“"Together with the young people, let us bring the Gospel to everyone."”

10th Missionary Day

Therefore, this transmission of faith, the heart of the Church's mission, takes place through the "contagion" of love, where joy and enthusiasm express the rediscovered meaning and fullness of life. The propagation of faith by attraction requires open hearts, expanded by love. Love cannot be limited: strong as death is love (cf. Ct 8, 6). And such expansion generates encounter, witness, proclamation; it generates sharing in charity with all those who, far from the faith, show themselves indifferent and, at times, challenging and opposed to it. Human, cultural, and religious environments still alien to the Gospel of Jesus and the sacramental presence of the Church constitute the extreme peripheries, the "ends of the earth," to which, since the Easter of Jesus, his missionary disciples have been sent, certain that they will always have their Lord with them (cf. Mt 28, 20; At 1, 8). This is what we call missio ad gentes. The most desolate periphery of humanity, lacking Christ, is indifference to faith or even hatred towards the divine fullness of life. All material and spiritual poverty, all discrimination against brothers and sisters, is always a consequence of rejecting God and his love.

Today, for you, dear young people, the ends of the earth seem very relative and always easily "navigable." The digital world, social networks, which surround and intertwine us, blur borders, cancel margins and distances, and reduce differences. Everything seems to be within reach: everything so close and immediate… And yet, without the gift that includes our lives, we may have myriad contacts, but we will never be immersed in a true communion of life. The mission to the ends of the earth requires the gift of ourselves in the vocation given to us by the One who placed us on this earth (cf. Lc (9, 23-25). I dare say that, for a young person who wants to follow Christ, the essential thing is the search for and adherence to their vocation.

To witness love

I am grateful to all the ecclesial realities that allow you to personally encounter the living Christ in his Church: the parishes, the associations, the movements, the religious communities, the most varied expressions of missionary service. Many young people find, in missionary volunteering, a way to serve the "least of these" (cf. Mt 25, 40), promoting human dignity and witnessing to the joy of loving and being Christian. These ecclesial experiences ensure that each person's formation is not merely preparation for professional success, but develops and nurtures a gift from the Lord to better serve others. These praiseworthy forms of temporary missionary service are a fruitful beginning and, in vocational discernment, can help you decide on the total gift of yourselves as missionaries.

(Pope Francis, message for the year 2018)