Put down the phone, look to God, look at others, pope tells kids December 15, 2022By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis encouraged youngsters to put down their phones to spend time praying and looking at other people to see their needs. “The Lord does not want us to spend our days being closed in on ourselves. And this is a great risk for boys and girls today: to spend the day staring at the screen of a cellphone,” he wrote in a prepared speech. Pope Francis accepts a ball during an audience with children from Italy’s Catholic Action organization at the Vatican Dec. 15, 2022. The pope encouraged kids to put down their phones in order to gaze at God and care for others. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) “Our eyes are made to look into other people’s eyes,” he said. “They are not made to look down on a virtual world we hold in our hands, but to look up to heaven, to God, and to look into the eyes of those who live near us.” The pope’s written remarks were distributed to members of the boys’ and girls’ section of Italian Catholic Action, a parish-based program of faith building and social outreach, during an audience at the Vatican Dec. 15. “Some might think that being a good Christian requires, most of all, reflection, meditation,” the pope’s text said. “Instead, Jesus says: Go! It is a decisive verb, because it transforms the disciple into an apostle, makes him or her a missionary.” “You, too, dear friends, are called to go, because God does not like it when we get lazy on the couch; he wants us on the move, on the road, ready and willing to get involved,” he wrote. Setting off may be a little scary, he said, but it is worth it. “It is beautiful to follow Jesus,” he wrote. “It is beautiful to discover the great love that he has for each of us; it is beautiful to venture into the project of happiness that he has in mind for me, for you, for everyone; it is beautiful to discover the gifts that he gives us with great generosity, the surprises that fill our lives with wonder and hope, that make us grow free and happy.” Read More Vatican News Wrapping up France visit, Pope Leo calls on Europe to choose reconciliation over division At Lourdes, a refuge for the ill, Pope Leo stands against assisted dying laws Pope Leo XIV leads thousands in candlelight rosary procession in Lourdes Pope encourages French youth to seek holiness during visually rich stadium vigil Pope Leo prays for the sick and suffering in the Lourdes grotto in France Moved by Pope Leo’s empathy, French abuse survivors urged action on ‘systemic’ failures Copyright © 2022 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Print
