Message to the Young People of the Diocese

Nov, 2008

and especially those confirmed this year.

…Having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and the love you show to all the saints, I have never failed to remember you in my prayers and to thank God for you. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age but in the age to come. “He has put all things under his feet,” and made him, as ruler of everything, the head of the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation. (Ephesians 1.15-23)

I had the immense privilege in July this year of going to World Youth Day in Sydney Australia. How I wish you could all have been there together with the Holy Father and 400,000 young Catholics from all over the world. That in itself was a breath-taking experience, just to be there with so many people and so much faith! I realise that not everybody had the opportunity, or the money or the time to go. However, let me just share one or two things with you. The Holy Father began by reminding all there that we have been specially chosen and loved by the Father who has called us into existence for a very specific reason. Rather, he has loved us into existence and wants us to search and find him in all that is good, beautiful and true in our lives and in our world. This is why we have been given that great gift of freedom so that we might choose the good, the beautiful and the true and it is in doing this that we will find genuine happiness. He said: Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.

He reminded us that Christ is Truth and only he who is Truth can be the Way which leads to real Life. What our faith teaches and brings to those who will receive it is life, life in Christ. This is what the Church is all about and we first began to live this new life at our Baptism when God drew us into his very own life and we became his adopted sons and daughters. At that moment the Holy Spirit also came to live in us. During the baptismal ceremony at this point, the priest turned to our parents and told them that we had become a new creation. For a moment let me just quote from what the Holy Father said to us: Dear friends, in your homes, schools and universities, in your places of work and recreation, remember that you are a new creation! As Christians you stand in this world knowing that God has a human face – Jesus Christ – the “way” who satisfies all human yearning, and the “life” to which we are called to bear witness, walking always in his light (cf. ibid., 100).

Over the next few days of our meeting together we spoke of how the Trinity lives within us, that our God is not far away but always with us no matter where we are. We talked about the gifts that God has given us in the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. Each one of us has been given the gift of the Spirit who will ensure that we have all that we need for our journey through life – not necessarily material gifts, but so that we can find real purpose in who we are and what we do and so that we can make stronger God’s family of which we are members.

We talked of the Church throughout the world and how it is bringing the good news of God’s Kingdom to all peoples and we talked of our part in all this. We were reminded that we too are witnesses, called and sent by the Father in the name of Jesus and with the power of the Holy Spirit. On the Saturday evening, we all gathered with the Pope on the huge racecourse in Sydney to spend the night in vigil. The Pope spoke to us all and his final remarks were addressed not just to those present but to all young Catholics of the world. Let the gifts of the Holy Spirit (his gifts) shape you! Just as the Church travels the same journey with all humanity, so too you are called to exercise the Spirit’s gifts amidst the ups and downs of your daily life. Let your faith mature through your studies, work, sport, music and art. Let it be sustained by prayer and nurtured by the sacraments, and thus be a source of inspiration and help to those around you. In the end, life is not about accumulation. It is much more than success. To be truly alive is to be transformed from within, open to the energy of God’s love. In accepting the power of the Holy Spirit you too can transform your families, communities and nations. Set free the gifts! Let wisdom, courage, awe and reverence be the marks of greatness!

During the first few months of my new ministry with you in this diocese I traveled round speaking to people and listening to what they had to say. One of the great concerns which came up time and time again is that we as a Church are not supporting our young people enough. There were all sorts of questions and all sorts of answers suggested. However, the main focus of all the energy was how to support, resource, and engage better with our young Catholics.

I want to end this message by making an offer to you. I want to offer you a money back guarantee – something that will change your lives from this point onward. I promise life will never be the same again! Throughout this coming Lent I want to meet with you. I want us to get together to share, understand more deeply and begin to live Jesus’ life-giving words. Together I want to begin to answer Jesus’ challenging question “Who do you say that I am?” Each week I will come to three different venues in the diocese, Hull, York and Middlesbrough, for the first four weeks of Lent. Will you come? I hope to meet you there and if you listen, if you are open to what the Lord is saying, your life will never be the same again. I promise.
God bless you,