Wow Pope Leo XIV is Joined by 1 Million Youth and Tells them it's Never too Late to Start Over "No matter who you are or what you have done, Jesus Christ knows you, Jesus Christ loves you" FULL TEXT in Argentina

Pope Leo XIV, with one million youth during a prayer vigil in Buenos Aires, Argentina, urged them to return to Christ in prayer, emphasizing that it is never too late to embrace God's call to holiness.

The prayer vigil took place on Tuesday evening in Argentina’s capital. Addressing the gathered faithful, the Pope encouraged them to illuminate the world with the purifying fire of Christ’s love, which enables authentic love.

Responses from the Holy Father

1. Agustina Flores: Holy Father, how do we cope with frustration and our limitations when we go out to meet the most excluded and are unable to accompany them as we would like? How do we continue walking alongside them when we feel that what we are doing is not enough?

Pope Leo XIV : First of all, good evening and thank you. What a wonderful welcome! A welcome that perhaps only Argentina can give. Thank you!

Agustina, thank you for your question and for the love with which you support these children. I understand how you feel; I know it's difficult, but don't lose hope. Saint Ignatius of Loyola said, "Act as if everything depended on you, knowing that in reality everything depends on God" (cf. Fr. de Ribadeneira, Life of St. Ignatius : V, XI). Do all you can, put your whole heart into it, and join your efforts with those of others. And when you reach the limit of your strength, remember that God's strength is inexhaustible. Jesus spoke to us of a seed that grows while the sower sleeps (cf. Mk 4:26-27). We won't always see the fruits of what we sow, but we can trust that God continues to care for them. So hold fast to the words of Saint Nazaria: "Onward, always onward!" The Lord walks with you!

2. Franco Pugliese: Holy Father, how can I integrate both realities, the love I experience in the parish and at home, along with work responsibilities and other demands of daily life?

Pope Leo XIV : I want to personally thank everyone for their testimonies and questions. And I take this opportunity, after listening to Guadalupe, to say that I know there are many young people with a desire to give their lives to Christ: in consecrated life, in the priesthood, and also in family life. Christ continues to call! Don't be afraid to answer!

Franco, thank you for this question. Think about the years Jesus spent in Nazareth, working with his hands and sharing the life of a family. The Son of God chose to live like that! He taught us that we can encounter Him even in ordinary things. Therefore, we don't have to live two lives, one for God and another for our work, as if there were a contrast or conflict between them. When you work, study, or spend time with your friends, do it with love and offer it to the Lord. In this way, your work also becomes prayer and a path to holiness. So, Franco, bring your whole life to the altar every time you participate in the Eucharist. And then return to your work with joy, knowing that Jesus is waiting for you there too. Thank you very much.

The Holy Father's address

Thank you very much! Thank you all!

Dear young people, dear friends: Welcome everyone!

What a joy to return to this place, this time to meet with you all! Good evening! At the Monument to the Spanish, there are sculptures representing four major regions of Argentina: the Andes, the Chaco, the Pampas, and the Río de la Plata. How wonderful that these lands are represented today by so many young people! Greetings to you all.

Thank you for this warm welcome, as well as for your questions and testimonies. I also thank Archbishop García Cuerva of this city for his kind words. We wanted to begin this meeting with a symbol: the light of our candles. Let us listen to what Jesus tells us: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” ( Luke 12:49). It is the fire of his love, given by the Holy Spirit, that purifies our hearts and makes us capable of loving.

I would like to speak to you now about another fire: the fire of a furnace in Babylon. The Book of the Prophet Daniel (cf. 1:3-7, 17-20; 2:49; 3:1-93) tells us the story of three young men: Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. They lived as exiles in that land, where they learned another language, received new names, and found positions in the administration of the kingdom. They had a future ahead of them. Until the day came to choose to whom they would give their hearts. King Nebuchadnezzar had erected an immense golden statue and ordered everyone to bow down before it. Anyone who refused would be thrown into a blazing furnace. Imagine the scene: a multitude bowing before the colossus, and only three young men remaining standing.

The king offered them one last chance. A single gesture was all it took for them to continue their lives peacefully. They replied that God could deliver them from the fire, but added, “And even if He does not” (3:18), we will not worship that statue. What freedom there is in that answer! They did not know what was going to happen. They knew the punishment that awaited them, but they knew that only in God would they find happiness.

Dear friends, even today idols are raised up demanding our worship: success at any cost, money, an obsession with appearances, popularity, or the unbridled pursuit of pleasure. Sometimes, in order to gain the approval of others, we may lie, betray, or humiliate someone on social media. Envy can prevent us from rejoicing in the good fortune of others, and selfishness can lead us to treat people as objects. There are also those who profit from offering pleasures that ultimately enslave us, such as pornography and various substances. Augustine told us: “Today I stand.” How powerful those words become when we remember the three young men of Babylon! You too are called to stand before the idols of our time. Do not kneel before that which cannot give you life! And if you have ever fallen, get up! Do not let anything or anyone take away the freedom that God has given you.

During World Youth Day in Lisbon , Pope Francis uttered words that resonated around the world: “All, all, all” ( Welcoming Ceremony, August 3, 2023 ). He repeated them with his characteristic insistence, as if to ensure that no one had missed a word. I would like to draw inspiration from those words to speak about what it means to live as disciples of Jesus: all toward Christ, all with Christ, all like Christ.

