GO TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTHConcluding Holy Mass Jesus Youth Go Conference

Marian Center, Castel Gandolfo, Rome | October 25, 2026
​Delivering the homily at the Concluding Holy Mass of the Jesus Youth Go Conference held at the Marian Center in Castel Gandolfo, Rome, Most Rev. Dr. Alex Vadakkumthala, Bishop of Kannur and Ecclesiastical Advisor to Jesus Youth International, sounded a vibrant missionary call to the global movement: “Jesus Youth, let us GO!” Rooted in the Gospel mandate to go to the ends of the earth, his address challenged young people to step out boldly as witnesses of Christ in today’s world.

Please find the full text of the homily here

My dear Jesus Youth friends,

Today, at the end of these days of grace, prayer and fellowship, the Lord gathers us around this Eucharistic Table, and sends us forth with one word: GO!

We have come here to celebrate 40 years of the journey of Jesus Youth. But this Eucharist is not simply the conclusion of a Conference. It is a new beginning.

The theme given to us is: “Go to the ends of the earth.”

And the Gospel today gives us the heart of this mission.

Jesus says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mt. 22:37–39)

This is the Great Commandment.

And the Risen Lord gives us the Great Commission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”
(Mt. 28:19)

The two belong together.

We cannot truly go if we do not first love.
And if we truly love Christ, we cannot remain where we are.

Love sends us.

The missionary is a person whose heart has been captured by the love of Christ.

1. The Heart of the Young is Ready for Christ

Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV reminded us just yesterday that “the hearts of young people are longing to discover Christ’s love.” (Pope Leo XIV, Address to the Participants of the Jesus Youth, International Conference, October 24, 2026, Paul VI Auditorium, Vatican)

What an enormous responsibility—and what an enormous opportunity!

Behind the noise, the distractions and the confusion of our time, there is a deep hunger in the heart of every young person. There are constant questions in the heart of every youth: Who am I? Why am I here? Does my life have meaning? Is there somebody who truly loves me?

And the answer is Jesus Christ.

Pope Leo XIV has also said: “Young people need to know that their lives are great and beautiful because they are part of God’s greater plan.” (Ibid.)

My dear young people, your life is not an accident.
Your talents are not an accident.
Your Baptism is not an accident.

God has a plan for your life – and that plan is bigger than you.

You are not merely the future of the Church.

You are the Church’s missionary presence today”, said St. Pope John Paul II to the youth.

2. Forty Years is not the End – It is a Sending

Forty years of Jesus Youth is a reason to give thanks to God.

But today we must ask: What does God want from the next forty years?

The official approval of the Statutes is an important moment of grace. It is to be seen as a sign of the `ecclesial maturity’ of this missionary movement, as Pope Leo mentioned in his speech.

But maturity must never mean settling down. As Pope Leo added, it is a time, “you are called to take on new challenges and to bear new fruit”!

Ecclesial maturity should give us greater courage to take up challenging missions.

The Church does not need a Jesus Youth that is comfortable.

The Church needs a Jesus Youth that is apostolically alive.

Therefore, my dear friends, Let us not lose our apostolic zeal!

Do not allow organization to replace evangelization.
Do not allow structures to replace mission.
Do not allow success to replace holiness.

The question is not merely, “How many members do we have?”

The question is: How many hearts have encountered Jesus because we went?

3. “Seek to preserve your unity”

Jesus Youth is blessed by extraordinary diversity.

Different countries.
Different cultures.
Different languages.
Different social backgrounds.
Different spiritual experiences.

And precisely because of this diversity, Pope Leo XIV has given us another important exhortation, just yesterday, to each one of us: “Seek to preserve your unity, especially amid the great diversity of social backgrounds, cultures and languages that are hallmarks of your movement.”

My dear Jesus Youth, unity is itself a mission.

The world is divided. Society is fragmented. The Church sometimes experiences tensions.

When young people from different nations, cultures and languages stand together around Jesus, they proclaim:  Christ is greater than our differences.

Let our unity become an evangelizing witness.

4. Go with Compassion – The Cry of the Poor

But where are we being sent?

To the ends of the earth does not necessarily mean only to distant countries.

Sometimes the ends of the earth are right beside us.

The lonely person. Perhaps in our own family, or in our classrooms, or at the place of work.
The migrant. The prisoner.
The abandoned elderly person, as Pope Francis repeatedly reminded the Church.
The young person who has lost hope.
The family struggling with poverty.

God says in Exodus, as we just heard in the first Reading of today: “If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.” (Exo. 22:27)

A missionary movement must therefore have ears that hear the cry of the poor, and a heart that responds with compassion. Evangelization without compassion is incomplete. Our mission must unite proclamation and mercy, Gospel and service, faith and solidarity.

Pope Francis once spoke beautifully of migrants as “spies of faith” – people who can carry the experience of faith across borders and cultures. Perhaps the migrant who comes to our country is not simply somebody who needs our help.

Perhaps God is sending that person to evangelize us.

5. “I thirst”

Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta asked her sisters to keep the words of Jesus from the Cross, “I thirst,”, in every convent chapel, between the Tabernacle, and Crucifix.

