Nuncio in Ghana Urges Youth to be Committed to Catholic Ideals

CANAA || By Angela Ofosu Boateng and Damian Avevor || 02 September 2015

The Apostolic Nuncio in Ghana, Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich, has called upon the youth in Ghana to show commitment to the Catholic ideals in spite of enticements that might lure them into other ways.

The Archbishop stressed that despite difficulties, the youth needed not be discouraged and give up their Catholic ideals but instead let their hard work and commitment to their human, intellectual and spiritual formation remain the priority.

He said this in his homily at the conclusion of the third Ghana version of the World Youth Day celebration held at Cape Coast on August 30, 2015 under the theme: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God the.

He highlighted aspects like sects, money, drugs, casual sex, violence, power, selfishness, malice, among others as possible enticements that tempt the youth.

“In order to grow in discernment, along with the strength and the freedom needed to resist these pressures, I encourage you to place Jesus Christ at the centre of your lives through prayer, but also through reading and study of sacred Scripture, frequent recourse to the sacraments, formation in the Church’s social teaching, and your active and enthusiastic participation in ecclesial groups and movements,” Archbishop Speich further advised.

Meanwhile, in his keynote address at the same event, the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) stressed the need for the Church in Ghana to take formation of the youth seriously, encouraging the use the formative period of catechism to teach Catholic youth the basic tenets of the faith to enable them have a solid understanding of the word of God, Catholic orthodoxy and practice.

The message was delivered on his behalf by GCBC Vice President, Bishop Anthony Kwame Adanuty of Keta-Akatsi Diocese.

The message emphasized the need for dioceses and Archdioceses to establish youth counselling centres with requisite resources to offer counselling services to the youth and help equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to develop both physically and spiritually.

The need to build the capacity of diocesan and Archdiocesan Youth Chaplains was also underlined.

The weeklong youth event concluded on Sunday, August 30.

Below is the full text of the homily by the Apostolic Nuncio in Ghana

3^RD GHANA VERSION OF THE WORLD YOUTH DAY CELEBRATION

CAPE COAST, 30^TH AUGUST, 2015, 22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time -Homily

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; St. James 1:17-18, 21-22; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

“BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART, FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD” (Matthew 5:8)

Brothers in the bishopric and the priesthood, dear sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ, I bring you the Apostolic Blessings and Greetings of our Holy Father, Pope Francis. Warm greetings to the parents, sponsors, well-wishers and collaborators! I am indeed very happy to be with you today here in Cape Coast as you are concluding the 3^rd Ghana version of the World Youth Day Celebration.

For starting few words about today’s readings! This may be a bit far-fetched, but suppose you gave a big feast, rented a banquet room in a very fancy restaurant and all your invited guests just happened to work in a pig farm, tending hogs, mucking pens and generally getting themselves filthy dirty. Now suppose they all arrived at your party totally honored and delighted to be invited, but without having washed up in the least, so used to being dirty, and ready to dig and eat without so much as washing their hands. It doesn’t sound like a very appetizing scenario. We’d probably be rather put off by such guests.

Jesus and his disciples are chided today for being something like the hog tenders who don’t wash up according to accepted customs of cleanliness and etiquette. Jesus turns the tables on the accusing scribes and Pharisees, by telling them they are much worse off because they have unclean hearts, internal impurity. Which is more important to God, Jesus asks: clean hands and body or a clean mind and heart? The scribes and Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of breaking ritual traditions of purity. Jesus deals with the matter by going to the heart of the problem: looking at what God desires, rather than humans. God looks into the heart, Jesus says, while humans only see what is external: external purity. What is the purpose of all the commandments, Jesus is indirectly asking? Is it not to free oneself to love more, be nearer to God and more available to serve God and others? It is not to free ourselves from norms built up only to become chains of slavery loosing the spiritual meaning of the rules, rules only created to deepen the relations with God and our neighbor?

That doesn’t seem to be a preoccupation of the scribes and Pharisees, though. Jesus is unafraid to call these reli-gious authorities hypocrites, literally people who wear masks, who are only acting. Like actors, they put on a show, making people think they are obeying God’s law, while in fact they are harboring evil desires and intentions.

Now who of us, we may ask, is completely free of such bias? Probably few or none of us, but we should recognize that acting (hypocrisy) is a problem and seek to eradicate it in our life by the help of God’s grace. Jesus is telling the scribes and Pharisees that they are not even aware of, let alone striving to change, their hypocritical ways.

Secondly, after telling them of their hypocrisy, Jesus says his accusers are abandoning God’s word and substi-tuting their narrow interpretations for what God is actually asking: a clean heart, free of malice, judging, covetousness, deceit, etc. Jesus refers them to a prophecy of Isaiah (29: 13), where the prophet accuses his hearers of paying God lip service but with hearts a million kilometers away from their Maker. There is only one way to reverse such trends and that is to be open to God’s ways, walking in love and not judging others. Such a stance, which is also called openness to God’s grace, will gradually purify intentions, set one on fire for God’s ways, in the love of the Holy Spirit.

