While presiding over a Jubilee Mass for Teens in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Francis delivered a profoundly beautiful homily on love, calling it the “Christian’s identity card” and the path to the kind of happiness that can’t be bought – or found on a smartphone app!

Vatican Radio is reporting on the Pope’s homily which was based on the teaching of Jesus found in John 13:35: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

“Love, in other words, is the Christian’s identity card, the only valid ‘document’ identifying us as Christians,” the pope told the thousands of teens, ages 13-16, who were gathered in St. Peter’s Square yesterday.

“If this card expires and is not constantly renewed, we stop being witnesses of the Master. . . The true friends of Jesus stand out essentially by the genuine love that shines forth in their way of life. Do you want to experience his love? Let us learn from him, for his words are a school of life, a school where we learn to love.”

Before all else, love is beautiful and is the path to happiness, the Pope said, but warned that it’s not the easy path. “It is demanding and it requires effort . . . To love means to give, not only something material, but also something of one’s self: one’s own time, one’s friendship, one’s own abilities.”

He continued: “Dear young friends, at this stage in your lives you have a growing desire to demonstrate and receive affection. The Lord, if you let him teach you, will show you how to make tenderness and affection even more beautiful. He will guide your hearts to ‘love without being possessive,’ to love others without trying to own them but letting them be free. There is always a temptation to let our affections be tainted by an instinctive desire to ‘have to have’ what we find pleasing. Our consumerist culture reinforces this tendency. Yet when we hold on too tightly to something, it fades, it dies, and then we feel confused, empty inside. The Lord, if you listen to his voice, will reveal to you the secret of love. It is caring for others, respecting them, protecting them and waiting for them.”

He went on to instruct them about the true meaning of freedom.

“Many people will say to you that freedom means doing whatever you want. But here you have to be able to say no. Freedom is not the ability simply to do what I want. This makes us self-centred and aloof, and it prevents us from being open and sincere friends.”

Instead, freedom is the gift of being able to choose the good, he said.

“The free person is the one who chooses what is good, what is pleasing to God, even if it requires effort. . . Don’t be content with mediocrity, with ‘simply going with the flow,’ with being comfortable and laid back. Don’t believe those who would distract you from the real treasure, which you are, by telling you that life is beautiful only if you have many possessions. Be skeptical about people who want to make you believe that you are only important if you act tough like the heroes in films or if you wear the latest fashions. Your happiness has no price. It cannot be bought: it is not an app that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love.”

This is because love is a free gift which calls for an open heart, he continued.

“ . . . [I]t is a noble responsibility which is life-long; it is a daily task for those who can achieve great dreams! Love is nurtured by trust, respect and forgiveness. Love does not happen because we talk about it, but when we live it: it is not a sweet poem to study and memorize, but is a life choice to put into practice . . . And when loving seems hard, when it is difficult to say no to something wrong, look up at Jesus on the cross, embrace the cross and don’t ever let go of his hand. He will point you ever higher, and pick you up whenever you fall.”

He concluded by expressing his great confidence in youth who are capable of great acts of friendship and goodness.

“With these you are called to build the future, together with others and for others, but never against anyone! You will do amazing things if you prepare well, starting now, by living your youth and all its gifts to the fullest and without fear of hard work. Be like sporting champions, who attain high goals by quiet daily effort and practice. Let your daily programme be the works of mercy. Enthusiastically practice them, so as to be champions in life! In this way you will be recognized as disciples of Jesus. And your joy will be complete.”

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