It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.
People are made for happiness. Rightly, then, you thirst for happiness. Christ has the answer to this desire of yours. But he asks you to trust him. True joy is a victory ..Christ holds the secret of this victory.
Young pilgrims, Christ needs you to enlighten the world and to show it the “path to life” ( Psalm 16 ) The challenge is to make the Church’s “yes” to Life concrete and effective. The struggle will be long, and it needs each one of you. Place your intelligence, your talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion and your fortitude at the service of life !
At this stage of history, the liberating message of the Gospel of Life has been put into your hands. And the mission of proclaiming it to the ends of the earth is now passing to your generation.
The Church needs your energies, your enthusiasm, your youthful ideals, in order to make the Gospel of Life penetrate the fabric of society, transforming people’s hearts and the structures of society in order to create a civilization of true justice and love.
You young people .. know that the Truth is more powerful than darkness; that Love is stronger than death. I would like to invite each of you to listen careful to God’s voice in your heart. Listen to his voice. Do not be afraid.
God loves each of us as if there were only one of us
Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.
Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.
Our Lord’s words teach us that though we labor among the many distractions of this world, we should have but one goal. For we are but travelers on a journey without as yet a fixed abode; we are on our way, not yet in our native land; we are in a state of longing, not yet of enjoyment. But let us continue on our way, and continue .. that we may ultimately arrive at our destination.
Jesus, we all have places in our hearts and in our histories that have been hurting for a long time. Some wounds might be self-inflicted, but the wounds caused by others tend to cut most deeply. At the same time, there is also a sacred place in each of us where we can be alone with You and the whole Trinity. The most powerful healing can begin by bringing those painful places into relationship with You, Who love us infinitely. And right now, You are herewith us in all Your power and glory in the Eucharist. Nothing is lacking in Your Presence with us. It can be hard to open tender places in our hearts. You respect us and You honor our experience through Your offer of healing. We are here together and here with the communion of Saints, and we lean on each other for support as we seek to open our hearts to you. We want to be gentle with ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to descend with all the gentleness of the dewfall onto our thirsty hearts. We pray for courage now as we hold all the hurting places in our hearts before Your loving gaze.
[Note: The following meditation can help to prepare your heart to receive the Lord’s healing power, or you can go straight into the Litany]
Close your eyes (if you are comfortable doing so) Take a deep breath. Breathe in the Holy Spirit…Come, Holy Spirit Breathe out negativity Breathe in the Holy Spirit…Come, Holy Spirit Breathe out all that is not of Him Notice your heartbeat Each heartbeat is a gift God wants you He made you. He knit you together with love, with His own hands in your mother’s womb You are a masterpiece of His loving creativity He has chosen you He sees you He gazes on you with love He delights in you
Now I want to invite you on a journey of healing and reconciliation. Jesus wants to lift you up to see your whole life through His eyes of healing and hope.
Try to zoom out, letting yourself be lifted up away from the details He wants to lift you up so you can see your whole life from your conception in your mother’s womb to this very moment. He is lovingly drawing near to you with the Father. There is only love. Together He looks on your whole life with you. He looks on you and your whole life with love. Through your whole life there is a golden thread of goodness. You are made in His image. Even where there are deep sorrows, the Holy Spirit weaves a golden thread of goodness. As you look together on your life You may see some darker moments, clouded moments, harder moments. Some of those moments might be too hard to enter into right now and that is ok. There are some sins and failures. There are times of weakness. There are times you were hurt. He wants to bring healing to your whole life: healing for your hurts, healing for your failures. He has only compassion for you, loving care. He honors you and wants to protect you. Try to open your heart to Jesus’s healing love. If any of these heart movements are difficult, that’s ok. You can still let Jesus draw close.
Please repeat after me:
Jesus, I believe in you. Jesus, I believe in your Real Presence in the Eucharist. Jesus, I believe you are here with me. Jesus, I believe you are in my heart. Jesus, I believe in your love for me. Jesus, I believe your love is greater than every sin. Jesus, I believe your love is greater than all evil. Jesus, I believe your love can free me from my sin. Let’s practice the response several times: Jesus, heal my heart with Your love For the times I’ve felt abandoned… For the times I’ve been betrayed… For the times I’ve been rejected… For the times I’ve been forgotten… For the times I’ve been disappointed… For the times I’ve been let down by the Church… For the times I’ve been lonely… For the times I’ve been desperate… For the times I’ve been lost… For the times I’ve been dejected… For the times I’ve been used… For the times I’ve been neglected… For the times I’ve been starved for love… For the times I’ve been deprived of affirmation… For the times I’ve lost my way… For the times I’ve gone astray… For the times I’ve made the wrong choice…
the response is: Jesus, come close to me.
