Pope: Revolution Today Is to Free Oneself from the Temporary and Love for Life

Kosice, September 14 (TASR) – The real originality and revolution today is to free ourselves from the culture of the temporary, to go beyond instinct and moment, it means to love for life and with your whole being, Pope Francis said in a speech on Tuesday he gave at a meeting with young people at the Lokomotiva stadium in Kosice.

“We are not here to live from day to day, but to make our lives an adventurous expedition,” said the Pope, noting that there are always two ingredients in big stories – one is love and the other is adventure, heroism. “In order for life to be great, both are needed – love and heroism. We look at Jesus, we look at the Crucified One, there is both – boundless love and the courage to give one’s life to the end, without half-heartedness. We have before us beatified Anna, the heroine of love. She tells us to pursue high goals. Please, let’s not let the days of our lives flow like episodes in a soap opera,” said Pope Francis, pointing to beatified Anna Kolesarova, who was shot and killed as a 16-year-old by a Soviet soldier [in 1944] as she was attempting to preserve her chastity and dignity. Anna Kolesarova was beatified at the Kosice stadium three years ago.

The Holy Father further told the young people that when they dream of love, they shouldn’t believe in special effects, but in the fact that each of them is exceptional.

The Pope also advised young people not to forget their roots, which are their parents, and especially their grandparents, to go to them and talk to them. According to him, the danger is to grow uprooted, he warned against too much of the virtual world and disconnection from life.

Pope Francis blessed the participants of the meeting and prayed the Lord’s Prayer with them. After the end of his visit to Kosice, the Pope is set to fly back to Bratislava in the early evening.