First and foremost, all of you are drawn to Christ . Among you are those who have grown up close to Jesus and those who are only now beginning to seek Him; those who haven't prayed in a long time, who have drifted away from the Church, or who have been hurt by people who should have been there for them. To each of you, I would like to say: there is a place for you in the Church! With your questions, your wounds, and your story. This is also your home. You don't have to pretend that everything is alright or wait until your life is all right to come closer. And to you, who think it's too late to start over, I would like to say: welcome ! No matter who you are or what you have done, Jesus Christ knows you, Jesus Christ loves you, and wants you to be close to Him.

As we have heard, a question changed Guadalupe's life: “Who told you it's too late?” I would like to repeat it tonight to those who feel they have strayed too far and to those who were once made to feel there was no place for them in the Church. The Lord is looking for you too! Remember Zacchaeus. He climbed a tree to see Jesus and discovered that Jesus was also looking for him. He called him by name and wanted to stay at his house! That encounter led him to make amends for the injustices he had committed (cf. Lk 19:1-10). No one has fallen so low that Christ cannot lift them up. May our communities always have their doors open; may they know how to welcome those who come with questions, help those who suffer, and patiently accompany those who seek God.

Now let's return to Babylon. The three young men were bound and thrown into the furnace. The flames rose with such violence that they engulfed those carrying out the sentence. But the king saw something incomprehensible: he had thrown in three men, and now he saw four, walking freely among the flames. The Lord had sent his angel to protect them. They had been thrown in bound, and now they walked free! The king had condemned them to the fire, but God did not abandon them. Here is our second "all": all with Christ .

We know the fullness of that gesture. Humanity had been subjected to death because of sin, but God came to meet us. The Son of God became man, shared our sufferings, and bore our sins. Out of love for us, he gave his life on the cross and, on the third day, rose again. Jesus Christ is alive! Jesus Christ has conquered death and freed us from its power! Dear young people, Christ loves us and wants to share his own life with us. He has promised to remain with his disciples until the end of the world (cf. Mt 28:20). Christ offers you a life that not even death can take away!

There is a detail in the story that moves me deeply. From the furnace, Azariah offered a prayer: “Accept our contrite hearts and humble spirits” ( Daniel 3:39). That young man had resisted the king, and yet he acknowledged before God his need for mercy. What an admirable prayer! We too need it. We all know the distance that sometimes exists between the good we desire and our choices. And we all need to be converted.

Christ loves us as we are, but His love is too great to leave us prisoners of sin, of that which destroys us. The fire He came to bring has the power to break our bonds and restore our freedom to love. There are wounds to heal, faults to acknowledge, and, when possible, wrongs to repair. Let yourselves be transformed by Christ! Do not be afraid to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation. How much good it does to know that our sins can be forgiven! Pray, read the Gospel, draw near to the Eucharist. There He who gave His life for us awaits us.

In the midst of the furnace, the three young men began to sing. They invited the heavens and the stars, the mountains, the rivers, and all living things to bless the Lord. They even said, “Fire and heat, bless the Lord” (3:66). They were inviting the very fire that surrounded them to join in their praise! Their song expanded until it encompassed all of creation. I like to think that this song continues and that each generation can add its voice to it. How beautiful it would be if everything we do could become a hymn of praise! Perhaps today we could sing: Art and culture, bless the Lord. Games and sports, bless the Lord. Science and technology, bless the Lord. Networks and screens, bless the Lord. Music and football, bless the Lord. May everything that exists bless the Lord and praise him with hymns forever!

At the beginning of the story, the king had ordered everyone to worship his statue. At the end, those young people were inviting everyone to bless the Lord. The king needed to threaten to make them bow down; the young people, who had no power but their faith, were inviting the whole world to share their joy. And so we come to the third "everyone": everyone like Christ .

Dear young people, whoever has encountered Christ is called to live like Him (cf. 1 Jn 2:6). And that is what I would like to invite you to do tonight: to be saints! The saints also knew their weaknesses, but it was God's grace that transformed their lives and taught them to love. Jesus showed us the way: “Love one another as I have loved you” ( Jn 13:34). That “as” has behind it an image we should never forget: Jesus kneeling at the feet of his disciples to wash them. The Lord of all became the servant of all !

You too can wash the feet of your brothers and sisters. Share bread with the hungry, open your doors to the homeless, visit the sick and those whom no one else wants to visit. There is also suffering that goes unseen: someone who needs advice or correction, someone who longs for words of comfort, someone who needs to know they are loved. How many opportunities the Lord offers us to be like Him! May your lives be like pages of the Gospel, written with the ink of mercy, so that those who encounter you may recognize in you something of the love and joy of Jesus.

This joy springs from friendship with Him and impels us to bring Him to others. Remember the disciples on the road to Emmaus. When they recognized the Risen Lord in the breaking of the bread, they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road?” ( Lk 24:32). That very night they returned to Jerusalem. They could not keep to themselves the joy of knowing that Christ was alive! At the beginning, I said to you, “ Welcome, all !” Now, as the Successor of Peter, I entrust to you the second part of our motto: “ Go and proclaim !” Go to your cities and towns, to every corner and periphery. May those who feel far from God discover, through you, that Christ is seeking them.

Soon I will bless the cross that will travel through your communities. May the fire of Christ's love pass from one heart to another as that cross is passed from one hand to another. May Our Lady of Luján accompany you and always guide you on this path: all toward Christ, all with Christ, all like Christ ! Go and proclaim !