Manila, Philippines, Jan 17, 2015 / 23:04 pm
Tens of thousands of Filipino youth gathered in Manila with Pope Francis on Sunday and heard his recommendation that a society inundated in information should embrace God's loving surprises.
"God is a God of surprises, because he always loved us first, and he awaits us with a surprise," Pope Francis said Jan. 17 at a youth rally on the campus of the University of Santo Tomas. "Love opens you to surprise and is a surprise, of loving and being loved."
"If you only have information, then the element of surprise is gone," he said. "God surprises us, let us allow ourselves to be surprised by God."
Several Filipino youth gave short testimonies to the Holy Father about their lives, and then posed different questions to him. Leandro Santos II, a law student at the university, asked Pope Francis how students should best use technology and information without allowing it to distract them.