Monday, August 15, 2011

WYD 2011 - Madrid - Empesamos Juntos!


2011 is flown by...but with good news too!

Now in Madrid, starting the 26th World Youth Day - WYD 2011, it is time that I write and connect to all with the good news I find on this year of the gathering of Youth Worldwide!

This is my 5th WYD, since 2000 in Rome. In this time, I have been amazed by the diffusion of Social Networks, specially in the youth. Just Marc Zuckerberg's Facebook already accounts for over 700 million users. If it was a country, it would be the world's 3rd largest, only behind China and India. This new young generation has actually connected the world online/realtime, 24hs x 7 days/week. And that is GOOD NEWS!

The opportunities of making a better world together, through sharing empowerd by many kinds of social networks, are enormous. One illustration of these potential opportunities is the carpool social network that we have been developing: Caroneiros.com with already over 10.000 active users. Sharing our means of transport can be economically, socially and environmentally sustainable, thus a true example of how social networks can enable sustainability.

But now social networks have a challenge: connecting people to share a much more scarce resource: HOPE, MEANING and FAITH!

With today's double-dip financial crackdown, food and environmental crisis, youth unemployment can there be hope for the youth in the future? What is the meaning of life in times of crisis? Can I have faith on something larger than my life?

Those scarce resources are the topics the Pope Benedict XVI has been addressing to the youth on the themes of the last World Youth Days:

"We Have Set Our Hope on the Living God" (1 Timothy 4:10) - WYD 2009
"Good Teacher, What Must I do to Inherit Eternal Life?" (Mark 10:17) - WYD 2010

and this week, on WYD 2011, we will gather over 1 million youth from all the continents in Madrid, to experience how we can be

"Rooted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith" (Colossians 2:7)

Hope, Meaning and Faith are key elements for the Building of a brighter future for all!

So we invite you all to join us in Madrid, now with the Social Network tools that enable us to share even in the cyberspace the true meaning of our being.

Join www.socialmadrid11.com

Let's start together this week as 1 human family, join to celebrate what unites us all...26 times now!