Cardinal encourages young people to put the word of God into practice

La Paz, Bolivia, Aug 22, 2006 / 22:00 pm

The Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Cardinal Julio Terrazas, congratulated the National Youth Ministry organization last Sunday for its silver anniversary and during his homily said, “The Word of God addressed to all generations has greater repercussions when young people listen to it and put it into practice.”

Likewise, he noted, “Today more than ever what we need is testimony, more than discourses or memorized phrases which sometimes leave people feeling resentful.”

“The Lord of the Gospel presents Himself as the Bread of Life, the living Bread come down from Heaven, and with his characteristic clarity He invites us to understand that he who eats this bread will live for forever. And the Lord goes even further; the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.  He who eats this bread will live forever,” the cardinal continued.

“This is what we all long for and is what young people especially dream of: having life, enjoying life, I hope the ghost of death never overtakes us.  That is where the Lord is in his message: I am that food that gives life, but not a food that comes from the clouds, but rather that food that is my own body, my own flesh, and you must eat it so that the world may have life,” he said.

“Bolivia is seeking change,” Cardinal Terrazas emphasized, “and this will be possible if we show the courage of believers, who know when to speak up and say, justice is needed here, and then to work for it; who know that there is a lot of deception, and that instead of complaining about it they must work to establish the truth.”

Leaders of the National Youth Ministry, including Ruth Riskowski and Father Pablo, who founded it in 1981, were present at the special Mass.