Pope Francis

POPE FRANCIS WYD VIGIL

‘Rise up’ to pursue joy, even when you’re tired, pope says at WYD vigil

fter many of the 1.5 million young people gathered in Lisbon’s Tejo Park waited for hours in near 100-degree weather to participate in the World Youth Day vigil with Pope Francis Aug. 5, the pope asked them, “Have you ever been tired?” Even when tempted to “throw in the towel” or stop along the journey of life, the pope said, the young people must pick themselves up and walk toward joy. “Joy is not hidden, it’s not kept under key, we have to look for it,” he said, “and that is tiring.”

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Pope to young people at WYD: God calls your authentic, not virtual, self

Before a sea of waving flags representing countries large and small from across the globe, Pope Francis told some 500,000 singing, shouting and swaying young people that God has called each person to him by name, not their social media handle. “You are not here by mistake,” he told the mass of people in Lisbon’s Eduardo VII Park Aug. 3 for the welcome ceremony for World Youth Day. “You, you, you, over there, all of us, me, we were all called by our names.”