Selfless, generous, searching for meaning: the portrait of the young people who choose to leave on mission tells of a generation very different from the one in the headlines.

Today more than ever, we hear negative news about teenagers and young people. Shallowness, violence, indifference, individualism: these are just some of the words we associate with today’s society and, in particular, with the world of young people.

In reality, there is a whole world of young people – and I am convinced they are the majority – filled with good feelings and great aspirations.

This year, ever since I was asked to look after XAVI, the Xaverian international volunteer programme, I have met many young people. I have talked with them, listened to them, and walked part of the way together with many of them, here in Italy or directly on mission. When I think of them, very different words come to mind: selflessness, generosity, simplicity, a search for depth and meaning in life, a desire to encounter others, curiosity, humanity.

I have accompanied volunteers who left for a few months or for a year to the Philippines, Bangladesh, Thailand, Sierra Leone, Chad and Mozambique. Spending time with them and listening to the stories of the missionaries – men and women – who hosted them has opened up a whole new world to me about young people.

What are these young people looking for? What drives them to leave? What dwells in their hearts?

The desire for fullness

First of all, there is the desire for fullness, which they seek through their experience on mission. In the lives of many young people, an awareness often grows that what they are doing is not enough. One day, as we were talking, a young man said to me:

“Alex, I’m happy, I’m fine, but at the same time I feel that what I do isn’t enough for me. I feel that I want to, and can, do something more, and I think mission is the right thing for me.”

It is a bit like listening to the young Saint Francis, ready to set out for distant lands, or catching a glimpse of the young Saint Guido Maria Conforti’s desire to be a missionary to the world.

The joy of time given

Alongside this desire, every young person who leaves shows a clear joy in giving time to others, freely. One of the greatest difficulties today, especially for young people, is precisely finding time: days are increasingly “filled” with activities, meetings and appointments, and giving time to others becomes a true mission.

Seeing a young man or woman give months of their life, or even a whole year, putting their university studies on hold or taking leave from work, is a sign of a free and selfless spirit, directed towards the good of others. After all, in the volunteers’ training we often repeat: “The most precious gift you bring to the mission is your time, your simply being with the people, freely.”

A thirst for spirituality

But perhaps the element even more present in the young people who leave is the need for spirituality and depth. It is often not expressed explicitly, but it can be glimpsed in their conversations, in their attitudes and certainly in the very choice to leave with us, consecrated missionaries who live community, prayer and apostolate because we are inhabited by the Spirit, the true protagonist of mission.

Community life and prayer are not secondary elements of the missionary experience: they are its foundation, its strength, the engine that makes mission possible.

Struggles and riches

Of course, there is no shortage of difficulties along this journey. Doubts of faith, the effort of understanding the culture that welcomes them, misunderstandings with the people or with members of the community, the weariness of daily life, sometimes feeling useless, loneliness and many other personal limitations are all part of mission.

But one learns to face all this too. And when they manage to move beyond it, they realise that leaving is worth it, because mission offers so many riches: the beauty of new cultures, the encounter with other religions, the deep relationships that are born, the projects that come to life and, above all, the sense of being part of Christ’s great mission: to make the world one family.

I would love to see these young people on the front pages of newspapers more and more often. They are the young people who should make the news, and they are the ones who truly reflect the reality of young people today.