Francis to youth: Evangelize online

Pope tells young people to evangelize through the ‘digital world’

As more youngsters are using smartphones and digital technologies, spreading the Gospel is as easy as a click over the screen.

According to Pope Francis, young people can evangelize through encounters in the digital world.

“The digital world — the social networks that are so pervasive and readily available — dissolves borders, eliminates distances, and reduces differences,” the Pope said May 19, according to an article in Catholic News Agency (CNA).

But if we lack a “sincere gift of our lives, we could well have countless contacts but never share in a true communion of life. To share in the mission to the ends of the earth demands a gift of oneself in the vocation that God, who has placed us on this earth, chooses to give us,” Pope Francis said.

According to CNA, the Pope’s words were published in a message on the theme, “together with young people, let us bring the Gospel to all,” published ahead of the 92nd World Missionary Day, which will take place October 21.

It can be noted that the Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith, and vocational discernment will also take place in October, the month of the missions.

He said that the Synod “will prove to be one more occasion to help us become missionary disciples, ever more passionately devoted to Jesus and His mission, to the ends of the earth.”

The Pope also reflected on the missionary role of the young people saying that “what leads me to speak to everyone through this conversation with you is the certainty that the Christian faith remains ever young when it is open to the mission that Christ entrusts to us.”

Quoting the words of St. John Paul II in “Redemptorist Mission,” Pope Francis said: “mission revitalizes faith,” and emphasizes that young men and women who want to follow Christ need “to seek, to discover, and to persevere” in their God-given vocations, which will lead to joy.

Pope Francis said that he knows to joyfully share the faith can be a challenge, and that he is aware of both the “lights and shadows of youth,” as he also encouraged them to be strong.

“Many men and women, and many young people, have generously sacrificed themselves, even at times to martyrdom, out of love for the Gospel and service to their brothers and sisters,” he said.

“At the school of the saints, who open as to the vast horizons of God, I invite you never to stop wondering: What would Christ do if he were in my place?”