THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

 

REFLECTION OF THE PAPAL MESSAGES OF WORLD YOUTH DAY 2002 WITH RESPECT TO THE CHURCH’S RESPONSE TO THE MODERN WORLD AS EXPRESSED IN GADIUM ET SPES.

By

Nathan D. March

 

Dr. Michael A. Hoonhout

THEO 507 Introduction to the Catholic Faith

12 September 2002

 

The Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, Gadium et spes, from its inception during the Second Vatican Council, has attempted to join together in solidarity and dialog the Church and the people of the present time.  One of the primary contributors to the document was Pope John Paul II.  The Papal message of World Youth Day 2002 has demonstrated the enduring nature of the message of Gadium et spes, the fundamental concerns of the world it addresses, and the “privileged place in the thinking and affections”[1] of Pope John Paul II.

The Second Vatican Council, reflecting on the sign of the times, in Gadium et spes acknowledges solidarity with the “joy and hope, the grief and the anguish of the men of our time”[2] and offers a message of hope to the world.  The modern world is understood as a mixture of positive and negative elements influenced by technology and science, global culture, changes in social order, and modern philosophy.  To man who stands at the center of this world, troubled and perplexed by the questions it generates concerning his very nature and destiny[3], the Church proclaims that “it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh, that the mystery of man truly becomes clear.” 

The mystery of the eternal Word, Jesus Christ, made Incarnate in the world is not merely a matter of intellectual knowledge, because the revelation of God transcends our capacity to reason and know.  In fact, man’s ability to possess knowledge has been severely hampered by trends of thought which suggest, “What is knowable, tending towards truth, is what man has made,”[4] or scientifically demonstrable.  The mystery of man is united to the mystery of God who created man to share in his own blessed life and who at every moment draws close to man calling for man to seek him, know him, and love him with all his strength.[5]  The Church believes that only in God, revealed in Jesus Christ, can modern man find the truth and happiness he is searching for.[6]

In his Papal address to the young people of World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto Canada, Pope John Paul II reiterated the same sentiments he helped present almost 40 years ago during the writing of Gadium et spes.  The question of modern man is the same for today’s young adults.  The challenge to make sense of the mystery of man, and the world he has created, seems perhaps more significant and sober following the tragic events of the previous year.  “The new millennium opened with two contrasting scenarios: one the sight of multitudes of pilgrims in Rome ... the other, the terrible terrorist attack on New York, an image that is sort of icon in which hatred seem to prevail.”[7] The Pope, in union with the young people of today who are perplexed and confused by a world marked by these dramatic contrasting images, asked “on what foundations, on what certainties should we build our lives?”[8]  “Christ alone is the cornerstone on which one is to solidly build one’s existence,”[9] he answers.

As a man who has lived through much of the darkness of the previous century, Pope John Paul II can say with conviction that “the twentieth century often tried to do without that cornerstone, and attempted to build the city of man without reference to Him.  It ended by actually building a city against man!”[10]  The challenge presented to the youth of today is the same challenge the Church presented almost 40 years ago: to realize Christ is the answer to the mystery of God and the mystery of the human person. That “only Jesus can speak to the unchanging message that responds to the deepest longings of the human heart.”[11].  The fullness of the human identity, true lasting joy and happiness, is to be found only in Him.