Dear Young Lasallians,

I am writing to you while the memory and enthusiasm of the Great Jubilee Year 2000 is still fresh in your minds, a Jubilee in which you participated either locally at a group, parish or school level or, if you were lucky, here in Rome in August 2000, during the World Youth Days (WYD). We had the great joy of offering accommodation to some 1,500 of you at the Generalate.

Your Movement

Young Lasallians, you have become a part of this movement through your membership in a group which is characterised by a life of faith, a commitment to service, and the search for community. These are three dimensions which are essential in the life of a Christian, and which also characterise Lasallians, the heirs and disciples of St John Baptist de La Salle, who served God and poor children in his particular way.

If Lasallian Youth groups are increasing in number today throughout the world, and if bonds of deep friendship are being forged more and more among them, it is because of the efforts of a great many Lasallian educators: Brothers and Associates and young group leaders belonging to the movement. I should like to thank them from the depths of my heart for exercising this excellent form of ministry among young people. You too, Young Lasallians, can thank them, and you can thank the Lord for bringing you into contact with educators who are so devoted to you. They have worked for many years now to build up groups which seek to deepen and express their faith, groups which are not afraid of coming to the aid of younger children, of children in difficulty, and of the poor in our society, by setting up together with other groups schemes to help them socially and educationally, offering their services freely, as is proper for children of the same Father.

I imagine that, while offering this service, you have discovered the joy of giving, and that gradually you have come to understand that relations built on fraternity and sharing can bring a new dimension into your life. Despite what we might be naturally tempted to think, and despite what a certain type of culture would have us believe and practise, the key to happiness does not lie in obtaining immediately all that we want, but rather in the free gift of ourselves, of our smile, of our time, of our talents and our skills, of our capacity of loving others for their own sake. This realisation should lead you to make choices which will guide you throughout your life.

A Happy Anniversary

This year, we are celebrating the 350th anniversary of the birth of St John Baptist de La Salle. It provides a further opportunity to consider his life, or his life-journey, as we sometimes say. Read his life again, talk among yourselves about the example he has left us. The Christians among you will see in it the Love of God, which led him to abandon a socially privileged form of life for that of a servant, abandoning all his privileges in order to devote himself entirely to the educational service of poor children. John Baptist de La Salle changed his life, he gave his life. As a Christian who took his faith seriously, he followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Those of you who are not Christians, but who, in 80 different countries of the world, are our pupils, our young former students and our friends, will recognise in the example of De La Salle the immense generosity of a man who wished to devote all his energy to the service of the weak, of children and of the poor. His example is an invitation for us to work to promote justice, freedom, dialogue among people of different cultures and different origins, for the good of our societies and countries. His life can help us to understand God as a Father who loves all men and women and who makes us all brothers and sisters.

To mark this 350th anniversary, certain groups and certain communities have decided to use the number 350 as a symbol for a slogan, an article, a publication or some scheme, such as for example, trying to provide 350 study scholarships for orphans, organising a party for 350 street children, and so on. I suggest that you, Young Lasallians, take the theme of the Rights of the Child, and that you reflect on it and then take action. Our last General Chapter chose urgent educational needs as one of its themes, and the Standing Council for the Lasallian Mission has made it its priority this year. Lasallian educators, Brothers and Associates, will be chosen in each District, Sub-District or Delegation to make a thorough study of this question. As young people in contact with younger people, you can contribute a great deal. The Rights of the Child are the exact opposite of all forms of exploitation or mistreatment of children. The Rights of the Child invite us to make our contribution to the creation everywhere of an environment and of conditions conducive to a form of education that is complete and worthy of the sons and daughters of the same Father. We can see how, in different parts of the world, the sufferings of children are immense, because their country is at war, because families have been torn apart or no longer exist, because there is a total lack of schools and hospitals, because children are forced to work, because they have become refugees, because economic poverty has given rise to other forms of poverty. I am confident that you will think about all this and that you will join with others and with us to help children.

During the course of this year, in certain parts of the world, a number of assemblies at the national or international level will be held for you, Young Lasallians. I will mention the five I have heard about: a national assembly at Rheims in France (April); three District and inter-District gatherings of the USA in New York (July), in Minnesota (July), and in Oregon (July/August); and a Pacific-Asia Regional gathering in Sydney, Australia (December). Put your heart and soul into these assemblies, taking part in them with thanksgiving and with all the joy and generosity of young people.

A Rendezvous

Prepare also for the World Youth Days of the year 2002, whether you attend them in Toronto, or take part in parallel events organised locally. Before the WYD, your young leaders and representatives will be invited to Quebec for some work experience, to discuss the Lasallian Youth Movement, and to give it a more solid structure. I take this opportunity to thank the Young Lasallians of Canada who have already begun to prepare for this event.

In this our anniversary year, the Brothers of the General Council join me in encouraging you and assuring you of our friendship.