For the last thirty years in my mission of being a priest, I have had the good fortune of being able to live among young people and share their aspirations of God.

When a young person hears God's calling, his life changes radically. Both his physical life and his love of life increase. He is no longer a child shaken by fatality. He knows he is loved! He realizes that he is somebody, and somebody for whom God has a message. That message is ‘‘you matter to me and I love you’’ (Isaiah). When reading the Bible he feels empathy with God, and realizes ‘‘God's word fills me with life, and I exist’’.

When a young person hears God's calling, the question of ‘evil’ is no longer a nightmare. The world no longer appears to be chaotic, but instead a place that is built on hope. Many people are disappointed with Mao and Che Guevarra. No one ‘deserves’ total or complete passion. Human beings find it difficult to live without adoring someone; but only God is worthy of being adored. Oftentimes we find bitter disappointment in the feeling that we have been betrayed.

Some people become cynical, and end up despising everything: Above all they despise themselves. When we do not believe in God, we expect everything to be given to us. "Father understand me" or ‘‘Give me job security’’. Being deprived of God’s love leads us to evil and injustice, and eventually to atheism. We then give up all our dreams and hopes of wanting to change the world. Unhappiness for all becomes a fatality that leaves us helpless.

I am convinced –and this conviction comes from the Bible and numerous witnesses- that God is searching for us much more than we are searching for Him. It is not we who are searching for God, but rather God who is searching for us! If that is so, why then should it be so difficult for Him to find us? Why then is there a lack of comprehension, or confusion, in our respective messages? Why do our words become so dull, insipid and meaningless? When we say ‘love’ we mean ‘begging’, when we say ‘liberty and freedom’ we think of ‘inquisition’. God makes us an appointment with us and for one reason or another we may not keep that appointment. It could be that our chosen way of life and our surroundings prevent us from doing so. Science or other forms of materialism seem to take up most of our time.