PLANTED AND BUILT UP IN JESUS CHRIST, FIRM IN THE FAITH – Col 2:7

This is the theme of the Youth World Day, and it is taken from the letter of St. Paul to the Colossians.

Paul is very good at summarizing the most important truths in a few sentences, easy to memorise and to refer to. Col 2:6-7 is one of my preferred passages in the letters of St. Paul: “So then, as you received Jesus as Lord and Christ, now live your lives in him, be rooted in him and built up on him, held firm by the faith you have been taught, and overflowing with thanksgiving.”

In this passage, Paul shows us what being a Christian means.

• ·      First of all, one must accept Jesus as Lord and Christ, in order to be a Christian. Throughout the centuries, thousands have died for that affirmation of faith. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and the One who came to redeem us and reconcile us with God. And he is Lord – the Lord of Lords. The affirmation that he is Lord means as well that he is divine, because the word Lord (Kyrios in Greek) was the word used in the Greek translation of the Bible (the Septuagint) to translate the name of God, Yahweh. It is the proclamation of faith of Thomas: “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28).
• ·      To accept Jesus means to live our lives in him. Faith in Jesus Christ implies a way of life or a certain type of behaviour, and that behaviour comes from a very special relationship with Jesus, a relationship based on faithfulness and commitment.
• ·      Jesus Christ must become the centre of our lives, so that he is the centre of reference of everything that we do or say. Paul says it very clearly: Planted and built up in Jesus.  We must remember that Jesus presented himself as the corner stone. He is the foundation upon which we must build the new world. Nowadays, society is being built on market values, which simply means greed. And greed has no values and no morals; it only cares for bigger and bigger profits. A society built up on greed will destroy itself. We must reclaim for Christ his foundational role in society. And that is only possible if we make a choice for Christ.
• ·      That’s why it is important to be firm in the faith that we have been taught. Faith is first and foremost this relationship with Christ upon which our whole life is founded. But faith implies also a teaching that we must accept.  Faith brings also knowledge, the knowledge of the mystery of salvation and the mystery of God’s love, revealed in Jesus Christ. Paul stresses that faith means following the right doctrine as we were taught. We cannot call ourselves Christians and then accept whatever doctrines we want or be always ready to formulate new ones in opposition to the truths of faith that we were taught. The knowledge of faith is very important. That’s why the Pope decided to give the youth the gift of a Youth Catechism, the YOUCAT, to help the youth grow in faith.

• Finally, if we accepted Jesus Christ and if we make a daily effort of becoming his true disciples, then we must live with an attitude of thanksgiving. We give thanks for all the blessings we have received and most of all for God’s love, because in Jesus we have become his children.     

PICTURES OF YWD