[:mt]Jum Dinji taż-Żgħażagħ 2023[:en]World Youth Day: people called by name[:]

[:mt]Tħejjija għal Jum Dinji taż-Żgħażagħ: mixja lejn is-sena 2023 meta ż-żgħażagħ jiltaqgħu ma’ Papa Franġisku f’Lisbona.

Fost dawk li batew ħafna f’daż-żmien ta’ emerġenza sanitarja nsibu liż-żgħażagħ, li kellhom jinfatmu mill-ħajja tas-soltu, jiefqu jmorru l-iskola jew l-università, xi wħud jiefqu anki għax-xogħol, u jsibu ruħhom maqtugħa barra mill-ħajja soċjali, mill-ħbieb.

Iżda hu veru wkoll li ż-żgħażagħ huma fuq quddiem fejn tidħol is-solidarjetà: huma jagħtu sehemhom biex ixerrdu t-tama, biex jibnu l-paċi u jieħdu ħsieb l-ambjent. Papa Franġisku semagħhom, sema’ dak li għexu u li għadhom qed jgħixu. U ftit ġranet ilu tahom il-messaġġ għal Jum Dinji taż-Żgħażagħ Novembru 2021 fejn bi kliem meħuda mill-Atti tal-Appostli għamlilhom stedina personali: “Qum! Nagħmlek xhud tad-dehra li fiha rajtni!” (ara Atti 26:16). Dan hu kliem San Pawl waqt li jirrakkonta l-konverżjoni tiegħu.

F’dan il-messaġġ il-Papa ikellem liż-żgħażagħ dwar il-laqgħa personali li ż-żagħżugħ Pawlu ta’ Tarsu kellu ma’ Kristu fi triqtu lejn Damasku. U waqt li jagħmel dan, bħal qisu irid isejjeħ lil kull żagħżugħ u żagħżugħa b’ismhom u jurihom li jrid jimxi magħhom il-mixja ta’ xhieda ta’ Kristu. Ħeġġiġhom “iqumu” biex bl-esperjenza tagħhom jagħtu xhieda tal-imħabba u r-rispett li jibnu r-relazzjonijiet umani, jiddefendu l-ġustizzja soċjali, il-verità, id-drittijiet tal-bniedem ikunu xhieda ta’ ħarsa ġdida li tħares lejn id-dinja bħala d-dar komuni tagħna u biex kuraġġ jiddefendu l-ekoloġija integrali. Talabhom juru li wieħed dejjem jista’ jerġa’ jibda mill-ġdid u li Kristu hu ħaj.

“Inħares lejn dan il-messaġġ bħala sfida kbira għalina ż-żgħażagħ”, qalet Klara María Piedade, żagħżugħa ta’ 27 sena mill-Brażil, fil-waqt li kompliet tisħaq fuq ir-responsabbiltà taż-żgħażagħ li jagħtu sehemhom għal dinja magħquda.

Klara hi waħda miż-żgħażagħ li din is-sena jinsabu fiċ-Ċentru ta’ Żgħażagħ Għal Dinja Magħquda tal-Moviment tal-Fokolari. Dawn iż-żgħażagħ ilhom minn Mejju jaħdmu fuq aspetti differenti li għandhom x’jaqsmu mal-ħarsien tad-dar komuni tagħna skont it-tagħlim tal-Laudato Si’.

Dare to care hu l-programm tagħhom, li din is-sena qed jiffoka fuq il-ħarsien tal-ambjent. “Jeħtieġ li nkunu protagonisti”, kompliet tgħid Klara “mhux biss bil-kliem imma bil-fatti. Nistgħu nġibu bidla fid-dinja jekk inkunu aħna li nagħmlu l-ewwel pass. U importanti ħafna li ningħaqdu ma’ dawk li ġa qed jagħtu sehemhom”.

Għadu kemm tħabbar li l-Jum Dinji taż-Żgħażagħ ser isir f’Awwissu 2023, f’Lisbona fil-Portugall. Intant dan il-jum ikun imfakkar fil-festa ta’ Kristu Re fid-djoċesijiet tad-dinja kollha. Ser tibda mixja ta’ tħejjija biex iż-żgħażagħ ikunu miftuħa għas-sorpriżi t’Alla “li jrid li d-dawl tiegħu jiddi fuq il-mixja tagħna”.

Meħuda minn kitba ta’ Carlos Mana

Official website of World Youth Day:
https://www.lisboa2023.org/en

 [:en]Preparations are underway at diocesan level for the World Youth Day. A journey towards 2023 when young people will gather around the Pope in Lisbon.

That’s right. Young people are among those who have suffered most in this period of health emergency. Their external life and outreach were suddenly cut off. They could not go to school, university, work. They were cut off from social life and from friends.

But it is also true that young people were the first to set solidarity in motion, to fight for life, to instill hope, to be builders of peace, to care for the environment.

Pope Francis listened to them, he heard from them how much they have lived and are living at this time. A few days ago he issued his message for WYD 2021 with an invitation calling for action: “Stand up! I appoint you as a witness of what you have seen”.

He says, “When a young person falls, in some sense all humanity falls. Yet it is also true that when a young person rises, it is as if the whole world rises as well”. He challenges them with the story of the young Paul, who while on his way to Damascus to arrest some Christians, was surrounded by a light “brighter than the sun” and heard the voice of Jesus calling him by name, “Saul! Saul”.

Almost as if today Pope Francis wants to call every young person by name. And he retraces with them Paul’s path of witness of Christ. In conclusion, he says to them, Arise! Testify with your experience, to the love and respect it is possible to instill in human relationships. Arise! Uphold social justice, truth, human rights. Testify to the new way of looking at things that enables you to view creation with eyes brimming with wonder, that makes you see the Earth as our common home and gives you the courage to promote an integral ecology. Testify that we can always start again and that Christ is alive.

“I see this message as a great challenge for us young people,” Klara María Piedade, 27 years old, a young woman from Brazil, confided to me. “I think it is an answer and a confirmation that we really must be responsible in becoming protagonists of the united world, of a more fraternal world”.

Klara is one of the young people who this year are at the Focolare’s “Young People for a United World Centre” in Rome. Since last May they have been busy on various fronts in favour of caring for our common home, echoing the Laudato Sì. Dare to care – Dare to take care. This is their program of which they are the main promoters. “We must be protagonists”, Klara reiterates, “not only in words but with our actions. We will change the world if we take this first step. It is very important to network with those who are already doing something”.

The date of the next World Youth Day which will be held in Lisbon, Portugal in August 2023 has just been announced. Meanwhile, in November this year, on the feast of Christ the King, the WYD will be celebrated in all the dioceses of the world. A path of preparation open to the surprises of God, “for he wants to light up our path”.

Carlos Mana

Official website of World Youth Day:
https://www.lisboa2023.org/en

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