Today and tomorrow, Rome is preparing to welcome children from around the world, children who, at the initiative of Pope Francis, are celebrating their first World Day.
The Pope’s invitation
Ahead of these two days, the Pope sent a message and an invitation to all children: “Dear girls and boys! Your first World Day is approaching: it will take place in Rome on May 25 and 26. For this reason, I thought I would send you a message; I am happy that you can receive it, and I thank everyone who will work to make sure it reaches you.
I address it first of all to each of you personally, to you, dear girl, and to you, dear boy, because “you are precious” in the eyes of God (Is 43:4), as the Bible teaches us and as Jesus has demonstrated so many times.”
The program
Today, the event will begin at the Olympic Stadium with greetings from the foreign delegations and will continue with nationally and internationally renowned guests presented by Carlo Conti, leading up to the most eagerly awaited moment: the dialogue between the boys and girls and the Holy Father. Tomorrow, May 26, the celebration itself will take place in St. Peter’s Square, presided over by the Holy Father, and will culminate with the Angelus and the Pope’s greetings to children around the world.
Remaining united with Jesus
In his message, the Pope urges children to cultivate a deep friendship with Jesus: “My little friends, to renew ourselves and the world, it is not enough for us to be together: we need to remain united with Jesus. From him we receive great courage: he is always close, his Spirit goes before us and accompanies us along the paths of the world. Jesus tells us: ‘Behold, I am making all things new’ (Rev 21:5); these are the words I chose as the theme for your first World Day. These words invite us to become as agile as children in recognizing the new things inspired by the Spirit in us and around us. With Jesus, we can dream of a new humanity and commit ourselves to a more fraternal society that cares for our common home, beginning with simple things, such as greeting others, asking permission, saying sorry, and saying thank you. The world is transformed first and foremost through small things, without being ashamed of taking only small steps. On the contrary, our smallness reminds us that we are fragile and that we need one another, like members of a single body (cf. Rom 12:5; 1 Cor 12:26).”
The gift of friendship and the secret of prayer
Pope Francis also points children toward a path to happiness through sharing and prayer: “And there is more. Indeed, dear girls and boys, we cannot even be happy on our own, because joy grows as it is shared: it is born from gratitude for the gifts we have received and in turn share with others. When we keep what we have received only for ourselves, or even throw tantrums to get this or that present, we actually forget that the greatest gift is ourselves, for one another: we are the ‘gift from God.’
And now I want to share an important secret with you: to be truly happy, we must pray, pray a lot, every day, because prayer connects us directly to God, fills our hearts with light and warmth, and helps us do everything with confidence and serenity.”
“All grown-ups were once children. But few of them remember it”, writes Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in The Little Prince, so let us ensure that this day, dedicated to children, also helps us adults rediscover the child within us, that child capable of wonder and simplicity, that child Jesus invites us to be if we wish to enter the kingdom of heaven, starting now.
