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To Participants in the XIII International Pilgrimage of Altar Servers to Rome
The Pontiff’s greeting to the participants of the 13th International Pilgrimage of Ministries
– altar servers, acolytes
“With you” is the key to love –which becomes close to God and to others
Saint Peter’s Square Tuesday, 30 July 2024 at 18:00
Isaiah 40:10
Fear not, for I am with you,
Be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
Dear boys and girls,
St. Peter’s Square is always a beautiful place, but with you it is even more beautiful!
Thank you for coming to Rome, perhaps it is for the first time for some of you. Welcome!
The theme of your pilgrimage, “With you,” strikes me particularly. Do you know why?
Because it says it all in two words. This is beautiful, and it leaves room for searching and for finding possible meanings.
With you.
The theme of your pilgrimage, With you, particularly strikes me. Do you know why?
Because it says everything in two words.
This is beautiful, and it leaves room for searching and for finding possible meanings.
With you.
It is a phrase that expresses the mystery of our life, the mystery of love.
When a human being has been conceived in the womb, the mother says to him or her, “Do not be afraid, I am with you”.
In a mysterious way, the mother also feels that this little baby is saying to her, “I am with you”.
In a different way, this also applies to the father.
When I think of you, and see you here, this “with you” takes on new meanings!
I would like to share with you the ones I find most beautiful and important.
Your experience of serving the liturgy reminds me that the first subject, the agent of this “with you”, is God.
Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20).
This happes above all during Mass, in the Eucharist, where the God who is “with you” becomes a real and concrete presence in the Body and Blood of Christ.
The priest sees this mystery take place every day in his hands; and you also see it, when you serve at the altar.
When we receive Holy Communion, we experience that Jesus is “with us” both spiritually and physically.
He says to you, “I am with you”, but not with words, but with this gesture, this act of love, which is the Eucharist.
You too, in Communion, can say to the Lord Jesus, “I am with you”, not with words, but with your heart and with your body, with your love.
Precisely because Jesus is with us, we can truly be with him.
That is the key point, dear young friends!
I hope I have made myself clear about the “with you” that we can share with others.
In this way, we can fulfil Christ’s commandment to “love one another as I have loved you”.
If you serve with an attentive mind, heart and body, like Mary, then the mystery of God who is with you – gives you the ability to be with others in a new way.
Thanks to Jesus, always and only thanks to him – you too can say to your neighbor, “I am with you”, not with words, but with deeds, with gestures, with your heart, with concrete closeness – please do not forget this tangible closeness.
You can do this by crying with those who cry, by ejoicing with those who rejoice, without judgement, without prejudice, without selfishness and without excluding anyone.
Even with those we may not like; with those who are different from us; with foreigners; with those whom we feel do not understand us; with those who never come to church; with those who say they do not believe in God.
Dear young people, such a great mystery is contained in these two little words, with you!
Let us thank those who chose the words, and especially thanks to you who have come here as pilgrims in order to share the joy of belonging to Jesus, of being servants of his love, servants of his wounded heart that heals our wounds, that saves us from death, and that gives us eternal life.
Thank you, dear young friends! And have a good journey together with Jesus!
