The Light in young people

 

Paolo Cugini

 

“Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on, if there are five people in one family, they will be divided: three against two and two against three; father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:50-53)

Thus speaks the Voice that travels through the centuries: Behold, the light of the Gospel pierces the darkness of the world, and nothing remains untouched in its passage. Reality is torn apart, the foundations are shaken, and among the ruins the deepest rift is revealed: the one between generations. Fathers, mothers, mothers-in-law are the guardians of what is ancient; they represent the stronghold of a rigid mentality, now closed to the breeze of renewal. Woe to those who stop changing, woe to those who do not ask questions, woe to those who do not strain their ears to listen: such a person has already surrendered to the old age of the spirit, even if time has not marked their face.

Listen, peoples! It is not the passing of years that brings about ageing, but the heart that closes itself, the mind that settles, the conviction that everything has already been learned and that there is nothing left to discover under the sun. But whoever believes they have reached the goal has stopped, and the light can no longer find space within them. Thus, it is easier for the adult to delude themselves that they have arrived, to stop seeking, to take pleasure in their achievements and deprive themselves of the thirst that leads to the source.

But lo, the young arise as virgin soil: they possess nothing yet, and precisely for this reason they are open to the gift, able to listen, ready to receive the living flame of the Gospel that consumes falsehoods and illuminates what was hidden. The Gospel calls for young souls, hearts wide open to the new, indomitable spirits unafraid of change.

Here is the proclamation: the fire of the Gospel demands a youthful spirit in anyone who wishes to welcome the Light. This is why, in his days among men, Jesus himself revealed the conflict that separates generations; father against son, mother against daughter, because the Word calls for a conversion of hearts. Hear this, adults! It will be you who must be converted and learn from your children, be reborn in spirit, let yourselves be enlightened by the light that knows no end or weariness. Whoever wishes to be a bearer of Light must abandon the old garment and be born anew; whoever aspires to be a child of the Light must return to the beginning, where everything starts again.