Pope Leo’s Homily at the Closing Mass of the Youth Pilgrimage, 3 August 2025
Dear young people,
after last night’s vigil we gather again today to celebrate the Eucharist, the Sacrament in which the Lord has given himself to us completely. In this experience, we can imagine ourselves retracing the journey of the disciples to Emmaus on Easter evening (cf. Lk 24:13–35): at first they left Jerusalem frightened and disappointed; they went away convinced that, after Jesus’ death, there was nothing more to expect, nothing to hope for. Yet they encountered him precisely, welcomed him as a travelling companion, listened to him as he explained the Scriptures, and finally recognized him in the breaking of the bread. Then their eyes were opened, and the joyful news of Easter found a place in their hearts.
Today’s liturgy does not speak to us directly of this episode, but it helps us to reflect on what it recounts: the encounter with the Risen Christ who changes our existence, who enlightens our affections, desires and thoughts.
The first reading, taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes, invites us, like the two disciples we have spoken about, to face the experience of our limitations, of the finiteness of things that pass away (cf. Eccl 1:2; 2:21–23). In the same vein, the responsorial psalm presents us with the image of “the grass that is renewed… in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers” (Ps 90:5–6). These are two strong reminders, perhaps a little shocking, but they should not frighten us, as if they were “taboo” subjects to be avoided. The fragility they speak of is, in fact, part of the marvel that we are. Think of the image of grass: is not a field of flowers beautiful? Of course, it is delicate, made up of slender, vulnerable stems, prone to drying out, bending, breaking, and yet at the same time they are immediately replaced by others that sprout after them, generously nourished and fertilized by the first as they decay on the ground. That is how the field lives, constantly renewing itself, and even during the cold months of winter, when everything seems silent, its energy stirs beneath the ground, preparing to burst forth in a thousand colours in the spring.
We too, dear friends, are made this way: we are made for this. Not for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed in the gift of self, in love. And so we continually yearn for a “more” that no created reality can give us; we feel a great and burning thirst that no drink of this world can quench. Faced with it, let us not deceive our hearts by trying to quench it with ineffective substitutes! Rather, let us listen to it! Let us make of it a step stool on which to stand, like children on tiptoe, to look through the window of the encounter with God. We will find ourselves before him, who waits for us, who even gently knocks on the window of our soul (cf. Rev 3:20). And it is beautiful, even at twenty years of age, to open our hearts wide to him, to let him enter, and to set out with him on the adventure towards the infinite spaces of eternity.
Saint Augustine, speaking of his intense search for God, asked himself: “What, then, is the object of our hope […]? Is it the earth? No. Is it something that comes from the earth, such as gold, silver, trees, crops, or water […]? These things are pleasing, these things are beautiful, these things are good” (Sermo 313/F, 3). And he concluded: “Seek the one who made them, he is your hope” (ibid.). Thinking then of the path he had travelled, he prayed, saying: “You [Lord] were within me, but I was outside. There I sought you […]. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness; you flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness; you breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you, I tasted […] and now I hunger and thirst; you touched me, and I burned for your peace” (Confessions, 10, 27).
Brothers and sisters, these are very beautiful words, which remind us of what Pope Francis said in Lisbon to young people during World Youth Day: “We find ourselves facing great questions that have no simple or immediate answers, but challenge us to continue the journey, to rise above ourselves and to press beyond the here and now. […] We are called to something higher, and we will never be able to soar unless we first take flight. We should not be alarmed, then, if we sense an inner thirst, a restless, unfulfilled longing for meaning and a future […]. We are not sick, we are alive!” (Address to University Students, 3 August 2023).
There is an important question in our hearts, a need for truth that we cannot ignore, which leads us to ask: what is true happiness? What is the true meaning of life? What can free us from being trapped in meaninglessness, boredom and mediocrity?
In recent days, you have had many beautiful experiences. You have met young people from different parts of the world, from diverse cultures. You have exchanged knowledge, shared expectations, engaged in dialogue with the city through art, music, technology, sport. And at the Circus Maximus, by approaching the Sacrament of Penance, you received God’s forgiveness and asked for his help to live a good life.
In all this, you can grasp an important point: the fullness of our existence does not depend on what we store up, nor, as we heard in the Gospel, on what we possess (cf. Lk 12:13–21). Rather, it is linked to what we know how to welcome and share with joy (cf. Mt 10:8–10; Jn 6:1–13). Buying, hoarding, consuming are not enough. We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards, to the “things that are above” (Col 3:2), 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, helping us to grow in “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience” (Col 3:12), forgiveness (cf. v. 13), peace (cf. Jn 14:27), all in the mind of Christ (cf. Phil 2:5). And in this horizon we will understand ever more what it means that “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (cf. Rom 5:5).
Dear young people, our hope is Jesus. It is he who, as Saint John Paul II said, “stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives […], to improve yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal” (XV World Youth Day, Prayer Vigil, 19 August 2000). Let us remain united to him, let us remain in his friendship, always, cultivating it through prayer, adoration, Eucharistic Communion, frequent Confession, generous charity, following the example of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will soon be canonized. Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less. Then you will see the light of the Gospel growing day by day, in you and around you.
I entrust you to Mary, the Virgin of Hope. With her help, as in the coming days you return to your countries, to every part of the world, continue joyfully to walk in the footsteps of the Saviour, and spread to everyone you meet your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith! Safe journey!
Leo XIV