702 Acta Apostolicæ Sedis - Commentarium Officiale

this world, knocking on the doors of other people's hearts, inviting them

to welcome him into their lives.

This great gathering of Asian young people also allows us to see some-

thing of what the Church herself is meant to be in God's eternal plan.

Together with young people everywhere, you want to help build a world

where we all live together in peace and friendship, overcoming barriers,

healing divisions, rejecting violence and prejudice. And this is exactly what

God wants for us . The Church is meant to be a seed of unity for the whole

human family. In Christ, all nations and peoples are called to a unity which

does not destroy diversity but acknowledges, reconciles and enriches it.

How distant the spirit of the world seems from that magnificent vision

and plan! How often the seeds of goodness and hope which we try to sow

seem to be choked by weeds of selfishness, hostility and injustice, not only

all around us, but also in our own hearts. We are troubled by the growing

gap in our societies between rich and poor. We see signs of an idolatry

of wealth, power and pleasure which come at a high cost to human lives.

Closer to home, so many of our own friends and contemporaries, even

in the midst of immense material prosperity, are suffering from spiritual

poverty, loneliness and quiet despair. God seems to be removed from the

picture. It is almost as though a spiritual desert is beginning to spread

throughout our world. It affects the young too, robbing them of hope and

even, in all too many cases, of life itself.

Yet this is the world into which you are called to go forth and bear

witness to the Gospel of hope, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the prom-

ise of his Kingdom - this is your theme, Marina. I will speak… In the

parables, Jesus tells us that the Kingdom comes into the world quietly,

growing silently yet surely wherever it is welcomed by hearts open to its

message of hope and salvation. The Gospel teaches us that the Spirit of

Jesus can bring new life to every human heart and can transform every

situation, even the most apparently hopeless. Jesus can transform, can

transform all situations! This is the message which you are called to share

with your contemporaries: at school, in the workplace, in your families,

your universities and your communities. Because Jesus rose from the dead,