Pope John Paul II Speaks to Youth

Week Forty-Nine

There is no fear in love... (1 John 4:18)

"Break down the barriers of superficiality and fear!" --Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day XII

Think About That

Superficiality is when we won't open ourselves up for people to really know us. Fear is the inability to trust that things will be okay. Both of these ways of acting create barriers. They prevent others from getting to know us as we really are, and they prevent us from getting to know others for whom they really are. They even prevent us from completely knowing God.

Take Action

In what areas of life do you fear to trust others? Can you identify one way that your fear puts up barriers with others? This week see if you can step beyond that fear and do that which your fear keeps you from doing.

Say A Prayer

Lord, help me to not be afraid, especially of sharing my true self with others and of accepting others as they are. Amen.

Did You Know?

In 1939, the year that the Second World War began, Pope John Paul II enrolled in his second year of university courses in Literature and Philosophy at the Jagiellonian University.


Taken from...
My Dear Young Friends: Pope John Paul II Speaks to Youth on Life, Love, and Courage
Copyright © 2002 -- Reprinted with permission of the editor, John M. Vitek.

My Dear Young Friends, a collection of fifty-two weekly reflections on living in the Spirit, invites young people to read and act on Pope John Paul II's inspiring addresses to young people gathered at annual World Youth Day celebrations. Please visit www.smp.org for more information from the publisher, Saint Mary's Press.

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