This past week was rich and deeply moving for the hundreds of thousands of young people gathered in Rome, answering the Pope’s invitation from July 28 to August 3! I had the joy of accompanying a group of around one hundred young people from the Diocese of Bordeaux and of sharing with them this beautiful experience of Church.
I believe that together we were able to taste the joy of universal fraternity, united with Christians from all over the world, filling the streets of Rome… praying together in St. Peter’s Square and during the great vigil with the Pope at Tor Vergata, but also waiting side by side in the long queues or at traffic lights: every moment became an occasion to meet, in a joyful spirit of brotherhood.
We were also immersed in the very heart of the Church, discovering the city of Rome together, praying with the Apostles Peter and Paul, and crossing the Holy Doors at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Indeed, we experienced the Jubilee journey: by crossing the Holy Door, choosing once again to pass through the only Door who is Christ, allowing ourselves to be transformed, and professing our faith with the Apostles’ Creed and with the whole Church. It was in profound silence that we lived this experience and opened ourselves to the Lord’s transforming grace. This continued with the sacrament of Reconciliation, received by thousands of young people at the Circus Maximus on Friday. We also visited the other major basilicas: St. Peter’s, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major, with the majestic works of art they house, which lifted our hearts in wonder and prayer.
The vigil and the Eucharist celebrated with the Pope, gathering more than one million young people from across the globe, were also powerful and unique moments. We were able to meet our new Pope and be moved and challenged by his words. Welcoming our enthusiasm and songs, he reminded us that all the cries of joy and acclamation were in fact directed to Jesus Christ, and he invited us to be signs of hope for the whole world. Sharing with us the experience of St. Augustine, he encouraged us to encounter the inner Master and to build deep friendships rooted in Christ. Finally —and this was surely the heart of that beautiful weekend— we prayed together, we celebrated the Eucharist… and before the Blessed Sacrament, one million young people knelt with the Pope to adore God, present in the Eucharist, so small and yet so great. This people, gathered from every nation, was the Body of Christ, the Church. Silence filled the plain, and the Lord came to dwell in our hearts. We returned enriched with all the graces received.
And so we set off once more, back to our countries and regions, with flags of a thousand colors still waving in the Roman sky and our hearts filled with all the encounters lived: with the Lord, and with our brothers and sisters from all over the world.