The following is the text of the video message the Holy Father Francis recorded at the apostolic nunciature in Bangkok, addressed to young Thai people gathered today in a prayer vigil:

Video Message of the Holy Father

Dear Young Friends,

I know that this evening you are keeping a vigil of prayer, you are praying. And I know that others are still on their way, journeying here. How beautiful these two things are: to pray and to journey!

There are two things that we have to do in life. We have to keep our hearts open to God, since we receive our strength from him, and we have to keep journeying, because in life one can never stand still. A young person cannot retire at the age of twenty! He or she must keep walking. He or she must always keep moving forward, always going uphill.

One of you can say to me: “Yes, Father, but sometimes I am weak and I fall”. That doesn’t make any difference! There is an old Alpine song that says: “In the art of climbing, the important thing is not to keep from falling, but never to remain down on the ground”.

I offer you these two pieces of advice. Never stay down, immediately get up; let someone help you to get up. That’s the first thing. The second thing is: Don’t spend your life sitting on a couch! Live your life, build your life, do it, keep moving forward! Keep advancing on the journey, get involved and you find extraordinary happiness. I can assure of you of that.

May God bless you. I am praying for you; please pray for me.