Why?

Because the thirst of Jesus becomes the thirst of the missionary:
I thirst for souls.
I thirst for the poor.
I thirst for the abandoned.
I thirst that every person may know the love of Christ.

Saint Francis Xavier carried this missionary hunger to the ends of the earth. His prayer was: “Give me souls and take away the rest.”

He was a short man, just 5 feet and 4 inches! (Or, 163 centimetres, for those who have a different measurement!). He died at the young age of 46! But, now he is the Patron of the Missions! Because he had passion for the missions!

That is apostolic zeal.

On Friday, during the evening Eucharistic Adoration, we prayed for the grace to give at least one month totally dedicated to the Lord. Perhaps that was not just a beautiful prayer! It was a call.

Someone here may be called to give one month.
Someone may be called to give one year.
Someone may be called to give a lifetime.

And perhaps the Lord is saying to some of you: “Go!… I need you!…”

6. “Do not be afraid”

But when Jesus says, “Go,” we may become afraid.

Can I do it? Am I capable? What if I fail? What will happen to me?

And the Lord answers: “Do not be afraid. I am with you.”

The missionary does not go because he or she is strong. The missionary goes because Christ is faithful.

Saint Thomas the Apostle went to India with that courage. He was ready to say, in effect, “Let us also go, and die with him.” (John 11:16)

Saint Peter came to Rome. And here, in this city, he gave the ultimate witness of his love for Christ.

Jesus had asked Peter three times: “Do you love me?” And Peter answered: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17)

Then Jesus said: “Feed my sheep.”

That is the missionary vocation:
Love Jesus – and feed His people.
Love Jesus – and serve His people.
Love Jesus – and go to His people.

7. We do not go Alone!

Today we also remember with gratitude our brothers and sisters in Jesus Youth who have gone before us.

We remember Ajna George, about whom Holy Father Pope Leo mentioned in his address yesterday; Archbishop Abraham Viruthukulangara, Father Abraham Pallivathukkal, Fr. Cherian, Sr. Thresiamma, and many others who are now with the Lord.

They are not absent from our mission.

They are praying with us from heaven.

We also place ourselves under the patronage of Saint Francis of Assisi, a witness of serenity, fraternity and solidarity.

8. Towards 2033

Jesus Youth has now completed forty years. But I believe the Lord is placing before us another horizon: 2033, the Great Jubilee of the Redemption.

Let this be a determined march toward that Jubilee.

Let the coming years be marked by four words: Devotion. Dedication. Determination. Dynamism.
This 4 D’s should be in our hearts and minds!

And let there be a fifth: MISSION.

From this Eucharist, let us go to our families. “Jesus Youth has a special call to reach out to families”, as Pope Leo told us yesterday. 

From this Eucharist, let us go to our universities. Let us go to our workplaces. Let us go to the digital world.
Let us go to the poor. Let us leave “the familiar and shallow waters” and go to the peripheries.

Go to every corner. Go to every culture. Go to every language, and to every heart. Go everywhere.

9. “Alive or dead, we belong to the Lord”

Saint Paul tells us: “Alive or dead, we belong to the Lord.” (Rom. 14:8)

That is the freedom of the missionary: We belong to Christ.

Seneca expressed a similar missionary challenge: “If I do not burn, if you do not burn, how can the shadows become light?”

Dear sisters and brothers, the world does not need lukewarm Christians. It needs men and women whose hearts are burning with the love of Christ.

10. Let us GO!

Forty years ago, the Lord began something small. Today, from this Eucharistic altar in Castel Gandolfo, the Lord says: Go!

Go – not because the road is easy. Go – not because you have all the answers. Go – not because you are without fear. Go, because Jesus is with you.

Pope Paul VI reminded us in Evangelii Nuntiandi that every baptized person is called to be a missionary.

Therefore, this mission is not only for a few. Every baptized person is sent.

So, Jesus Youth, after forty years: Let us not stop! Let us not settle! Let us lose the fire!Let us not lose unity! Let us not forget the poor ! 

Let us not forget the Cross! Let us never forget the value of the Eucharist.
Let us also never ignore our the missionary mandate.

And when the Lord asks, “Whom shall I send?”

May Jesus Youth answer together with Isaiah: “Here am I, Lord, Send me..!” (Isaiah 6:8)

And when the Lord says, “Go to the ends of the earth,” may our answer be: “Yes, Lord; Yes, Lord; Yes, Yes, Lord”; which is the most favourite JY song! That should be our definite response too! 

May the light of the Gospel and the love of Christ reach to everyone, everywhere!

And we entrust this our missionary journey especially to Mother Mary, Mother of Missions and Mother of Missionaries.

Mary went in haste to Elizabeth. Mary went to Cana. Mary stood beneath the Cross.Mary was with the disciples in the Upper Room. Mary was always on mission because she always carried Jesus.

And as we begin the march towards 2033, the Great Jubilee of the Redemption, may we go forward with devotion, dedication, determination and dynamism, trusting always the promise of our Lord: “Do not be afraid. I am with you.”

Jesus Youth, let us GO!

Amen.