With Christ, who brings new life, a young person can become more aware of those who are suffering draw near to them, he said.
"You too, as young people, are able to draw near to the realities of pain and death that you encounter. You too can touch them and, like Jesus, bring new life, thanks to the Holy Spirit," he said. "You will be able to touch them as he does, and to bring his life to those of your friends who are inwardly dead, who suffer or have lost faith and hope."
"Perhaps, in times of difficulty, many of you have heard people repeat those 'magic' formulas so fashionable nowadays, formulas that are supposed to take care of everything: 'You have to believe in yourself', 'You have to discover your inner resources', 'You have to become conscious of your positive energy' ... But these are mere words; they do not work for someone who is truly 'dead inside,'" he said.
"Jesus' word has a deeper resonance; it goes infinitely deeper. It is a divine and creative word, which alone can bring the dead to life," the pope said.
Pope Francis addressed this message to the young people throughout the world who will celebrate local diocesan World Youth Day gatherings on Palm Sunday this year.
The pope reminded young people that the next international World Youth Day will take place in Lisbon in 2022: "From Lisbon, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, great numbers of young people, including many missionaries, set out for unknown lands, to share their experience of Jesus with other peoples and nations."
"As young people, you are experts in this! You like to take trips, to discover new places and people, and to have new experiences," he said.
"If you have lost your vitality, your dreams, your enthusiasm, your optimism and your generosity, Jesus stands before you as once he stood before the dead son of the widow, and with all the power of his resurrection he urges you: 'Young man, I say to you, arise!'" Pope Francis said.
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.