Joy, reverence are part of being an altar server, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Every Catholic at Mass, but especially the altar servers, should rejoice that they are in the presence of Jesus, Pope Leo XIV said.

"But the Mass is also a serious, solemn moment, filled with reverence. May your posture, your silence, the dignity of your service, the beauty of the liturgy, the order and majesty of the gestures, help lead the faithful into the sacred grandeur of the mystery," the pope said Aug. 25 during a meeting with more than 350 altar servers from 18 French dioceses.

The young men and women, between the ages of 12 and 20, were making a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome.

Reading his speech in French, Pope Leo asked the altar servers to "remain attentive to the call that Jesus might make to you to follow him more closely in the priesthood."

"I speak to your young, enthusiastic and generous consciences," he said, "and I will tell you something you must hear, even if it may trouble you a bit: the lack of priests in France, and in the world, is a great misfortune! A misfortune for the church."

Pope Leo prayed that the young men would "discover the beauty, the joy and the need for such a vocation. What a wonderful life a priest has, meeting Jesus each day in such a unique way and bringing him to the world!"

During their pilgrimage to Rome, he said, each altar server should try to find "the time to speak to Jesus in the quiet of your heart and to love him more and more. His only desire is to be part of your life, to illuminate it from within, and to become your best and most faithful friend."

"The most wonderful truth of our Catholic faith, something no one could have imagined or even hoped for," he said, is that "God, the creator of heaven and earth, wanted to suffer and die for us creatures. God loved us to the point of death!"

And at every Mass, he said, the church "keeps and transmits" Christ's sacrifice, "which you have the joy and honor of serving."

"The Eucharist is the treasure of the church, the treasure of treasures," he said.

"Dear altar servers, the celebration of the Mass saves us today! It saves the world today," Pope Leo said. "It is the most important event in the life of a Christian and in the life of the church, because it is the moment when God gives himself to us in love, again and again."