think it is very important to understand that even little things were a source of joy because they were an expression of warm-heartedness. And so we grew up convinced that it was good to be human, because we saw God's goodness reflected in our parents and our brothers and sisters. And indeed when I try to imagine what Heaven will be like, I think it must be like the time when I was a small boy.

Speaking of marriage, there is a word that attracts us more than anything else, and yet it also frightens us: "Forever."
We see that falling in love is a wonderful thing, but perhaps it does not always last forever: it is a feeling which does not remain indefinitely. So it is clear that the progression from falling in love to engagement and then to marriage requires a number of decisions, interior experiences. As I said, this loving sentiment is a wonderful thing, but it has to be purified, it has to undergo a process of discernment, that is, reason and will have to come into it. Reason, sentiment, and will have to come together. In the Rite of Marriage, the Church does not say: "Are you in love?" but "Do you wish?" "Have you decided?" In other words, falling in love has to become true love by involving the will and the reason in a deeper journey of purification which is the journey of engagement, such that the whole person, with all his or her faculties, with the discernment of reason and strength of will, says: "Yes, this is my life." I often think of the Wedding Feast of Cana. The first wine is very fine: this is falling in love. But it does not last until the end: a second wine has to come later, it has to ferment and grow, to mature. The definitive love that can truly become this "second wine" is more wonderful still, it is better than the first wine. And this is what we must seek.
There are days and nights when we find ourselves asking what to do in order not to lose hope. What can the Church say to all these people, to these individuals and families who no longer have anything to look forward to?
Let us speak first about politics: it seems to me that all the parties need to develop a stronger sense of responsibility, not to make promises they cannot keep, nor just to seek votes for themselves, but to take responsibility for the good of everyone, and to understand that politics always has to include human and moral responsibility before God and before the world.... Let everyone strive to do whatever they can, thinking of themselves, their family, other people, with a great sense of responsibility, knowing that sacrifices are necessary in order to move forward. And thirdly, what can we do ourselves? This is my question, at this moment. I think that perhaps twinning arrangements between cities, families, and parishes could help. In the maelstrom of so many stimuli coming at us from modern society, how can we help families to live and celebrate according to God's heart? I would like to invite employers to think of the family, to think of helping to reconcile these two priorities. Secondly, it seems to me that a certain creativity has to be achieved, and this is not always easy. But at least, every day, try to offer some element of joy to the family, some attention, some sacrifice of one's own will in order to be together as a family, to accept and overcome the dark moments, the trials of which we spoke earlier, and to think of the great good that the family is, and hence, in the determination to do something good every day, to find a way of reconciling the two priorities. And finally, there is Sunday, the day of celebration... and as such it is also "our day," because we are free. In the creation account, this was the Creator's original intention: that on one day we should all be free. In this freedom for one another, for ourselves, we are free for God.

Marriage breakdowns are continually increasing. What can we say to them and what signs of hope can we offer them?
The problem of divorced and remarried persons is one of the great sufferings of today's Church. And we do not have simple solutions.... I would say, obviously, that prevention is very important, so that those who fall in love are helped from the very beginning to make a deep and mature commitment. Then accompaniment during married life is needed, so that families are never left on their own but are truly accompanied on their journey. As regards these people–as you have said–the Church loves them, but it is important they should see and feel this love. I see here a great task for a parish, a Catholic community, to do whatever is possible to help them to feel loved and accepted, to feel that they are not "excluded" even though they cannot receive absolution or the Eucharist.... Bringing them to understand this is important: so that they find a way to live the life of faith based upon the Word of God and the communion of the Church, and that they come to see their suffering as a gift to the Church.

HOMILY DURING THE HOLY MASS
Sunday, June 3rd, Bresso Park
It is not only the Church that is called to be the image of One God in Three Persons, but also the family, based on marriage between man and woman. In the beginning, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply'" (Gen 1:27-28). God created us male and female, equal in dignity, but also with respective and complementary characteristics, so that the two might be a gift for each other, might value each other and might bring into being a community of love and life. It is love that makes the human person the authentic image of the Blessed Trinity, image of God. Dear married couples, in living out your marriage you are not giving each other any particular thing or activity, but your whole lives. And your love is fruitful first and foremost for yourselves, because you desire and accomplish one another's good, you experience the joy of receiving and giving. It is also fruitful in your generous and responsible procreation of children, in your attentive care for them, and in their vigilant and wise education. And lastly, it is fruitful for society, because family life is the first and irreplaceable school of social virtues, such as respect for persons, gratuitousness, trust, responsibility, solidarity, cooperation. Dear married couples, watch over your children and, in a world dominated by technology, transmit to them, with serenity and trust, reasons for living, the strength of faith, pointing them towards high goals and supporting them in their fragility. And let me add a word to the children here: be sure that you always maintain a relationship of deep affection and attentive care for your parents, and see that your relationships with your brothers and sisters are opportunities to grow in love.
God's plan for the human couple finds its fullness in Jesus Christ, who raised marriage to the level of a sacrament. Dear married couples, by means of a special gift of the Holy Spirit, Christ gives you a share in his spousal love, making you a sign of his faithful and all-embracing love for the Church. If you can receive this gift, renewing your "yes" each day by faith, with the strength that comes from the grace of the sacrament, then your family will grow in God's love according to the model of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Dear families, pray often for the help of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, that they may teach you to receive God's love as they did. Your vocation is not easy to live, especially today, but the vocation to love is a wonderful thing, it is the only force that can truly transform the cosmos, the world.... We must learn to believe first of all in the family, in authentic love, the kind that comes from God and unites us to Him, the kind that therefore "makes us a 'we' which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is 'all in all' (1Cor 15:28)."