"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68).

Dear young men and women of Rome

1. I have chosen this Gospel expression as the theme for the eleventh World Youth Day. They are the words spoken by the Apostle Peter after the Lord Jesus had given a speech that was difficult to understand, that scandalised. He had said: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (Jn 6:54). Jesus, that is, presents himself to the world as the true food that alone can satisfy man's hunger. He is the Word made flesh who offers Himself as food in the sacrament of the Eucharist and as a victim on the cross, so that the world may be saved through Him and receive the fullness of life.

If giving himself as flesh to be eaten is Jesus' destiny, the disciples sense that this will also be theirs and they are afraid. Following Jesus means facing a prospect of suffering and death. The disciples are shocked at the thought that the Master must make himself "eaten". Jesus, then, seeing that many are leaving for this reason, asks the Twelve: "Perhaps you also want to leave?" ( Jn 6, 67 ).

But Peter, for all, replies: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" ( Jn 6, 68 ). These words of Peter summarise a path. His path of seeking. They cannot be spoken if one does not believe and has not walked a long way to seek, find and know the Lord.

2.

Today, in this festive meeting, you have reconstructed with songs, dances, testimonies, the fundamental stages of every path of seeking God. You have heard from the words of witnesses how man is constantly seeking God. And how God is present in the history of every man and woman, goes out to meet him, seeks him first and responds fully and definitively to his deepest desire, which is to be loved.

Dear young people, from my experience as a priest I know well that you essentially seek love. Everyone seeks love, and a beautiful love. Even when in human love you succumb to weakness, nevertheless you continue to seek a love that is beautiful and pure. Ultimately, you know that no one but God can grant you such love. That is why you are willing to follow Christ regardless of sacrifices.

You seek Christ because He knows "what is in every man" ( Jn 2:25 ), especially in a young person, and He knows how to give true answers to your questions. Dear young people, it is Christ who is "sought", the "desired one who is found", the One who can give you true joy. A joy that never fails, because it is destined to continue in the fullness of life, beyond death.

Man, therefore, is a seeker of God, in turn sought by God. In the Gospel, we have heard this truth from the mouth of Jesus: "No one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father" ( Jn 6:65 ). However, in his seeking of man, God never compels. He has great respect for us, made in his image. He leaves us free to accept his proposals. He also asks us: "Perhaps you also want to go away?" ( Jn 6, 67 ).

3.

But to whom can man go? To whom can you go, young people in search of happiness, joy, beauty, honesty, purity, in a word: in search of love? We know it well: many young people seek all this by following false teachers of life. How true, even today, are the words of the Second Letter to Timothy: "...for itching to hear something, men will surround themselves with teachers according to their own lusts, refusing to listen to the truth and turning to fables" ( 2 Tim 4:3-4 ).

I am thinking of money, success, career, unbridled sex at any cost, drugs, the belief that everything in life is played out here and now and that life is spent for the immediate gratification of what is desired today, without taking into account that there is an eternal future. I am still thinking of the search for security, false self-realisation and happiness in sects, magic or other religious paths that lead man to withdraw into himself instead of opening up to God.

In reality, in such conditions one remains dissatisfied, unable to rejoice, because if one does not find God, there is no answer to the truest and deepest desires of the human heart, and life becomes full of compromises and inner tensions.

4.

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" ( Jn 6, 68 ). This is the answer. The answer of Peter, the first of the Apostles, the one to whom Christ entrusted his Church. It is the response of the Church and therefore also of all of you, young Romans who through baptism are members of the Church.It is a response that must become ever more conscious in each one of you, to the point of making you heralds of it with your peers who, though far from the faith, seek life and thus seek God perhaps without knowing it. Precisely because it is a response of life, we cannot be content to pronounce it alone: we must seek to make others participate in it too, always ready to give an account of the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15 ).

5.

To proclaim Jesus to all, the only fully satisfying response to human expectations: this is the commitment to which the approach of the year Two Thousand, a very special year of grace, stimulates us. We must arrive prepared for the Year 2000. The Jubilee renews the joy for the amazing event that took place two thousand years ago, when God became man, became the God-with-us, our friend and travelling companion. The risen Jesus continues to be with us; he comes to meet our longing for salvation and redemption.

You, young people of parishes, associations, movements, Christian groups, commit yourselves to deepen the mystery of his person. Ask yourselves who Jesus is for you, what he wants from you, what you seek and find in him. And, as you continually convert to Him, propose Him to those friends to whom, perhaps, no one has ever announced Him, or who have known Him and then abandoned Him.

6.

But, how to do it? Your first commitment concerns your formation as Christians: to attain a living knowledge of Jesus, to experience Him in faith through prayer, listening to His Word, catechesis on the fundamentals of the Creed, service to brothers and sisters in need.

Open a sincere dialogue with all, sharing the anxieties, problems and joys that all young people have in common. Show them - with life more than with words - the greatness of the gift of God that you have received and that has transformed your existence.

With them, then, learn to design life projects inspired by the Gospel. Jesus, in fact, enters into every aspect of existence and into everyone's vocation; he asks for consequent behaviour in the experience of human love, at school, at university, at work, in voluntary work, in sport and in every other area of daily life. It gives meaning to joy and pain, health and sickness, poverty and wealth, living and dying.

Therefore be companions of every young person living in Rome, always keeping in mind that only the truth of Christ can respond to man's desires, save him, communicate eternal life to him.

7.

Dear young men and women of Rome, be the apostles of "young Rome". May every young person, after attending you, be led to ask: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" ( Jn 6:68 ). This city has Christian roots. Do not let your Rome, the Rome of the year two thousand, be less Christian than that of the centuries that preceded the beginning of the third millennium. Proclaim to your contemporaries the Gospel of Jesus, the ever new and young Word that continually renews and rejuvenates humanity. Use every means and occasion for this. Witness the faith where there are young people like you. Know how to be critical, when necessary, of the culture in which you grow up and which is not always attentive to Gospel values and respect for man.

If your lives are oriented by Christ, culture and society will be more Christian because you yourselves will have at least partially changed them. In fact, your life choices, your behaviour, your actions contribute to building a society and a culture. Commit yourselves so that Christian culture increasingly becomes the culture of young people. Animate the culture with your creativity.

8.

This meeting was attended by a director, a sportsman, dancers, singers, representatives of so many worlds in which it is necessary to be present as Christians, to be visible and not camouflaged signs of Jesus. To your creativity, dear young Romans, I entrust the task of thinking and realising the most suitable forms for proclaiming the Gospel in our city.

This is the commitment that I have called 'citizen mission', for which the whole Church of Rome is preparing. Together, young and old, we will proclaim the Gospel of Christ to our city. For this act of love towards Rome I count on you, your energy, your creativity and your ability to work together for a common mission.

'Together to Evangelise', let this be the slogan of your programmes. "Together" as the Church of Rome, which, though rich in different gifts, must proclaim the Gospel in communion and with courage, without being ashamed of the witness to be rendered to the Lord (cf. 1 Tim 1:8 ). On this proclamation depends the future of this city, your future. 

[Pope John Paul II, Address to the young people of Rome in preparation for the XI World Youth Day]