21 January 1989
Portugal

My dear young People,

You will have noticed the color of the vestments which I am wearing--red. It is the color of blood. Today the Church is honoring a young girl who poured out her blood for the faith many centuries ago in Rome. Her name was Agnes. She was a martyr for the faith. To be a martyr one has to be a person of courage, great courage. St. Agnes was a person of courage. She poured out her blood because she was convinced of the value of the Christian faith. For us men it is good to be reminded that young girls can have more courage at times than we men have. St. Agnes, though young, showed a courage which many men, older and physically stronger than she, did not have.

We men like to think of ourselves as courageous. None of us would like to be considered a coward. The truth is that at times we do not say what we believe to be right because we fear that we will become unpopular. We do not say what we believe to be true, because we fear that others will laugh at us and say that we are not modern. We do not defend what is good and beautiful, because we fear that others will judge us to be narrow-minded and old-fashioned. Such attitudes show that we are not as courageous as we might think ourselves to be.

It is from Jesus Christ that we must look for moral courage. He was a remarkably courageous man by any standards. He is ready to communicate this moral courage to us who are his friends. We get courage to be strong followers of Christ and loyal Catholics by contact with Jesus Christ Himself. When we read the pages of the Gospel, when we receive the Sacraments, Jesus offers us courage.

The world and the Church have need today of persons of moral courage. We admire the present Pope for his moral courage. We recognize that the Church and the world have need of such moral courage. The Church has need, not only of the moral courage of the Pope, of Bishops and priests, but in a special way of young people. It is the young especially who must show moral courage to the young. Young people can show great courage in sports. That courage is physical courage. Young people can also show great courage in war. It is often more difficult to show moral or spiritual courage. Try to be a person of courage to those of your own age. Be courageous, not only with your words, but with the actions of your life. Fight to eliminate hunger and misery, as did St. Vincent de Paul. Fight to persuade others to bring about a more just society in the world. Do all this with the courage that comes from thinking about and speaking to Jesus Christ.

In speaking to you this morning, my dear young people, I am aware that you are passing through very important years in your life. It is in youth that we set about choosing the highway that is going to take us into the heart and into the happiness of God for all eternity. God in His goodness has planned not just one highway, but a special one for each of us. For one person the route will be marriage, for another the priesthood. Yet another will reach God by serving Him in the poor as a Sister or as a Brother.

Many of you are now on the approach roads which will lead you into the highway which God wants you to take. That is why it is so important that at this point in your lives, you should listen carefully to the directions which the Spirit of God is giving you quietly and lovingly.