The Evangelical Pope | You've Always Been Here for Me

Each week we let Saint Pope John Paul II share meaningful signposts to spark socio-economic resolves through justice and righteousness combined with mercy and compassion; in short, love.

               "Your face, Lord, do I seek; hide not your face from me."

               __ Psalm 27:8-9

Longchamp Racecourse, Paris, France, 24 August 1997 | Men and women instinctively seek God.

Each of us can repeat the words of the Psalmist: "Your face, Lord, do I seek; hide not your face from me" (Psalm 27:8-9). Young people realize in the depths of their being that this quest is the inner law of their lives. Human beings seek their way in the visible world, and through the visual world, they seek the unseen world at every stage of their spiritual journey.

We all have our history and an innate desire to see God, a passion that makes itself feel simultaneous as we discover the created world. This world is lovely and rich. It sets before us countless treasures; it enchants us; it attracts both our reason and our will. But in the end, it does not satisfy our spirit. Humanity realizes that this world, with all its many riches, is superficial and precarious. In a sense, it is destined for death.

Nowadays, we are more aware of the fragility of our earth, too often degraded by the hand of humankind, to whom the Creator entrusted it.

Excerpted from:

Apostolic Journey of His Holiness John Paul II to Paris, on the Occasion of the 12th World Youth Day (August 21-24, 1997), Mass For 12th World Youth Day, HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II, Longchamp Racecourse, Sunday, 24 August 1997.

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1997/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19970824_youth-paris.html