“Being young does not mean being disconnected from the past” because “our personal history is part of a long trail, a communal journey that has preceded us over the ages”. Pope Francis explained this in his Message for the next World Youth Day. “Like Mary, we belong to a people”, Pope Francis wrote, and the history of the Church “teaches us that, even when the Church has to sail on stormy seas, the hand of God guides her and helps her to overcome moments of difficulty”. “The genuine experience of the Church is not like a flash mob, where people agree to meet, do their thing and then go their separate ways”, the Pope explained. “The Church is heir to a long tradition which, passed down from generation to generation, is further enriched by the experience of each individual. Your personal history has a place within the greater history of the Church”. “Being mindful of the past also helps us to be open to the unexpected ways that God acts in us and through us”, Pope Francis continued, and “it also helps us to be open to being chosen as a means by which God brings about his saving plan”. “As young people – the Pope assured –, you too can do great things and take on fuller responsibilities, if only you recognize God’s mercy and power at work in your lives”.