date: 27.07.2023.
This year's International Youth Prayer Meeting was opened tonight with the prayer of the Rosary and the Holy Mass celebrated by the Apostolic Nuncio to BiH Francis Assisi Chullikatt, and there were 486 priests in the concelebration.
Before the Holy Mass, the Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje read the message that Pope Francis sent to the participants of the Youth Festival again this year.
"I am addressing you with joy, all of you who are participating in the Youth Festival in Medjugorje, which is an opportunity to celebrate and renew your faith. I want you to live these days as a spiritual pilgrimage that will take you to meet the Lord in the Eucharist, adoration, confession, biblical catechesis, silent prayer of the Rosary, but also through testimonies,'' says in the message of the Holy Father, who told the young people that God has a plan of love for each of you.''
"Do not be afraid of His will, but put all your trust in His mercy. You are important and precious to Him, because you are the work of His hands (cf. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivít, 115). Only He knows your heart and your deepest desires.
Only He, who loves you with complete love, is able to fulfill your aspirations. No one but God will be able to give you true happiness. Following Mary's example, know how to say your unconditional "yes" to Him. Let there be no room for selfishness or laziness in your life. Use your youth in order, together with the Lord, to strike the foundations of your existence, because your personal, professional and social future will depend on the decisions you will make in these years,'' reads the message of the Holy Father.
In his homily, Archbishop Chullikatt referred to the words of the Holy Father and repeated them once again to the tens of thousands of young people who gathered in Medjugorje.
"While we thank the Holy Father for his always paternal smile of love, I invite you to remember that, among other things, he asks you to 'use your youth to, together with the Lord, strike the foundations of your existence, because your personal future will depend on the decisions which you will bring in these years'.
As many of you still remember, during his pastoral visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina almost ten years ago, Pope Francis said that the country's youth are "the flowers of a spring that wants to move forward" and entrusted them with the task of building a better future for all ", said Archbishop Chullikatt, who said of the young people that "in this local Church, they are good seeds from which enthusiastic heralds and witnesses of the Good News of salvation can grow and flourish".
"If the flower represents the realization of the dream found in the seed of every plant, then you are the flowers that your families, your Earth and the whole Church long for.
Therefore, do not be surprised that Jesus wants to build the future of the Church and of all humanity with you. God first wanted and loved you. He called you into life and you are "the work of his hands" (Ps 19:1). That is why, never succumb to the temptation of confusion, cynicism, or any form of escape from the world that leads to the self-destruction of your own personality. God's dream for you and your life will always have a happy ending, just as tomorrow's flowers are born from today's seeds.
Try, therefore, to receive the seed of God's Word in your heart and make it bear good fruit: that way the dream of Jesus and the dream of the Church will have a happy ending for each of you", said the Apostolic Nuncio in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt, and after the Holy Mass, there was adoration of Jesus in the Most Holy Altar Sacrament.
At this year's Youth Festival in Medjugorje, young people came from 71 countries, namely: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Zaire, Costa Rica, Cuba , Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, England, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Holy Land, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, La Reunion, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macau , Malta, Mauritius, Germany, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, El Salvador, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Vatican and Venezuela. Most of the young people, along with natives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, came from Croatia, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Ukraine, Uruguay and the USA.
All of them came out with the flag of their country, and they were greeted by the parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić. (PHOTO)
