Fr John McKenna, from our Youth Chaplaincy team looks at ‘desperate search for meaning and love’

“The outpouring of Christ’s Spirit upon humanity is a pledge of hope and deliverance from everything that impoverishes us. It gives the blind new sight, it sets the downtrodden free, and it creates unity in and through diversity. This power can create a new world; it can ‘renew the face of the earth’. The world needs this renewal!…How many of our contemporaries have built broken and empty cisterns, in a desperate search for meaning - the ultimate meaning that only love can give? This is the great and liberating gift which the Gospel brings…It reveals humanity’s sublime calling, which is to find fulfillment in love.”

These are the words of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, at the 23rd World Youth Day in Sydney. We need this renewal of the Holy Spirit, to renew our world, to renew the Church, to renew our parish communities and to renewal our own hearts as well. This is a wonderful meditation as we approach St Valentines Day, and perhaps contemplate the true meaning of love in all its fullness.

I welcomed in the New Year at a Youth 2000 prayer festival with 200 young people in a church in South London. These few days were blessed with lots of music and worship, continuous Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the celebration of Mass at midnight. As a priest, this was a great chance to see the desire for personal renewal among the young people present. I noticed that there is a ‘desperate search for meaning’, as the Pope described, in the hearts of many people, and it was humbling to be alongside these young pilgrims.

As a Youth Chaplain for this diocese it is marvellous to see firsthand the gifts of many young people. The Church especially needs the gifts of young people to play a role in shaping and renewing the church. I hope in my small way to help young people realise their gifts and open their hearts to the fulfilling love which is Jesus Christ. 

Fr John is assistant priest at St Paul’s, Wood Green and can be contacted on johnmckenna@rcdow.org.uk

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