In the encounter with Pope Francis in Maipú (Chile), young people found out a key to connect to Jesus Christ: “What would Christ do in my place?” This is the key that has moved them this year, however, it needs to be reminded and socialized in its different young environments in order to the strength and dynamism that came up in them do not fade but be more evident every day.

 

Three reflection-action topics caught the interest of each and every one of the participants:

1. Who is Jesus and what did he do to reveal to us the merciful face of the Father? This was the first day topic which was treated in a praying environment helping young people replace before the person and the mission of Jesus. Then, the young started to talk about their own contexts: family, school, sports, church, migration, environment… They split into six groups and went through six stations carefully prepared by their hosts. In these stations, they performed the difficulties and emptiness young people have today and from which they are, at the same time, victims and actors. In light of the question “What would Christ do in my place?”, they analyzed and searched for alternatives of an answer.

2. Dominic and Marie Poussepin were not absent in the reflection. Using the mass media, it turned out to be easy to connect with them. Everybody started to log in Instagram (#jovenespresentacionaconcagua) to know how our saints answered this question in their time, helping us to become aware that is not enough to see the problems but it is necessary to get to a solution. Due to young people need to find concrete ways to express their faith and social and environmental committment, they went from the reflection to the action. For this reason, they split into four groups according to their abilities and interests. One group went to clean the sand dunes, another one to clean the beach, a third group went to weed an elderly house garden and the fourth group painted a mural in the school walls as a testimony for their partners and people from Concón. The mural has the question “What would Christ do in my place?” Also, it is posible to see Jesus walking with Dominic and Marie Poussepin along with teens from different races and social levels. Finally, there is a group of young people trying to stop the environmental pollution, result of the violence against human beings and nature.

3. Dialogues with young professionals. Big ideals are built through small steps. In order to help the young people find current role models that allow them to verify that today it is also possible to make dreams come true, young professionals marked by our spirituality were invited to this encounter so as to share with them in a panel. We were with an ex -student from Maracaibo Presentation who is a Social Coomunication Graduate, an ex -student from Santa María Goretti School from Concón who is a System Engineer, a Presentation Missionary belonging to La Ligia Parish who is a Social Work Graduate, an ex - student from Santa María Goretti School from Concón who is a Philosophy Graduate, Presentation Missionary and in process of training with the Dominican Friars in Paraguay.

Through a simple, familiar and deep dialogue, the young participants were able to see that in these days there are also young people who live their Dominican faith and spirituality in the different work fields. As young communities, they wondered once again “WHAT WOULD CHRIST DO IN MY PLACE?”, projecting their action commitment to their corresponding schools. This commitment was confirmed with the DELIVERY done by Sister Nilda Leticia Mirada Romero, big superior of ACONCAGUA DISTRICT and the Eucharist in the Parish. It is important to mention the responsibility shown by each community in the preparation of this activity, the participatory attitude of the young in all the encounter and the unconditional support given by the sisters, teachers, assistants and parents who made possible an excellent self-management and also answered from their different areas the key question: 

“WHAT WOUD CHRIST DO IN MY PLACE?” ¡THANKS!