The final document of the synod on young people (27-X-2018) follows the "template" of the meeting of Jesus with the disciples of Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13-35): he listens to them (to help them recognize reality), accompanies them (to help them interpret and discern what they are to do) and forms them (for holiness and evangelizing mission statement ) by breaking bread with them (and here the Church has always seen a reference letter to the Eucharist). This corresponds to the three parts of the text. It is worth highlighting some elements that are more central or, in our opinion, especially significant in the present moment of the new evangelization.

Before referring to the individual parts of the document, it is important to underline what gives it its unity: the centrality of Christ, who is offered to us in the Eucharist as the source and summit of the life and the mission statement of the Church and of Christians. The Eucharist, in which young people are called to participate, allows us to look at reality with the eyes of faith and to form one Body with Christ.

Thus the document points out: "The Eucharist is the living report of the paschal event, that is, of the death and resurrection of the Lord, the privileged place of evangelization and of the transmission of the faith in view of the mission statement". Therefore, in the Eucharistic celebration (the Mass), "the experience of being personally reached, taught and healed by Jesus accompanies each one in his or her pathway of growth staff" (n. 92).

And again: "The sacraments - in particular the Eucharist and Reconciliation - nourish and sustain those who are on the way to the finding of God's will" (n. 105), and give us, together with other means of sanctification that we have in the Church, familiarity with the Lord. Hence the Church herself, the family of God, must take on the form of the Eucharist: bread made up of many ears of corn and distributed for the life of the world (cf. n. 118). The Eucharist, and more generally the liturgy, is a central place for the Education of young people in the beauty of the faith, in adoration, contemplation and prayer (cf. n. 134). 

1. Listening to help recognize reality. Jesus walks with the disciples and listens to their outbursts, he participates in their search for meaning. He does not give them ready-made answers, but wishes to respond to their concrete concerns.

Even today Christian educators must unite the advertisement of the Gospel and its witness with the human promotion that is the goal proper to their professional task: the integral Education of young people (n. 15). 

It is necessary to recognize the reality of the cultural context of young people, with its lights and shadows. Many of them wish to receive guidance and support, accompaniment and training. Others are more or less distant from the Church for a variety of reasons.

2. Accompany them to help them discern their status and the good they can do. The Holy Spirit also counts on them to rejuvenate the Church. But first it is necessary to facilitate them the meeting staff of friendship with Christ, to heal their wounds and help them to grow.

One of the great themes is freedom, which becomes understandable and possible only in relation to truth and above all to love. "Freedom is being oneself in the heart of another", that is to say: "Through fraternity and solidarity, lived especially with the least, young people discover that authentic freedom is born of feeling welcomed and grows by making room for the other" (nn. 73 and 74).

At the same time, human freedom is wounded by sin and concupiscence. But we count on God's forgiveness and mercy. Therefore, "in an educational perspective, it is important to help young people not to be discouraged in the face of mistakes and failures, even humiliating ones, because these mistakes and failures are an integral part of the journey towards a more mature freedom, aware of one's own greatness and weakness" (n. 76). (n. 76).

Also in this perspective "vocation truly appears as a gift of grace and covenant, as the most beautiful and precious secret of our freedom" (n. 78). Vocation, in its various forms, always implies the invitation to participate in the evangelizing mission statement of the Church.

The document explains the spiritual accompaniment, its characteristics and its conditions, also on the part of the educator. It develops especially the framework of discernment and of the training of conscience, to help in the growth of the virtue of prudence and in the spiritual combat.

3. To form young people for holiness is to form them integrally, through the anthropological training - which includes the training of the intelligence and the heart for life and the work-, the Education of faith, the liturgical training and the training for Christian service in the world and evangelization.

Educational institutions of Catholic inspiration have an important role to play in this: "They are called to propose a model of training that is capable of bringing the faith into dialogue with the questions of the contemporary world, with the various anthropological perspectives, with the challenges of science and technology, with the changes in social customs and with the commitment to justice" (n. 158).

All this calls for educators qualified from their own spiritual and intellectual training , capable of carrying out an interdisciplinary Education , with wisdom, creativity and team spirit, especially partnership with university institutions of Catholic inspiration at the national and international level (cf. n. 159). It is well understood that training for holiness requires holy formators (cf. n. 166).

Evangelization today, and not only with young people, requires listening, accompanying and forming: simple words for imposing challenges. They correspond to processes that the Holy Spirit promotes in the Church for the good of all: discernment, synodality (walking together) and holiness.