How Can This Be Explained?

There are questions, in the twenty-first century, that are a little hard to answer because they go far beyond merely human and materialistic reasoning. Some of those questions arise from World Youth Day, held in Madrid last week. I will go in order, from the Pope’s arrival to the return of our young Venezuelans.

At Barajas airport we heard the King of Spain speak of the great crisis of values among young people and the need to return to them. The first thing the Pope said was that man cannot think himself a God who decides what his truth is or when to eliminate someone simply because they might get in the way of his plans; and that the economy must be designed around the human person and not around purely commercial interests. Later we saw Rodríguez Zapatero bow his head before the Pope. Could it be that rulers have finally realized that the serious economic crisis and crisis of values in their countries is the consequence of thinking that God does not exist (that he must be removed from schools and from public life), and that if God does not exist everything is permitted?

We saw two meetings of the Pope with 1,000 seminarians and 1,700 young nuns, among them the prioress of a monastery that now has more than 120 sisters under 30, in a community where for 23 years not a single vocation had entered. They left everything for God (we have the example of the young American skating sensation of the Nagano Olympics, Kirstin Holum, who set aside competing in later Olympics to enter a cloister). How can we explain that young people who have everything many people wish they had decide to give their lives to God, with nothing human or material in return? Whose mind can take in the explanation that they (who are neither foolish nor unattractive), with a promising human career ahead of them, leave everything for Love of God?

We saw a human tide of young people under 26 who endured unbearable heat. We saw a vigil in which many who had not slept for days withstood a storm and stayed out in the open for more than 12 hours, waiting for the Mass attended by 2,200,000 people (200,000 more than the initial estimate). Those young people did not lose heart or stop smiling, and they showed a moving recollection during the liturgy. How do we explain that in the twenty-first century, crammed with electronic devices and media (which sell us every second the idea that pleasure, unbridled sex, consumerism, fame and so on are “the best”), we find so many young people listening to a message of demands, of responsibility, of commitment to their faith? Could it be that, with this worldwide disaster of values in politics, the economy, the family and so on, they know that the only road that leads to happiness is the one taught by our Lord Jesus Christ and handed on to us by his Holy Church?

Finally, a reflection that, as a passionate Venezuelan, I cannot let pass. Looking at the figures for the Latin American delegations, I saw that the country with the highest participation rate (relative to its population) was Venezuela. How is this possible? Could it be that our Church, with all the problems and attacks it has suffered in these years, has grown stronger and given our young people a great example to follow? Could it be that our young people have understood that to come out of this crisis each one of us must change, and build on firm foundations, rooted in Christ, the values our country so badly needs to move forward?

So how can this be explained? Benedict XVI answers: “I leave Spain happy and grateful to everyone. But above all to God, who has allowed me to celebrate this World Youth Day, so full of grace and emotion, so charged with dynamism and hope. Yes, the feast of faith that we have shared allows us to look ahead with great trust in the providence that guides the Church across the seas of history. That is why she remains young and full of vitality, even when facing difficult situations. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who makes Jesus Christ present in the hearts of the young people of every age and so shows them the greatness of the divine vocation of every human being… Young people respond readily when the encounter with Jesus Christ, the only redeemer of humanity, is proposed to them sincerely and truthfully.”

All that remains is for me to tell the 5,500 young people who will land at Maiquetía this week (and those who wanted to go and could not) that good times are coming for our Church and for our country. And you play a fundamental role in that future! So rest, gather your strength, form yourselves better and better in your faith and sow Christian values all around you! God, his Church, the Virgin of Coromoto and a great many Venezuelans (here and around the world) are expecting great things from you!