What a seemingly obvious and yet profound phrase Pope Leo XIV uttered during his Jubilee homily: we are alive! Since then, it has not ceased to echo in my mind throughout this pilgrimage to Rome: the Church is alive! And the traces left at Tor Vergata bear witness to this.
How can we describe the greatness of what we experienced there?
After long hours walking under the sun, with the bag and the mat on your back, you find a huge mass of people from different countries trying to settle in some hollow of the dry land to eat their appetizing can of tuna before it all begins.
One might think that the conditions were not exactly the most suitable for recollection. But how amazing it was to see how, after so much chaos, there was a sepulchral silence when the exposed Blessed Sacrament appeared: an entire Church kneeling before a piece of (living) bread. The Lord uses silence to touch hearts, beginning with mine.
However, the noise was not forgotten either. The young Christians continue to remember Pope Francis' "make a mess". Drums, tambourines, songs, dances, laughter, shouts of joy and reunions were not to be missed. And with all this we gave glory to God.
Stopping to look at such palpable joy, it became very clear to me that it is hope, and all the graces we receive through the Church, that keep us truly alive. What a great peace to experience that with Him nothing is impossible. We are not called to live in a mediocre way but to aspire to holiness, which the Church never tires of proposing to us.
Throughout the pilgrimage, in my parish we have been introduced to stories of saints such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare, St. Agnes, Padre Pio or the young Carlo Acutis to show us that, like Peter, we cannot walk on water by our own strength, but if Jesus Christ reaches out to us, everything changes. We are called to do great works for God!
At the vocational encounter with Kiko Argüello, more than 5,000 men and 5,000 women responded with a generous yes, trusting in the will of the Father. Of all the memories of the Jubilee, one of the ones I cherish most is the image of those thousands of young people running with a big smile towards the stage: an authentic "yes" to the Jubilee. sprint to his vocation. I have never seen so explicitly how God sets us in motion.
And it is curious how after each meeting something immediate happened: we all left singing to God. Because it is when we live for Him that we are truly happy. As Pope Leo said: "We need to raise our eyes, to look up, to look at heavenly things, to realize that everything has meaning. Living like this is how we are most alive.