Whenever I feel unseen… Whenever I feel ignored… Whenever I feel unimportant… Whenever I feel useless… Whenever I feel alone… Whenever I feel abandoned… Whenever I feel like it would be better if I didn’t exist… Whenever I feel misunderstood… Whenever I feel used… Whenever I feel forgotten… Whenever I feel angry… Whenever I feel anxious… Whenever I feel depressed… Whenever I feel envious… Whenever I feel lustful… Whenever I feel afraid…
the response is: Please forgive me, Jesus
For the times I’ve used others… For the times I’ve failed to see… For the times I’ve hardened my heart to a person in need… For the times I’ve failed to do the right thing… For the times I’ve given in to peer pressure… For the times I’ve lied when someone needed me to tell the truth… For the times I’ve looked away when someone needed my help… For the times I’ve closed my ears to the cries of the helpless… For the times I’ve chosen comfort over courage… For the times I’ve turned my back on someone who was hurting… For the times I’ve ignored my feelings… For the times I’ve silenced the cry of my heart… For the times I haven’t been Your mercy for others… For the times I’ve invalidated my own feelings… For the times I’ve believed the lies of others… For the times I’ve repeated the lies of others… For the times I’ve suppressed righteous anger… For the times I’ve given up in despair… For the times I’ve failed to share You with someone who needed You… For the times I’ve wrongly hid my faith from others… For the times I’ve misrepresented You in my words and actions… For the times I’ve caused scandal by my words or actions… For the times I’ve brought hatred instead of love… For the times I’ve brought division instead of peace… For the times I’ve brought gossip instead of charity… For the times I’ve torn down when I could have built up…
the response is: Jesus, help me to believe
When I doubt the power of Your love… When I doubt Your love for me… When I struggle to trust… When I doubt that I am worthy of love… When I doubt that I have a place in anyone’s heart… When I wonder if I am enough… When I doubt I have what it takes… When I feel helpless… When I feel useless… When I doubt that I have anything to offer… When I doubt that I can make a change… When I doubt that my efforts matter… When I feel hopeless… When I want to give up on my neighbor… When I want to give up on my enemy… When I want to give up on the Church… When I want to give up on myself… When I want to give up on You, Jesus…
Jesus I need you. Jesus I trust in you. Jesus I love you.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Make my heart like unto yours.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Good Shepherd who rescues the lost. You are the Divine Physician who heals the sick. You are the Savior Who washes away our sin in your Blood. You are the Beloved Son who shares your sonship with us along with the love of the Father. We know that even if we do not feel it, you will continue this work of healing in our hearts. We trust that you love us and desire our wholeness and flourishing. Fill each of our hearts as we worship you and receive You in all your love in this Holy Eucharist. We make this prayer in your Name, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Benedictine Father Boniface Hicks, a monk of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was holding the Eucharist in a golden monstrance that shimmered as the spotlights tracked its progress through the crowded floor.
After processing down the stadium’s central aisle, and then placing the monstrance on the altar, the priest knelt before the Eucharist. “Jesus, we come before you, that you might heal our hearts, that you might meet us right where we are,” he prayed.
“Each of us have places in our hearts and in our histories that have been hurting for a long time,” said Father Boniface. “There is a sacred place in each of us where we can be alone with you, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The most powerful healing can begin by bringing those places into relationship with the one who loves us infinitely: you, Jesus.”
Father Boniface, an experienced retreat-master, led attendees through a series of prayers of repentance and renunciation, with the congregation repeating phrases of love for Jesus, and asking for his healing of each one’s sin, hurt and brokenness.
After those prayers, the monstrance was lifted from its stand on the altar, and Father Boniface wrapped his golden vestment around its base. As he slowly processed through the stadium’s main floor, people bowed and crossed themselves as Jesus in the Eucharist passed in their midst. Some wept, others reached their arms towards the Eucharist and parents held babies in their arms or helped their young ones kneel quietly with their eyes fixed on the Blessed Sacrament.
“Jesus, I trust in you,” the musicians sang.
When Father Boniface returned to the altar, he led Benediction, ending with the final prayer: “May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.”
The revival evening also featured moving testimonies of healing, including that of Paula Umana, a former tennis player who was ranked first in Central America and later became quadriplegic after the birth of her fifth child due to a nervous system disorder.
I would like to invite each of you to listen careful to God’s voice in your heart. Listen to his voice. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Open your hearts. Open up your hearts to Christ. The deepest joy there is in life is the joy that comes from God and is found in Jesus Christ the son of God. Jesus is the hope of yours. He is my hope. He is the hope of the world.
Have no fear. The outcome of the battle for Life is already decided, even though the struggle goes on.
You young people now know that Life is more powerful than the forces of death; they know that the Truth is more powerful than darkness; that Love is stronger than death.
Never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire. Do not be Afraid
