Greta Haussmann

With all of this excitement in the air, I have been reminding myself to look past the frenzy and focus on preparing myself for the Holy Father’s visit. Most of my preparation has been focused on my demeanor, while some preparation has taken the form of service. Regarding my demeanor: I decided to take time to reflect upon the things that I love most about our Holy Father, and what came to mind were his simplicity, his graciousness, and his humility. I have chosen to take time in prayer and in my actions to work on cultivating simplicity, graciousness, and humility in my life. Regarding service, I have pledged to #WalkWithFrancis by committing time to service. During student leader training, I had the opportunity to participate in a day of service with Centennial Village staff in the Brookland community by helping facilitate a “Community Day” at a local park.

Serving in this capacity was a fruitful experience and it reminded me of the value of community and outreach; but I also know that Pope Francis calls Christians to something deeper than one-time service. Pope Francis says, “To be Christian is to do what Jesus did — serve. To be Christian isn’t about appearances or social conduct, it isn’t putting a bit of makeup on the soul so that it’s a little more beautiful.” It is important for us to remember that as Christians we are called to continuous service. However, it is equally important to remember that we are called to authenticity in our lives of service. Pope Francis is calling us to be genuine with our fellow Christians in our words and actions — he is calling us to serve as we are, not as we believe we ought to be.

As a student leader on the Catholic University campus I feel called to live a life of service, rather than making service an isolated event. Furthermore, I find Pope Francis’s words regarding what it means to be Christian quite relevant to serving as a student leader — being a leader is not about being perfect, once again, it is about being authentic. Pope Francis has taught me the importance of being a genuine witness as a student leader here at CUA. As we continue to prepare for the papal visit, I challenge you to live a life of authentic service and leadership.

— Greta Haussmann is a junior at The Catholic University of America majoring in theology and religious studies, and media studies.

Greta Haussmann

In his first address, he explained the difference between happiness and pleasure, saying that happiness comes from working together to create a more fraternal world. The Pope emphasized that happiness is distinct from pleasure in that happiness is fraternal, whereas pleasure is personal. The Holy Father urged young people to stay away from the false ideals that popular culture tries to instill and reminded them of the genuineness of happiness, while warning them against the falsehoods of pleasure. The Pope concluded his official address by advising youth to seek happiness and to put forth the effort and commitment to create a happier, more fraternal world.

In his second address, Pope Francis emphasized that the Church needs to realize how vital the experiences of young people are. The Holy Father urged young people to pray for liberated hearts and to surrender all of the things that are holding them back from living for Christ.

The Holy Father’s message to the young people of Paraguay could not be more relevant for young people all over the world. Pope Francis is calling on young people to utilize their lives in ways that are not temporary and selfish. He is urging young people to have hope and to live with free hearts for Jesus! He is calling on young people to live lives of purpose, but beyond that, he is calling on young people to live lives of purpose for the Church. Pope Francis believes that young people have a great role to play in the Church and he is not willing to let us forget that.

The message of Pope Francis’s addresses to the youth in Paraguay needs to be heard and taken to heart by every young member of the Church, no matter where they live. The Church needs its young people — its future leaders — to understand that they are called to more than what is immediately presented to them by the secular world. Young people need to realize that our years of youth are more valuable than they appear — they are years of flourishing that should be used for something greater than ourselves. We young people should use these years of flourishing and productivity to strive for fraternal happiness, liberated hearts, and influential lives in service and as part of the life of the Church.

— Greta Haussmann is a junior at The Catholic University of America majoring in theology and religious studies, and media studies.

Greta Haussmann

The homily went on to express the intrinsic relationship between having a prayer life and living courageously. Pope Francis said, “The Church at prayer is a Church on her feet, strong, moving forward.” Pope Francis reminds us that we are given prayer not only for ourselves, but for the sake of the Church — without prayer, we as a Church have nothing. We are given prayer for protection, sustenance, company, and courage.

Pope Francis recounted Paul’s second letter to Timothy in which Paul exclaims, “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength to proclaim the word fully” (2 Tm 4:17). In his homily, Pope Francis enhanced Paul’s exclamation by explaining that we receive strength from the Lord in prayer, and we are called to use this strength to partake in lives of faith and witness.

Furthermore, Pope Francis reminds us that the Church does not take people out of the world by calling them to lives of faith and witness. Rather, the Church gives its followers the necessary tools to prevail in this radical and over-opinionated world we live in. Encouraging us not to give into popular culture, he asks us to use these tools to live a countercultural lifestyle. Pope Francis tells us that because the Church has given us these tools we are then called to use them to give an authentic witness. Not only are we to use this authentic witness to draw others nearer to Christ, but we are called to use this witness to engage in meaningful conversation.

There is no doubt that it is often easier to leave the Church out of conversation. However, through his pontificate Pope Francis has demonstrated the importance of representing the Church adequately in matters of the world. By serving as such a phenomenal witness, Pope Francis is calling all people to have courage and to serve as witnesses of the Church.

The excitement surrounding the upcoming papal visit to the United States is the perfect opportunity for all Catholics to foster strong prayer lives in order to boldly proclaim the mission of the Church. Catholics should rely on prayer and faith to feel empowered to share their love of the Church with those they encounter. Let us use our excitement about the papal visit to bring people back to the Church through our courageous and authentic witness of the faith.

— Greta Haussmann is a junior at The Catholic University of America majoring in theology and religious studies, and media studies.