I have spoken of bearing fruit, and here too the Gospel comes to my aid, when it presents – in a reading we encountered recently in the sacred liturgy – the parable of the barren fig tree, which is threatened with being cut down (Lk 13:6–9). Man must bear fruit in time, that is, during his earthly life, and not only for himself, but also for others, for the society of which he is an integral part. However, this activity of his in time, precisely because he is ‘contained’ within time, must not cause him to forget or neglect his other essential dimension, that of being oriented towards eternity: man, therefore, must simultaneously bear fruit for eternity as well.
And if we remove this perspective from man, he will remain a barren fig tree.
On the one hand, he must ‘fill time with himself’ in a creative manner, for the otherworldly dimension certainly does not exempt him from the duty to act responsibly and creatively, participating effectively and in collaboration with all other people in the building of society according to the concrete demands of the historical moment in which he finds himself living. This is the Christian meaning of man’s ‘historicity’. On the other hand, this commitment of faith immerses the young person in a contemporary world which, in a certain sense, carries within itself a vision contrary to Christianity.
This anti-vision has the following characteristics, which I shall outline briefly.
People today often lack a sense of the transcendent, of supernatural realities, of something that surpasses them. People cannot live without something that goes beyond them, that surpasses them. People live their lives fully if they are aware of this, if they must always surpass themselves, transcend themselves. This transcendence is deeply inscribed in the human constitution of the person.
Thus, in the contemporary anti-vision, as I have said, the meaning of human existence comes to be ‘determined’ within a materialistic conception in relation to various issues, such as those of justice, work, and so on: from this spring the manifold conflicts between social classes or between national entities, in which various forms of collective selfishness manifest themselves. It is necessary, however, to overcome this closed and, ultimately, alienating conception, setting against it that broader horizon which right reason, and even more so the Christian faith, already allow us to glimpse. There, in fact, problems find a fuller solution; there justice is realised in all its aspects; there human relationships, free from every form of selfishness, come to correspond to the dignity of the human person, upon whom the face of God shines.

From all this emerges the importance of that choice which you young people must make! Make it with Christ, following him courageously and adhering to his teaching, aware of the eternal love which has found its supreme expression and its definitive witness in him. In saying this to you, I certainly cannot ignore the obstacles and dangers—unfortunately neither minor nor infrequent—that you face in the various settings of today’s social context. But you must not allow yourselves to be led astray; you must never give in to the temptation—subtle and therefore all the more insidious—to think that such a choice might run counter to the formation of your personality. I have no hesitation in stating that this view is entirely false: to believe that human life, in the process of its growth and maturation, can be ‘diminished’ by the influence of faith in Christ is an idea to be rejected.
The exact opposite is true: just as civilisation would be impoverished and incomplete without the presence of the religious dimension, so the life of the individual, and particularly that of the young person, would be incomplete and lacking without a strong experience of faith, drawn from direct contact with Christ crucified and risen. Christianity, faith—believe me, young people—gives completeness and fulfilment to our personality: centred as it is on the figure of Christ, true God and true man and, as such, the Redeemer of mankind, it opens you up to the appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of all that is great, beautiful and noble in the world and in humanity. Adherence to Christ does not stifle, but expands and exalts the ‘impulses’ that the wisdom of God the Creator has placed within your souls. Adherence to Christ does not dampen, but strengthens the sense of moral duty, giving you the desire and the satisfaction of committing yourselves to ‘something that is truly worthwhile’, giving you, I repeat, the desire and satisfaction of committing yourselves in this way, and fortifying the spirit against the tendencies, all too often surfacing in the youthful soul today, to “let oneself go” – either in the direction of an irresponsible and indolent abdication, or along the path of blind and murderous violence. Above all – always remember this – adherence to Christ will be a source of authentic joy, of an intimate joy that the world cannot give and which – as he himself foretold to his disciples – no one will ever be able to take from you (cf. Jn 16:22), even whilst you are in the world.
This joy, as the fruit of an Easter faith and – as I said this morning – the fruit of ‘contact’ with Christ, as an ineffable gift of his Spirit, is meant to be the culmination of my conversation with you today. I wish to focus on this word “joy”. I wish to focus on this word because we are living through Easter Week. Christianity is joy, and those who profess it and let it shine through in their lives have a duty to bear witness to it, to communicate it and to spread it around them. That is why I have mentioned these two figures. Don Bosco: I went to visit his tomb once again, and he seemed to me to be ever joyful, ever smiling. And Pier Giorgio: he was a young man of infectious joy, a joy that overcame even the many difficulties of his life, for youth is always also a time of testing one’s strength.
As young people, you are preparing to build not only your own future, but also that of future generations: what will you pass on to them? You must ask yourselves this question. Only material goods, perhaps with the addition of a richer culture, more advanced science, and more sophisticated technology? Or, in addition to this, indeed even before this, do you not wish to pass on that higher perspective, to which I have alluded, to those spiritual goods known as love and freedom? True love, true freedom, I tell you, for these great words—love and freedom—can easily be exploited. They can easily be exploited. In our time we are witnesses to a terrible exploitation of these words: love and freedom. We must rediscover the true meaning of these two words: love and freedom. I say to you: you must return to the Gospel. You must return to the school of Christ. You will then convey these spiritual values: a sense of justice in all human relationships, and the promotion and safeguarding of peace. And I say to you again, these are words that have been exploited, many, many times exploited. We must always return to the school of Christ, to rediscover the true, full, profound meaning of these words. The necessary foundation for these values lies solely in the possession of a sure and sincere faith, a faith that embraces God and man, man in God. Where there is God and where there is Jesus Christ, his Son, such a foundation is firm; it is deep, it is very deep. There is no more fitting, no deeper dimension to give to this word ‘human being’, to this word ‘love’, to this word ‘freedom’, to these words ‘peace’ and ‘justice’: there is no other, there is none but Christ. So, returning always to this school, here lies the search for those precious gifts that you young people must pass on to future generations, to the world of tomorrow; with him it will be easier and cannot fail to succeed.
As I am about to take my leave of you, I wish to lift you up to this vision of transcendence and beauty, so that your Christian life may gain strength and grow ‘from virtue to virtue’ (Ps 83:8) and flourish – for you are young, you must flourish – flourish in works and, even for earthly society, be the prelude and promise of a more humane and, therefore, more serene future. This is the greatest imperative of our age, which is becoming sad, and which will be even sadder, even more tragic, if it does not see that perspective which only you young people can give to it, to our century, to our generation, to our Italy, to our world!
[Pope John Paul II, Address to young people, 13 April 1980]