So we may ask: am I committed to eliminating from my life that which is other than God? Does the sacrifice I offer to God each day in prayer, ritual and good works flow from a willing heart, albeit imperfect, but striving to have the right motives? Or am I stuffed up with self, judgment of others, and really leaving no place for God to get into my life? No one can answer that question for me nor I for anyone else. It is very personal and individual and we are lovingly invited by God today to choose God’s ways above all else. At the end what mean purity for me, in my behavior, in my life?

Dear young friends, the Theme of this 3^rd Ghana Version of the World Youth Day is: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Indeed, each one of us wants to see God! St. John said in the beginning of his Gospel: “No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known” (Jn 1:18). So, if we know the Son, if we become sons and daughters in him, we will be able to see Him. Various ways are proposed. We can imitate Jesus, this can be a first step. We can follow him, that can be another step. Then, we can live in him, that is the last step in the spiritual life.

Dear people of God, enticements of all kinds may tempt you: ideologies, sects, money, drugs, casual sex, violence, power, selfishness, malice… Be vigilant: those who propose these things to you want to destroy your future! In spite of difficulties, do not be discouraged and do not give up your catholic ideals, your hard work and your commitment to your human, intellectual and spiritual formation! In order to grow in discernment, along with the strength and the freedom needed to resist these pressures, I encourage you to place Jesus Christ at the centre of your lives through prayer, but also through reading and study of sacred Scripture, frequent recourse to the sacraments, formation in the Church’s social teaching, and your active and enthusiastic participation in ecclesial groups and movements. Cultivate a yearning for fraternity, justice and peace. The future is in the hands of those who find powerful reasons to live and to hope today. If you want it, the future is in your hands, because the gifts that the Lord has bestowed upon each one of you, strengthened by the encounter with Christ, can bring genuine hope to the world and to your country!

When it comes to making life choices, when you find yourselves considering the question of a total consecration to Christ – in the ministerial priesthood, in the consecrated life or in a different way, in marriage – turn to him, take him as your model, and listen to his word by meditating on it regularly. If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed… Dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away from you, but he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide your doors to Christ – and you will find true life.

Dear friends in Christ, I find it very suitable to share with you some thoughts and ideas from the address of His Holiness Pope Francis to the young people a few months ago[1]. Answering to the questions that were put to him by se-veral young people, the Pope said that the first question, on love, questions us on the profound meaning of God’s love, offered to us by the Lord Jesus. He shows us to what point love goes: to the total gift of oneself, to giving one’s own life. However, this gift of ourselves must not be imagined as a rare heroic gesture or reserved to some exceptional occasion. In fact, we could run the risk of singing of love, of dreaming of love, of applauding love ... without letting ourselves be tou-ched and involved in it! The grandeur of love is revealed in taking care of those in needs, with devotion and patience; therefore, great of love is the one who is able to become small for others, like Jesus, who became a servant. To love is to become neighbour, to touch the flesh of Christ in the poor and the least, to open to God’s grace the needs, the appeals, the loneliness of the people around us. Then the love of God enters, transforms and renders little things great, it makes them the sign of his presence.

In the light of this transformation, Pope Francis answer-red the second question on mistrust in life. The lack of work and of prospects for the future certainly contributes to halting the very movement of life, putting many on the defen-sive: to think of themselves, to manage time and resources for their own good, to limit the risks of any generosity.... They are all symptoms of a life held back, preserved at all costs and which, in the end, can also lead to resignation and cynicism. Instead, Jesus teaches us to go the other way: “whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it” (Lk 9:24). This means that we must not wait for favourable external circumstances to really get involved but that, on the contrary, only by com-mitting our life — aware of losing it! — we create for others and for ourselves the conditions of new trust in the future. … This is the way to experience fully the strength and joy of the Gospel. In this way, not only will you find trust in the future, but you will succeed in generating hope among your friends and in the environments in which you live.

The third question putted to Pope Francis stated: how can friendship be lived in an open way, capable of passing on the joy of the Gospel? The Pope answered that he learned that the square in which they were gathered is very popular among young people on Friday and Saturday evenings. It happens the same way in all our cities and towns. I think that even some of you meet here or in other squares with your friends. And so I ask you a question — each one think and answer it to himself — in those moments, when you are with others, are you able to let your friendship with Jesus “shine through” in your attitudes, in your way of behaving? Do you sometimes think, too, in your free time, when relaxing, that you are little shoots attached to the Vine that is Jesus? I assure you that thinking about this reality with faith, you will feel flowing within you the “lymph” of the Holy Spirit, and you will bear fruit, almost without realizing it: you will be able to be courageous, patient, humble, capable of sharing but also of differentiating yourselves, to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep; you will be able to love those who do not love you, respond to evil with good. And thus you will proclaim the Gospel!

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” We need to protect the purity of what is most precious for all of us Christians: our heart and our relationships. Pope Fran-cis uses the words, the concept used by Saint John Paul II and after by Pope Emeritus Benedict, who spoke about “hu-man ecology”… this means purity whished by God for the good of humanity. This purity or human ecology “will help each one of us to breathe the pure fresh air that comes from beauty, from true love, and from holiness”. That comes from God! Let the Holy Spirit breath in all of us!

Let the Holy Spirit purify all of us! Let the Holy Spirit help and guide all of us! Amen.

H.E. Mons. Jean Marie Speich,

Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana