‘One of the big problems people have today, including so many young people, is that they have lost their ability to dream.’
Pope Francis had a clear message for young people on May 7, 2019: “One can never dream too much.”
His remarks came in a talk during an ecumenical meeting with young people at the Pastoral Center in Skopje, North Macedonia. It was a key stop during his May 5-7 ecumenical journey to Bulgaria and North Macedonia.
“Let me tell you that one can never dream too much,” the Holy Father said. “One of the big problems people have today, including so many young people, is that they have lost their ability to dream. They don’t dream, either much or little. When someone does not dream, when a young person does not dream, that empty space gets filled with complaints and a sense of hopelessness.”
The Pope cited the example of Skopje native Saint Mother Teresa. He said she was someone who never stopped dreaming.
“She dreamed in a big way, and this is why she also loved in a big way,” Francis said. “She had her feet firmly planted here, in her native land, but she didn’t stand still. She wanted to be ‘a pencil in the hands of God’. This was the dream she crafted. She offered it to God, she believed in it, she suffered for it, and she never gave it up. And God began to write new and amazing pages of history with that pencil.”
The Holy Father encouraged the young people present to follow the saint’s example. He said they should take their lives seriously and “make something beautiful.”
“Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of our dreams (cf. Christus Vivit, 17); let us not deprive ourselves of the newness that the Lord wants to give us. You will encounter many, many unexpected twists and turns in life, but it is important to face them and find creative ways of turning them into opportunities. But never alone! No one can fight alone.
“How important it is to dream together! Just as you are doing today: everyone together, here in one place, without barriers. Please, dream together, not by yourselves! Dream with others and never against others! By yourselves, you risk seeing mirages, seeing things that are not there. Dreams are built together.”
