Pope tells Polish youth “Rest assured He sees you as a precious treasure for the world’
At the end of last Wednesday’s General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis addressed a group of Polish young people who were taking part on Saturday 2 June in the 22nd Meeting of Young People at Lednica. “Your stay at Rome will confirm you in faith, hope and love,” he said to the Polish pilgrims. He entrusted them to “the protection of Mary Queen of Poland,” and he gave them his heartfelt blessing.
The Pope urged the Polish youths present to reflect on Jesus’ words: “I am with you always.’” “I rejoice over the initiative.” He appealed to the youths to give “your spirit, your hands and your body to Christ so that, thanks to you, He can help anyone in need.”
“Dear young people, be sure “ that Christ “sees you as a precious treasure for the world. At the same time, fix your gaze on the face of the Son of God, wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Only in this way will you be able to see how you truly are,” Francis continued.
The Pope invited the young people to celebrate at Lednica “the centenary of the recovery of independence” of their country, and he asked them also to “embrace the Polish land in my name …as Saint John Paul II used to do.” Pope John Paul II used to send an annual Message to the Lednica participants. The popes who succeeded him have continued the tradition.
Dominican Father Jan Gora initiated the “Lednica 2000” meeting of young people (known also simply as “Lednica”) in 1997. It is an annual gathering of Polish Catholic young people, organized at Lednica, near Poznan on the first Saturday in June. It is the largest regular gathering of young Christians in the world, with the exception of those attended by the Pope.
