Today marks the beginning of the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal. Pope Francis chose the WYD theme: “Mary arose and went with haste.” (Luke 1, 39) In his own words, the Holy Father explained his choice: “Because as soon as Mary knew she was going to be the mother of God, she didn’t stay there taking a selfie or showing off. The first thing she did was to set out on a journey, in haste, to serve, to help. You too have to learn from her to set out on a journey to help others.”
Pope Francis has shared that he hopes to see “a seed for the world’s future” in Lisbon. “A world where love is at the center, where we can sense that we are sisters and brothers. We are at war; we need something else. A world that is not afraid of witnessing to the Gospel. A joyful world — because if we Christians have no joy, we are not credible, no one will believe us.”
World Youth Day is the central focus for the Pope’s August prayer intention: “Let us pray that the World Youth Day in Lisbon will help us young people to set out on the journey, witnessing to the Gospel with our own lives.”
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La intención de oración del Papa Francisco durante el mes de agosto es la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud, que se celebra en Lisboa (Portugal) del 1 al 7 de agosto. El Santo Padre invita a los fieles a rezar durante este mes por la Jornada que empieza hoy, para que el encuentro “ayude a los jóvenes a ponerse en camino, dando testimonio del Evangelio con su propia vida.”
Respecto al lema elegido para esta JMJ, “María se levantó y partió sin demora,” el Papa destaca que María, cuando se entera que va a ser la madre de Jesús no se queda “tomándose un selfie, o presumiendo. Lo primero que hace es ponerse en camino, a toda prisa, para servir y ayudar. Debemos aprender de ella y ponernos en camino para ayudar a los demás.”
