Unshakeable hope

The world says that young people are practically predetermined to make bad decisions -- that they aren't smart enough, good enough, faithful enough, interested enough, selfless enough. I would have to agree with John Paul II that the opposite is the case.

"Unshakeable Hope" is my blog as Theology of the Body Education Coordinator at Ruah Woods. It is written with the conviction that young people are called to great things, and with God's grace are capable of great things.

When I was standing in a field in Toronto in 2002, listening to John Paul II address thousands of us at World Youth Day, he spoke these words:

"You are young and the Pope is old, 82 or 83 is not the same as 22 or 23. But the Pope still fully identifies with your hopes and aspirations. Although I have lived through much darkness, under harsh totalitarian regimes, I have seen enough evidence to be unshakeably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young. You are our hope, the young are our hope.

Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father's love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son."