In September of 2013, Pope Francis asked young people a question: “Do you want to be a hope for God? Do you yourselves want to be a hope? Do you want to be a hope for the Church?”
Then he challenged them and gave them some homework: “Open the doors to a new world of hope. This is your task.”
I can testify that young people are willing to take up the challenge and are “doing their homework.” I’m here in Haiti with 11 college students, full of energy, enthusiasm, but above all with a heart eager to serve and to love. Three of them have been in Haiti before. They just had to come back, but couldn’t do it alone. They had to share this experience with their friends. This summer we will have a total of 125 missionaries coming to Haiti — at least 45 have been here before — and another 60 going to Mexico. They are doing their homework, opening the doors to a new world of hope.
Yes, it is happening. When I see them, I see a promising future, I see future holy families, future ethical business men, future priests, consecrated, future professionals, but above all, I see a vibrant young church that brings hope to the world!
So I think it’s only fair that we all ask the question in the first person: do I want to be a hope? If the answer is yes, then let’s get busy and do our homework: let’s open the doors of our hearts toward a new world of hope!
