"YOU ARE MY WITNESSES"

Editorial

By Fr. Gerald Curry, S.F.M.
May 2002

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This summer young people from around the world will gather in Toronto to celebrate the 17th World Youth Day. Two years ago Pope John Paul II invited them to Toronto. He plans to join them and on the final day to celebrate a special closing Eucharist with them.

In a message from his summer residence in July 2001 he writes of the theme he has chosen, Salt and Light, and invites the world's youth to become builders of a "civilization of love and truth."

"The light which Jesus speaks of in the gospel is the light of faith, God's free gift which enlightens the heart and clarifies the mind...Our personal encounter with Christ bathes life in new light, sets us on the right path, and sends us out to be His witnesses. This new way of looking at the world and at people, which comes to us from Him, leads us more deeply into the mystery of faith, which is not just a collection of theoretical assertions to be accepted and approved by the mind, but an experience to be had, a truth to be lived, the salt and light of all reality." (Pope John Paul II)

In this issue young people (and a few not so young) write of their faith, of their search for it, of their experiences that shaped and strengthened it. For many, it was their experience with the poor that helped them to see more clearly with heart and mind the gift and mystery of their faith, calling them to be love and truth for the world.

I remember being in Nicaragua and witnessing the electoral loss of the Socialist Sandinista government. Many people from around the world had been working closely with the Nicaraguan people and had hoped for a Socialist victory. Some of these were so disillusioned that they decided to leave. A number of my Christian friends, while sharing the same disappointment, had no intention of leaving.

Motivated by their Christian faith and not by any ideology, they vowed to continue their service of and solidarity with the Nicaraguan people. It was the gospel, their belief in God, in the dignity of each human being, in a world of justice, peace and love that motivated them to continue to help build "a civilization of love and truth."

Their motivation was not based on socialism or capitalism or communism, or on any other 'ism', but on the gospel and the deepest yearnings of the human spirit for love and truth.

Our Christian faith is based on a loving God who created us and our world out of love. Created in God's image and likeness, love and truth are at the very centre of our being, the very centre of our most basic self. This is what compels us to serve love and truth and to believe and hope to live forever with its Source.

I firmly believe that there is more good than evil in our world, that there is more light than darkness. Most people live and respond to the light and truth that is at the core of our being. Perhaps this explains why we read in the newspapers and see on TV so much of the dark side of life, because it is the exception, not the rule; it is not the standard by which most people live.

Christians focus on light and truth. We struggle to overcome darkness within ourselves and in our world. For us the light within is the light of Christ, "a light that shines in the dark, a light the darkness could not overpower." (John 1:5)

"In this secularized age where many of our contemporaries think and act as if God did not exist...it is you, dear young people, who must show that faith is a personal decision which involves your whole life. Let the gospel be the measure and guide of life's decisions and plans. Then you will be missionaries in all that you do and say, and wherever you work and live you will be a sign of God's love." (Pope John Paul II)

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