“Young people today love leisure too much. They have bad manners. They flaunt authority and they have no respect for their elders.”

Who said that? A news commentator? A bishop? Some angry citizens who forget they were once young themselves? Would you believe that it was actually written by a Greek philosopher called Socrates about 398 BC?

“There’s nothing new under the sun” said the Bible’s Book of Ecclesiastes, “a generation comes, a generation goes ... what’s been done will be done again ... only no memory remains of earlier times.” (Eccl 2:16-17).

There is a lot of wisdom there! I suppose no single group has been so intensely publicised, praised and blamed as today’s under-20 generation. It has been said, “Today’s accent is on young people but the stress is on the parents.” But I wonder if this is altogether new or true?
When George Bernard Shaw (d 1950) claimed that youth is really wasted on people under 21, I think he meant that either young people would appreciate their youth more if they had an ‘older’ head on them, or else older heads could do with an injection of youthful energy and exuberance. The French say, “If youth only knew, if older age only could!” Personally I like to think youth is a state of mind, so that whether we are 9 or 90 we can maintain an interested and healthy outlook on life.

Build Bridges Not Walls
Being in a scarred and fragile world, we all feel at times the pain of living, yet we, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can become wounded healers connecting people by building bridges rather than dividing people by erecting walls of exclusion.
Miracles do happen when we try to show God’s love, God’s joy and God’s peace to others. Being young is a marvellous time in life – an awakening to the world at large. Young people have idealism, great potential and a curiosity to know things, a questioning of what is. That is why we want them to register and commit to go to WYD08. For young people to take ownership of this event and be part of it could give them a whole new outlook on life.

Life Changing Pilgrimage
World Youth Day is a pilgrimage. What the Church is aiming to do is to give everyone, young and older, a special, spiritual, gracefilled experience of God that can be life changing. WYD08 is a unique Church event the likes of which we have never experienced in this country before. People coming from so many nations in the world will make very real the Catholicity of our world wide Church. WYD08 can be a “new Pentecost” in our lives and for our times.
Traditionally when we go on a pilgrimage, we, the pilgrims, are prepared to take the risk of the unknown, along with whatever difficulties we may meet, so as to be open to whatever surprises and wonder that may yet unfold.
Everyone is welcome at WYD08 events because all of us, no matter what our age, are looking for something to satisfy us, not just for the moment, but deep down.
Special events like WYD08 can help us pass on the values that young people will want for their lives - values like truth, goodness, love, hope, justice, decency, compassion and wonder and awe in God’s presence. These need to be passed on from generation to generation. WYD08 is about rebuilding the social and moral fabric of our nation.

Unique Opportunity
The Church wants young people to realise it is awesome to have such values, it is cool to pray and be in touch with God, the Lord of our lives. The young people who will travel from overseas to homestay with us will have some of the fire of faith and enthusiasm for Christ in their make up. That is why they have undertaken this long pilgrimage down-under at significant personal and financial cost.
The World Youth Day event in July is a unique pastoral opportunity for the Church in Australia to arrest the attention of people with the good news of Jesus. Its special focus is on our young people but World Youth Day is also for everyone.

Goals
Because of the context of WYD08, a significant number of young people may well start asking the big questions about their lives. Where is my life heading? What sort of person am I becoming? How can I engage with God? How can I re-establish my links with this long and rich tradition of Catholic Faith and Culture and become more religiously engaged so as to want to know and live the faith of the Church.
I want our young people to discover there is much more to the Mass than going just to keep mum or grandma happy. Being active in our parish is the opportunity to give something back for all we have received. We may want to lead, to be more proactive in our parish because we have experienced a lifechanging encounter with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Church.
Such a realisation may be the first time some of this may have been caught on a young person’s radar - Jesus my Lord and God is also my friend (Jn 15:15) who helps us rediscover the Word of God in Scripture and the Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation.
God is continually offering us a new start. When you and I repent and use the Sacrament of Penance, all is reconciled and forgiven. We can start afresh.

Carriers of the Good News
Pope Benedict calls on young people to be the carriers of the Good News of Jesus Christ to other young people after they have first listened to Jesus through the Gospels and the community of the Church. Let the Holy Spirit burn in our hearts, so our young people may become agents of ministry to their peers. King Solomon was only 19 when he ascended the throne of Israel. The Lord said to him, “Ask what you would like me to give you.” Now, if you were 19 and God said that to you, what would you ask for? The mind boggles. King Solomon said, “Give your servant a heart to understand how to discern between good and evil.” (1 Kg 2:9) He put a spiritual gift above material advantages such as wealth and a long life.
Is not the most attractive type of person you know someone who respects you, who has always got time for you, who is always patient and kind, never jealous, boastful or conceited, not selfish or greedy, who doesn’t take offence easily, who is truthful and can be relied upon. Aren’t these the qualities that really make a person attractive – someone you would like to know?
This line of goods is advertised every Sunday at your local parish church. You might not like the packaging or the price, but the product is awesome!