The same variety is found in the relationship of the young with the figure of Jesus. Many recognize him as Saviour and Son of God and they often feel close to him through Mary, his mother, and they commit themselves to a journey of faith. Others have no personal relationship with him, but consider him a good man and an ethical point of reference. Others again encounter him through a powerful experience of the Spirit. For others, though, he is a figure from the past who is very remote from human experience and has no relevance for their lives. Even though to many young people God, religion and the Church seem empty words, they are sensitive to the figure of Jesus when he is presented in an attractive and effective way. In many ways, the young people of today are saying to us: “We wish to see Jesus” (Jn 12:21), thus manifesting the healthy restlessness that characterizes the heart of every human being: “the restlessness of spiritual seeking, the restlessness of the encounter with God, the restlessness of love” (Francis, Mass for the Beginning of the General Chapter of the Order of Saint Augustine, 28 August 2013).
TheoFonsAt the sources of the faith