Three Things I Would Like to Say at the Synod of the Youth - By Maestro Aurelio Porfiri

Some advice from a wise man. I'm quite a bit older than he is, but he's right on all points.

From Gloria.tv

Not many may know this but, in the past, I have participated in many Vatican synods.

No, I was never a synod father but I was the organist who accompanied the Synod Fathers during the Hora Tertia. I never had the opportunity to intervene in those meetings and, given what I have been writing for some years now, I guess, I will not be invited to do so in the future.

Now that I am entering my middle age, I have something to say concerning the next Youth Synod, indeed, at least three things. Since I cannot express myself during the synod, I'll do it here.

1) Young people, do not absolutise your youth. It is a passage, a time of maturation toward adulthood. Those who praise youth in itself are either cynical or are elderly. That's why I cannot stand "Youth Masses". Masses are for everybody, not only for a segment of the People of God.

2) Young people, remember that the Pope tells you to be protagonists of your history. Do not passively accept what the dominant narratives make you believe, including some narratives present in our Holy Mother Church. Ask the Church to challenge the world, to ask questions if necessary, not to dissolve itself in the world's mortal embrace.

3) Young people, experience Tradition. I do not say "traditionalism" but Tradition, the treasures of art, beauty, spirituality, prayer and culture which our fathers have handed down to us. Remember, those who embrace Tradition, see farther. I see how my earthly life becomes every day shorter. You are my hope, you are the legs that will carry on what you and I have received.