Pope Francis has encouraged people to “attempt to search, with passion and enthusiasm, for what brings out the beauty of life” in a message to the 45th Meeting for Friendship among Peoples in Rimini, Italy.
The annual “Meeting” in Rimini is Italy’s highest-profile annual Catholic summit sponsored by the Communion and Liberation movement. This year’s meeting is Aug. 20-25, and has the theme “If we are not after the essence, then what are we after?”
The message – sent on behalf of the pope by Vatican Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin – says especially as people are going through complex times, “the search for what constitutes the heart of the mystery of life and reality is of crucial importance.”
“Indeed, our age is marked by various problems and considerable challenges, in the face of which we sometimes find a sense of impotence, a renunciatory and passive attitude that can lead to ‘dragging one’s feet’ and allowing oneself to be swept away by the daze of the ephemeral, to the point of losing the meaning of existence. In this scenario, therefore, the choice to set out on the trail of what is essential is all the more pertinent,” he writes.
The cardinal said Pope Francis encourages the attempt to search, “with passion and enthusiasm,” for what brings out the beauty of life.
“As the icy winds of war blow, joining with recurrent phenomena of injustice, violence and inequality, as well as the grave climate crisis and unprecedented anthropological change, it is essential to stop and ask ourselves: Is there something worth living and hoping for?” Parolin writes.
“Ever since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has urged us to read even the resistance, hardships and failings of today’s men and women as a call to reflection, so that the heart may open to the encounter with God and each person may become aware of himself, his neighbor, and reality,” the letter continues.
He said Francis’s constant invitation is to become beggars of the essential, of what gives meaning to our life, first of all by divesting ourselves of what weighs down our daily life, “following the example of a climber who, on the rock face, must rid himself of excess in order to be able to climb more rapidly.”
“By doing so, we discover that the value of human existence does not consist in things, in successes achieved, in the race of competition, but first and foremost in that relationship of love that sustains us, rooting our journey in trust and hope: It is the friendship with God, which is then reflected in all other human relations, that is the foundation of the joy that will never fail,” the letter says.
“Indeed, only the Lord saves our fragile humanity and, in the midst of adversity, lets us experience an otherwise impossible joy. Without this anchorage point, the boat that is our life would be at the mercy of the waves and at risk of sinking,” it continues.
“To return to the essential that is Jesus does not mean escaping from reality but, on the contrary, it is the condition to truly immerse oneself in history, to face it without fleeing its challenges, to find the courage to risk and to love even when it does not seem worth the effort, to live in the world without any fear,” Parolin continues.
The added in this spirit, Francis appreciates and shares the aims of the Meeting in Remini, “because focusing on the essential helps us to take our life into our own hands and to make it an instrument of love, mercy and compassion, becoming a sign of blessing for our neighbor.”
“Faced with the temptation of discouragement, the complexity of the current crisis and, in particular, the challenge of a seemingly impossible peace, the Holy Father urges everyone to become responsible agents of change, actively collaborating in the Church’s mission, to give life together to places where Christ’s presence can be seen and touched. This joint commitment can give rise to a new world, where the Love that was manifested to us in Christ may finally triumph, and the entire planet may become a temple of fraternity,” the cardinal says.
The Communion and Liberation movement was founded by Monsignor Luigi Giussani in 1954 and today is present in 90 countries and counts thousands of members who look to it for spiritual and intellectual formation.
Every year the movement meets in the Italian beach town of Rimini with the participation of high-ranking Church and government officials, as well as scientists and intellectuals, to reflect on a wide-ranging topic.
