On 2 April 2019, Pope Francis released his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Christus Vivit– Christ is alive! – addressed to young people and to the entire people of God.

The opening paragraphs of the exhortation read:

  1. Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world. The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!
  2. He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One. He calls you and he waits for you to return to him and start over again. When you feel you are growing old out of sorrow, resentment or fear, doubt or failure, he will always be there to restore your strength and your hope.

Later in the letter, Pope Francis gives us several examples of young saints, including our own Carmelite Sister, St Thérèseof Lisieux.  He writes:

Saint Thérèseof the Child Jesus was born in 1873. At fifteen years of age, having overcome many difficulties, she succeeded in entering the Carmelite convent. Thérèselived the little way of complete trust in the Lord’s love and determined to fan with her prayers the fire of love burning in the heart of the Church.

Click here to download the document

Click here for the full text of the document