If in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be 'devout' and to perform my 'religious duties', then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely 'proper', but loveless.
Those who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit understand that placing oneself at the service of the Gospel is not an optional extra, because they are aware of the urgency of transmitting this Good News to others...I assure you that the Spirit of Jesus today is inviting you young people to be bearers of the good news of Jesus to your contemporaries.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of sharing the message of the Gospel and responding to the call of the Holy Spirit, particularly for young people.
Pope Benedict XVI's quote highlights the urgency and necessity of transmitting the message of the Gospel as an integral part of being a follower of Christ. He encourages young people to recognize their role in sharing the Good News of Jesus with others, implying that this mission is vital rather than optional. The Spirit’s invitation to young individuals serves as a call for them to engage actively in their faith and to be messengers of hope and love in their communities.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a youth group meeting, this quote can inspire discussions on sharing faith.
More from Pope Benedict Xvi
All quotes →The life of the community, both domestically and internationally, clearly demonstrates that respect for rights, and the guarantees that follow from them, are measures of the common good that serve to evaluate the relationship between justice and injustice, development and poverty, security and conflict.
If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.
I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and how to act, even with insufficient tools.
Faith is above all a personal, intimate encounter with Jesus, and to experience [His] closeness, [His] friendship, [His] Love; only in this way does one learn to know [Him] ever more, and to love and follow [Him] ever more. May this happen to each one of us.
Do not be afraid of seeming different and being criticized for what might seem to be losing or out of fashion; your peers but adults too, especially those who seem more distant from the mindset and values of the Gospel, are crying out to see someone who dares to live according to the fullness of humanity revealed by Jesus Christ.
Similar quotes
For me, Superman's greatest contribution has never been the superhero part: it's the Clark Kent part - the idea that any of us, in all our ordinariness, can change the world.
I have found adventure in flying, in world travel, in business, and even close at hand... Adventure is a state of mind and spirit.
Whoopi Goldberg looked like me, she had hair like mine, she was dark like me. I'd been starved for images of myself. I'd grown up watching a lot of American TV. There was very little Kenyan material, because we had an autocratic ruler who stifled our creative expression.
When you sing gospel you have a feeling there is a cure for what's wrong.
You have to recover the capacity to imagine yourself as an ideal and figure out how to project that into the world.
From her concession speech: Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it...You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the President of the United States. And that is truly remarkable.