This June, as children all over the world prepare to put away their pencil cases and pack up their bags at the end of another school year, Pope Francis held a special audience at the Vatican with a group of school-going children from Communion and Liberation’s “The Knights of the Grail” educational initiative. Here, he gave some sound words of advice on the difficult business of growing up.
“Life is a long series of hellos and goodbyes, so don’t be afraid to let go of the past; remember old friends, but keep moving and be open to the new,” he said. Over the course of the 45-minute question and answer session, the Holy Father addressed questions about leaving school and moving on, like “Why do I have to change everything?” and “Why does growing up make me so afraid?”
Pope Francis’ responses were encouraging:
“Life is a constant ‘good morning’ and ‘farewell’,” the Pope said – with the goodbyes something being forever. “You grow by encountering and by taking your leave,” he continued. “If you don’t learn to say goodbye well, you will never learn how to encounter new people.”
Any moments of change in life are “a challenge”, he empathised, but “in life, we have to get used to this journey of leaving something behind and encountering something new”.
“There is no magic wand, but there are little things we can learn to do every day.”
Speaking to a teenage girl who shared her fear about moving forward to secondary school, the Pope said:
“Look at that wall. What’s behind it?”
“I don’t know,” replied the girl.
“But if you go outside, to the countryside, what do you see?” Pope Francis responded.
“I see everything,” she said.
“Everything! You see the horizon. We have to learn to see life by looking at the horizons. Look at the wall and think about the horizon that lies in the countryside.”
The Holy Father encouraged the thousands of youths gathered to avoid words like “fear” or “afraid”, and instead to focus on the “challenges”, urging them to remember the phrase: “I will win this challenge or I will let this challenge defeat me”.
Finally, Pope Francis shared his thoughts on the best way to approach life:
“You can begin to change the world with an open heart,” he said. We should never wish ill on others, no matter how badly they may have treated you: “Never return evil with evil. That’s how you can change the world. There is no magic wand, but there are little things we can learn to do every day.”
For more information about the religious and educational philosophy of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, please visit CEIST.
Images of Pope Francis at the special audience sourced from Catholic News Service.