All the colours of life. God at heart.

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CHIARA! / GOD, CAN YOU HEAR ME?

GOD, CAN YOU HEAR ME?

WHAT IF YOU TOLD GOD HOW YOU’RE REALLY DOING?

· Published · 2 minute read

In his World Youth Day message, Leo XIV writes about loneliness, friendship and the courage to let others see you as you are.

Jesus Christ in a painting by Heinrich Hofmann.

You type, “Today was awful.” You reread it, delete it, and send, “Yeah, all fine.” Maybe the other person already has enough on their plate. Maybe explaining what’s on yours would take a seven-minute voice note and another one saying, “Sorry, that went on a bit.”

Leo XIV’s message brings to mind that first text, the one you never sent. He writes to young people who go from one chat to the next and can still feel lonely amid all those notifications. He invites them to seek out people who will listen, friends who can sit with the long and slightly awkward answer to “How are you?”

A prayer can start with a messy sentence

“Have the courage to be real before God and before others.” The words of Jesus in John’s Gospel run through the Pope’s message: “Take courage! I have overcome the world.”

That courage can look very ordinary. You sit down to pray and the only thing that comes out is, “Lord, I’m angry today.” Start there. Tell him who you’re angry with, what hurt, and why you’ve been replaying that conversation for three days. For God, you’re someone to love even in the middle of a story you can barely bring yourself to tell.

First in the dioceses, then in Seoul

The 41st World Youth Day is celebrated in local dioceses on Sunday 22 November, the solemnity of Christ the King. The international gathering takes place in Seoul, South Korea, from 3 to 8 August 2027.

In the meantime, you could rewrite that text you deleted. Two lines to someone you trust will do. “Today was awful. Have you got five minutes?”

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING

Photo credits

ONE MORE STORY?

Books stacked on a wooden table
TO DISCOVER

GOD, I HAVE OPENED MY BOOKS AGAIN. I AM NOT TWENTY ANY MORE

The book has been open for half an hour. You have read the same page, answered a message, looked up a word and remembered the empty fridge. Then comes the thought: at my age, I should already know what I am doing with my life.

A person sitting on a bench looks at a phone, photographed by James Sutton. Contextual image, not someone involved in the editorial scene.
TO DISCOVER

THAT CONFIDENCE WASN’T YOURS TO FORWARD TO THE GROUP.

You have just finished reading. She has told you something important, perhaps beginning with a familiar sentence: I am only telling you because I trust you. You stay with the message for a moment. Then you think somebody in the group would surely know what to say.

Two people sitting opposite each other with coffee, photographed by Joshua Ness; a contextual image.
TO DISCOVER

“DID YOU GET THE BREAD?” BUT HOW ARE WE DOING?

You have exchanged fourteen messages. Bread, a bill, who is collecting what, tomorrow’s schedule. You know almost everything about organising the day. Then you sit together on the sofa and realise you do not know how the person beside you really feels.