After meeting Jesus, what is the secret for never losing Him?

After meeting Jesus, what is the secret for never losing Him?

Chiara Lubich’s message for the young participants at the Colourdome program, during World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne

“Why are you going to the Word Youth Day (WYD)?” “Because I hope to find Jesus,” answered a young woman who had arrived here in Cologne together with hundreds of thousands of youth from the world over.I don’t think she is the only one who has the burning desire in her heart to meet Jesus! And this is also the theme of the WYD: to seek Christ, to find him and to worship him.The “World Youth Day” – this inspired invention of our beloved Pope John Paul II – is a unique opportunity to encounter Jesus who is living in his Church, in unity with the new Pope Benedict XVI, with the bishops and with the youth coming from every corner of the globe.

To encounter Jesus, to worship him and to bring him to others, wherever we then go.Dearest young people, do you know the secret to never losing Jesus who during the WYD appears so beautiful, so alive, so fascinating?The secret is this: we have to love! In order to love God, to be rooted in him, to always have his light, we have to love others!Look, I am speaking to you of my more than 60-year-old experience, but also of the experience of an entire people, spread throughout the whole world; millions of men, women and children who have chosen to make love their lifestyle! And this is the secret to a life that is happy, fulfilled, interesting, ever new, never boring, and always full of surprises! I will give you a small but luminous example: I recently heard from a group of youth in a refugee camp in Africa, where more or less everything is lacking, who wanted to transform the camp into a paradise through their love. They told me of their concrete experiences that brought this about.

Do you understand what this means? It means that love conquers all!We could say an infinite number of things about this love that Jesus teaches us through his life, through his words, through his saints. But for today, I would like to underline just two points that are, however, of utmost importance:1) We need to love EVERYONE, without making any exceptions, without choosing, having preferences – just as God does with us! This is a matter of loving our friend and our enemy alike, the person who is likable and the one who is not so likable, our teacher and our neighbour, the mailman and our colleague. To love EVERYONE means to love also the people who are far from us but whom we know about through the media. For example, the victims of the Tsunami in Southeast Asia, or the young people of the WYD who have come from poor nations, whom you have helped through the solidarity fund. 2) The second point: we need to BE THE FIRST to love.

Normally we love when we have been loved, we respond to the love that has been shown to us. And what if it is not shown to us? Is it not better that we take the initiative, that we be the first to offer a gesture of friendship, of forgiveness, to show our will to start over again. Try to love in this way and you will experience a great freedom because you are on the front lines!Dearest young people, take courage! It is worthwhile to live like this; you are not made for half measures. Give your heart to the One who can fill it. God needs this type of youth: those who are inflamed, who are not paralyzed by their own problems – those eternal obstacles to loving – but young people who have burned everything in the fire of the Love of God and who attract others to do the same.

May Jesus whom you have encountered remain with you always! In this authentic Love,

Chiara