Pope closes Youth Jubilee with call to embrace holiness, reject mediocrity

ROME— Pope Leo XVI concluded the Jubilee of Youth on Sunday with a call for young people to reject mediocrity and embrace holiness, purpose and service.

Speaking during Mass following an overnight prayer vigil, he reflected on the spiritual hunger facing many young people today, encouraging them to seek deeper meaning beyond material possessions and societal expectations.

“Do not settle for less,” the pope told the crowd at Tor Vergara, on the outskirts of Rome. “Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you.”

Drawing from Scripture and the experiences of the weeklong event, he urged the youth from around the world to deepen their spiritual lives and remain close to Christ.

“There is a burning question in our hearts, a need for truth that we cannot ignore,” the pope said. “What is true happiness? What is the true meaning of life?”

About 1 million young people from 146 countries gathered in Rome over the course of the Youth Jubilee for spiritual, cultural and artistic events, including concerts, sporting activities, and moments of reflection and reconciliation.

Many also participated in the sacrament of penance, a highlight of the gathering held at the Circus Maximus near the ruins of the imperial palaces, where 300 confessionals were set up.

“You have met other young people from different parts of the world and from diverse cultures,” the pope said. “You have exchanged knowledge, shared expectations and entered into dialogue with the city through art, music, technology and sport.”

Pope Leo emphasized that fulfillment comes not from accumulation but from communion with God and one another.

“Buying, hoarding and consuming are not enough,” he said. “We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards … to realize that everything in the world has meaning only insofar as it serves to unite us to God and to our brothers and sisters in charity.”

He cited the examples of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis—both models of youthful holiness soon to be declared saints—and encouraged attendees to follow in their footsteps.

“Dear young people, Jesus is our hope,” he said, quoting St. John Paul II. “It is he … who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives.” (Roy Lagarde/CBCP News)

A version of this article was first published by CBCP News.