T-shirts, yellow balloons, prayer sessions, concerts and testimonies of life-all were a fundamental part of the “Mission to Youth” Week organized by the diocese of Rome from 1-8 October 2011.
An outreach program of “youth to youth,” the mission was placed under the protection of Blessed John Paul II and involved more than 400 young volunteers, who concentrated their evangelization activities on the city’s schools and also on the Milvio Bridge, a popular gathering place for teenagers.
For seven days, these young volunteers from every part of Rome sought to make contact with their contemporaries who did not know Jesus, offering them the Word of God and their personal testimony of life. Fired by the desire to bring Jesus to everyone, the FSP novices also took part in the mission, retracing the footsteps of St. Paul by their visits to the schools and their animations of various Eucharistic Liturgies.
Throughout the entire week, the invitation of the Lord resounded forcefully: “Do not be afraid. Go out and proclaim me to everyone!” (cf. Mt. 28:10)