. To do . And all in harmony ...
Real love is about loving and letting yourself be loved . It ’ s harder to let yourself be loved than to love . That is why it is so difficult to come to the perfect love of God . We can love Him but we must let ourselves be loved by Him . Real love is being open to the love that comes to you . The love that surprises us . If you only have information you are not surprised . Love surprises because it opens a dialogue of loving and being loved . God is a God of surprise because He loved us first . God awaits us to surprise us . Let us allow ourselves to be surprised by God . Let us not have a computer psychology that makes us think we know it all . All answers on computers - but no surprises . The challenge of love . God reveals himself through surprises .
Think of St Matthew . He was a good banker . But he let people down because he imposed taxes against his own people to give to the Romans . He was full of money . Jesus passed by , looked at him and said : “ Follow me ”. He couldn ’ t believe it . It you have the opportunity , see Caravaggio ’ s picture of him . Jesus calls him and those around say : “ Him ? He betrayed us ! He is no good ! He hoards money !” But the surprise of being loved overcomes him . The day when Matthew left home for work , saying goodbye to his wife , he couldn ’ t imagine he would come home without money and have to prepare a feast for the one who loved him first . God surprised Matthew more than the money he had . Allow yourselves to be surprised by God . Don ’ t be afraid of surprises . They shake the ground beneath our feet and make us insecure , but they move us forward in the right direction .
Real love allows you to spend yourselves , to leave your pockets empty . Think of St Francis who died with empty hands and empty pockets but with a full heart . Remember : no young museums , and wise young people . To be wise use three languages : think well , feel well and do well . And to be wise allow yourselves to be surprised by the love of God . That will guarantee a good life .
Rikki came up with a good plan for what we can do in life with all young people ’ s activities .
Thank you , Rikki , for what you and your friends do . I ’ d like to ask you a question : you and your friends help others but do you allow yourselves to receive ? Answer in your heart .
In the Gospel we just heard , there was a beautiful phrase , for me the most important of all : Jesus looked at the young man and he loved him . When you see Rikki and his friends you love them because they do good things . Jesus says something very important : you lack one thing . Let us listen to this word in silence : you lack only one thing .
What is it that I lack ? To all of you who Jesus loves so much , I ask you : do you allow others to give you from their riches to you who have not ? The Sadducees , Doctors of the Law , in the time of Jesus , gave much to the people , they taught the people the law , but they never allowed the people to give them something . Jesus had to come to allow himself to feel compassion and to be loved .
How many young people among you are like this ? You know how to give and yet you have ever learned how to receive . You still lack one thing . Become a beggar . This is what you still lack . Learn how to beg . This isn ’ t easy to understand . To learn how to beg . To learn how to receive with humility . To learn to be evangelized by the poor , by those we help , the sick , orphans , they have so much to give us . Have I learned how to beg ? Or am I self - sufficient ? Do I think I need nothing ? Do you know you too are poor ? Do you know your own poverty and your need to receive ? Do you let yourselves be evangelized by those you serve ? This is what helps you mature in your commitment to give to others . Learn how to open your hand from your very own poverty .
There are some points I have prepared . The first , I already told you : to learn