My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
This year, the Catholic Church celebrated the 45th World Day of Peace, which coincides with the beginning of the New Year. The theme chosen by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is “Educating Young People in Justice and Peace.” In the message, he speaks most directly to the young people of our world, since, as he says, “You are a precious gift for society.” Our young people have the enthusiasm and energy to change the world. Hopefully, they will change the world by understanding what true justice and peace are all about from a Christian perspective.
Our Holy Father speaks first to educators reminding them of the responsibility they have for educating our young people in the ways of justice and peace. It is never easy in the world in which we live to speak with confidence because of the subjective climate in which we find ourselves. The Holy Father many times over has reminded us of the dangers of subjectivism and relativism that characterize our world today.
According to St. Augustine, who once said, “What does man desire more deeply than truth?,” we see how true this is when every man seeks something good. He may seek the truth, however, he may look in the wrong places. The young people whose fascination with the world may have not yet been extinguished look always to find ways of making the world a better place. Their ideals have not been extinguished.
The recent “Occupy” movements around the world have been populated by young people looking for something better than what they see. It is hard to make a judgment on these movements, but it is clear that they want change, a change for what they believe to be better. They are willing to sacrifice in order to obtain this change. This is the characteristic of the young, who are willing to give themselves to many causes.
However, the Holy Father goes on to remind us, “It is not ideology that will save the world, but only a return to the living God, our Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true … an unconditional return to God who is the measure of what is right and who at the same time is everlasting love. And what could ever save us apart from love?”
As St. Paul tells us in the First Letter to the Corinthians, “Love takes delight in truth.” The truth is what we ultimately seek, but we find difficult to obtain.
Educating our young people in justice and peace is a task for the present generation so that the new generation will find what they truly seek in truth — namely, justice and peace. It has been said that peace is the fruit of justice, and injustice can be the cause of war and violence. But peace is not easily obtained, even when at times there is justice. Peace must be instilled in young people so that they will recognize it when it happens and work for the justice that is essential to maintain it.
The challenge of Our Holy Father in the message for the World Day of Peace is issued to all persons of good will, especially those who have responsibility for educating the young.
Education is an example of how we must put out into the deep, since education entails explaining the unknown and plumbing its depths. The Holy Father’s message needs to be passed on to this next young generation. The love and the truth is guaranteed only by our faith in Jesus Christ who brings about justice and peace in the world.