The painting "The Disputation (of Jesus) with the Doctors in the Temple", by Veronese, is offered in the Prado Museum especially to the pilgrim of WYD-Madrid 2011. It represents not so much a "dispute" in the current sense of the term, but rather a discussion or a dialogue, which, in the style of the ancient philosophical schools, would take place according to a preset method and rhythm (there is an hourglass in the lower center of the image).

In the line of the apocryphal Gospels and of the Counter-Reformation period, it is usually thought that Jesus "taught" the doctors (Veronese represents him standing in the center, in an elevated place between two columns). However, the Gospel says rather that he listened to them and asked them questions (Lk 2:46). The raised finger of Jesus perhaps does not only want to reinforce his arguments, but above all to point upwards, because he is the Way that leads to the Father.

Standing on the right is a bearded figure in a black suit, probably immortalizing the person who commissioned the work, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Jesus is learning (as a man) and also teaching, first with his attitude, in his Father's house, as he tells Mary and Joseph: they did not understand him then, and Jesus went down to Nazareth and continued to live subject to them. "His mother," adds the Gospel, "kept all things carefully in her heart," and "Jesus progressed in wisdom, in stature and in favor with God and man" (vv. 49-52).

Indeed, Jesus was in the Temple as in his house, which stood out among his Father's things (he was "the son of the owner"). This does not mean that the other realities were not lived in intimate union with his Father. But Jesus had to, so to speak, take possession of the temple that preceded him and prepared his mission statement, as the new and definitive Temple. This explains the holy zeal that consumed him, which led him to expel the merchants from the courtyard: "Do not make my Father's house a marketplace" (Jn 2:16). And when he prophesied "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up" (v. 19), the author of the Gospel explains that he was speaking of the Temple of his Body.

Now this true Temple, which is the Body of Jesus, is extended to the dimensions of the world and of history through his mystical Body, the Church, made up of Christians united to Christ. Each of them, in the image of their teacher, must grow not only in stature, but also in wisdom and grace before God and mankind, under the attentive and solicitous gaze of Mary.

To grow in wisdom, Benedict XVI stressed the importance of studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium, as an essential part of the faith, reference letter . On the occasion of the WYD in Madrid 2011, he prefaced the YouCat, a pedagogical aid that offers young people an explanation of the faith, seeking (and often succeeding in) forms of expression accessible to their status.

"Study the Catechism with passion and perseverance!" the Pope has order them. "Sacrifice your time for it! Study it in the silence of your room, read it between two of you, if you are friends form study groups and networks, exchange ideas on the Internet. Continue in every possible way the dialogue about your faith!"

Only in this way, he explains to them, will they be able to understand their faith, and make their own life a work of art. They will be able to grow, like trees with strong roots, to face the challenges of our time. With the financial aid of divine grace (especially in the Eucharist and Confession), they will be able to free themselves from droughts such as consumerism and pornography. And they will be able to give shade and fruits, to help and serve others, especially the weakest. And they will always continue to celebrate the feast of faith.