By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
VATICAN | “For vocations to the priesthood and religious life” is the theme of the Pope’s prayer intention for the month of February 2025. This topic leads him to speak about young people, and the need to accompany them with their dreams and concerns. At the same time, he talks about a crucial moment in his own life.
Jorge the youth, and today’s youth
“When I was 17 years old,” Pope Francis confides in his video message, produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, “I was a student and was working. I had my own plans. I wasn’t thinking at all of being a priest. But one day, I went into the church…and God was there, waiting for me!” Photos from his youth – at school, in his family, at church – open The Pope Video. Scenes from the daily lives of today’s young people follow. Times change, but the ability of the Lord to speak to the hearts of those who seek him does not change.
In fact, the Pope affirms that “God still calls young people even today, sometimes in ways we can’t imagine,” and that he does “new things with them.” This is why it is important to create a listening atmosphere in which they can manifest their concerns, and feel “loved as they are, and for who they are,” an atmosphere in which they can hear and freely respond to the Lord’s call, accompanied by a welcoming community. In Pope Francis’s words, “it is necessary to walk with them, listen to them… take them to Jesus, always favouring their freedom.”
Pope Francis invites us, therefore, to listen to the Holy Spirit when he “speaks through the concerns young people feel.” That way, it will be possible to welcome God’s call “in ways that better serve the Church and the world today.” And so, he asks us to pray that the “ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel a call to serve Christ’s mission in the priesthood and religious life.”
The challenge of trust
The challenge, then, is that of believing in young people, in their ability to contribute significantly to the Church and to the world. In fact, in the February video, Pope Francis invites us to be hopeful about young people, and to hope primarily in God, “for He calls everyone.”
“Our God is a God who takes the lives and gifts of young people seriously,” states Archbishop José H. Gómez, Archbishop of Los Angeles. “The Church’s mission,” continues the Archbishop of the largest diocese in the United States, who contributed to the production of this video with a team of digital professionals, “is to walk with young people to help them grow in their faith and to work to build this world into the Kingdom that God wants for his people.”
Father Cristóbal Fones, S.J., International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, reminds us that “believing in young people is essential to encourage them to examine their own vocation in full freedom, and to respond to it courageously. This requires an approach to vocation ministry that truly values dialogue and accompaniment, while also welcoming and accepting the concrete concerns, questions and aspirations of young people as an important component in the vocational process. Furthermore, the Pope says that, through what young people say, which can at times be challenging or questioning, God could also be indicating new paths for today’s Church, thus offering us an opportunity for our own conversion.
“In the Christian life,” Father Fones continues, “we can all accompany their discernment through four basic attitudes: openness, a listening ear, proximity, and interest. First, we need to be open to the mission of encouraging vocations, and not close those paths to them which God Himself is opening. This is especially important within families. Next, it is important to create a climate in the community that is conducive to listening to God’s voice, to welcoming, to respect those who feel the desire to follow Christ in the consecrated or priestly life. We also need to be discretely and consistently close to them, supporting them through our own witness. Lastly, taking a sincere interest in each one of them helps to open their hearts. To sum up, our attitudes can play a decisive part for young people who want to respond to the Lord on this path, yet who do not know how to do it.”
Finally, to gain the indulgences granted specifically during the Jubilee of 2025, it is worth recalling that one of the conditions is to pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. The Pope Video offers everyone an occasion to do this, as well as the digital prayer platform ClickToPray.
