Since Pope Benedict began his visit dedicated to "Christ Our Hope," flashes of hope have touched sexual abuse victims who finally felt heard after telling their stories to the pope. They have reached the relatives of terrorist victims who found healing as Benedict prayed with them at Ground Zero. And they have inspired Catholics throughout America who struggle to keep the faith despite sin, scandals and the distractions of our secular age.

Particularly significant for the Catholic Church's future in America was the hope and affirmation that Benedict gave young Catholics through this visit.

It was notable that the pope chose to conclude his farewell homily at Yankee Stadium with a message to the young. After confiding that he had been "moved by the joy, the hope and the generous love of Christ" of the 25,000 young pilgrims who greeted him in Yonkers Saturday, Benedict reminded his audience that young Catholics "are the Church's future and they deserve all the prayer and support that you can give them."

The pope then challenged his "young friends" to proclaim Jesus Christ and the teachings of their Catholic faith with boldness, defend human life in its most vulnerable stages, serve the poor and needy with love and remain open to God's call to the priesthood and religious life. Benedict's remarks about the right to life of the unborn and the beauty of celibate priestly and religious life were interrupted by spontaneous applause -- another reminder of the surprising openness of many young Catholics to the Church's countercultural witness in the world.

By emphasizing the importance of a faith that combines fidelity to Church teachings with openness to infusing the wider culture with Gospel values, Benedict spoke to a central concern of many young Catholics today. Weary of the divisions that have plagued the Church since their childhood and uninterested in waging the battles for a more democratic, culturally accommodating Church that consumed their elders, they hunger for a faith that transforms culture rather than rejecting or capitulating to it.

These young adults see connections, not conflicts, between their concern for the poor and their defense of the unborn, between their focus on a personal relationship with Jesus and their attraction to ancient Catholic devotions and between belonging to a hierarchical Church and embracing the universal call to holiness affirmed at the Second Vatican Council.

They are buoyed to know that Benedict sees those connections, too. His constant refrain during this trip -- that Catholics must reject false dichotomies, transcend stale divisions and embrace a faith that reaches out to the world while remaining true to teachings handed down through the ages -- comes as particularly good news to them.

Yet it also comes as a challenge. You're on the right track, he tells them, but much work still must be done. Stay humble. Stay prayerful. And treat others -- including the elders with whom you disagree -- the way you want them to treat you.

"Only God in his providence knows what works his grace has yet to bring forth in your lives and in the life of the Church in the United States," Benedict said today, as he concluded his remarks to young Catholics. "Yet Christ's promise fills us with sure hope."�

Benedict often says that young American Catholics give him hope for the future. This week, he returned the favor by inspiring them to continue their quest for a faith ever ancient and ever new.