Aug. 24, 2016 WYD coordinator looks at the highlights of the pilgrimage By Marika Donders A couple weeks ago, ten other pilgrims and I returned from World Youth Day which was a culmination of two years of planning, fundraising and coordinating. It was worth every minute of the preparations to make it all come together. The question I get most often is what was the one highlight for you? It is really difficult to answer with one favorite event or encounter since it was a week packed with at least a month’s worth events and encounters. A saint-filled city We visited St. Florian which was Karol Wojtyla’s first parish and the John Paul II Center which included the relic of his cassock from when he was shot in St. Peter’s square. We participated in Mass at Wawel Cathedral and saw the altar where Father Wojtyla celebrated his first Masses. We visited the Wielicza Salt Mines which is filled with religious carvings made by miners and I met St. Kinga whom I never heard of before. She turned up again that evening as we prayed evening prayer at the St. John II Center. We into a “random” available side chapel and it was not coincidently dedicated to St. Kinga. And then there was St. Faustina, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Blessed Father Jerzy Polieluszko, … and the list goes on. The hospitality Little Polish grandmothers with twinkling eyes who didn’t speak English smiled, tried to tell us things in Polish and when we didn’t understand would gently pat our hands or make some other gesture of welcome and shared joy. The most amazing hospitality was at the Dominican Church which is locally known for its ministry to young adults. The church hosted the relic the incorrupt body of Blessed Pierre Giorgio. Like all the parishes in Krakow the doors were open 24/7. But in addition, the Dominicans had opened their Cloister and created a display of Dominican Saints and, knowing they were dealing with the internet generation, provided free WiFi. In their back garden, there were bathrooms as well as a large tent with food and drink and places to sit and relax and listen to fellow pilgrims make music or talk with the brothers and volunteers. The music Pilgrim groups from all over the world would sing as they walked along. When we would walk into larger churches often there would be Masses being offered in side chapels and you would hear hymns or chants drifting through the Church. My favorite music was as we were waiting to go into the downstairs chapel of the St. John Paul II Center to venerate the vial of his blood under the central altar. We had to wait because Mass was being offered for a large group of Croatian Pilgrims. During and after communion, the 300 or so young people sang in four-part harmony without books or notes or sheet music and their voices reverberated off the marble and touched me so deeply that I ended up in tears. It was the only possible response to such beauty. All I could think was: we need to teach our people to sing together again, to create such harmony and beauty which will touch the hearts of all who hear. Best part of every day Before closing the day with evening prayer, we would sit in a circle and share those things that touched us that day, graces received, struggles overcome, encounters with Christ in prayer, in talks, in situations or in the encounter with other pilgrims. I was struck every evening by the depth of the spirituality and faith or our eight young people, by their openness to encounter Jesus and their trust in the group to share some of their most profound thoughts and feelings. We have a treasure of young people in our diocese: ask them to share their faith with you and really listen to their thoughts and questions, and together with them, continue the journey of faith.
World Youth Day: a pilgrimage, not a vacation
By Carter Pierce World Youth Day offers so many opportunities. A chance to travel abroad. A chance to see the Pope. A chance to meet new friends. But most importantly, it is an opportunity to meet God in a new, more powerful way. So often in day to day life, we get lost in routine and lose our personal connection with God. In Krakow, Poland, we pilgrims were given the opportunity to let go of our other responsibilities and focus more time on Him. We went to Mass daily, spent hours in adoration, and prayed together morning and night. We saw His beauty in the majestic churches we visited, in the music at Mass, and in the thousands of other young pilgrims we met. Praying at the Center of Saint John Paul II in front of Pope John Paul’s blood-stained cassock, I was struck with flashbacks of a tragedy in my own life. I was overcome with emotion, mourning the painful memory. In that moment, I felt God’s comfort and recalled His healing grace which had provided for a miraculous recovery in both the Pope’s life and in mine. In those most vulnerable moments, God touched us and gave us insights into life. For me, I grew in my understanding, my love for my family, my love for God and my trust in Him. God’s graces come in unexpected ways. Then again, on Saturday, I found myself in similar distress. We had just completed the long journey to the Final Mass site, Campus Misericordiae, where the week was to reach its climax. As the millions of other pilgrims around me filled with joy and excitement, I found myself weighted down by what I had witnessed in the day. I regretted the actions I had seen and in which I had partaken; experiences that seemed to chip away at our Catholic brotherhood in Christ. Slowly, through prayer, I picked myself up. Then, a complete stranger, Claudio, came to me and confessed that he saw my “heavy heart” and offered to “share weights.” It touched me deeply. His message was exactly what I needed to ensure myself of our universal connection. Despite different nationalities and cultures, we are one in Christ, caring for each other. My spirits instantly shot upward. From the pits into which I had fallen came forth the greatest joy. God’s graces come in unexpected ways. World Youth Day is more than a time for sight-seeing and shopping. It is a time for growth. World Youth Day is not a vacation. It is a pilgrimage. And that is why it was the best experience of my life.
WYD pilgrims are launched into a culture that revolves around faith By Samantha Bashaw Imagine a Catholic culture. Impossible to wrap your head around, right? I thought so too, but then I made the rash decision of attending World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, where God gave me a deserving smack of reality. Unbeknownst to me, I was heading to the most Catholic country in the world where 95% of the population are practicing Catholics! Two years ago when I signed up for World Youth Day, I had no idea the kind of commitment it would become as a person of faith. By way of plane, tram, and miles of walking, I was launched into the culture of Poland, a culture that revolves around Catholicism. Upon arriving to Krakow, our group of eleven pilgrims found our way to St. Mary’s Basilica right in the heart of the city. The Basilica was our first taste of Poland, and it certainly did not fail us. The bustle and rising excitement of the outside market, quickly dissipated as we crossed the threshold. It was like a calm had settled over all its inhabitants, leaving only room to focus on the purpose this grand building was designed for. The vaulted ceilings bore a rich blue color that was dotted with golden stars as a reflection of the sky, and everywhere the eye went, you could see that that reflection was of God himself. God’s presence surrounded you, but the evidence wasn’t just in the largest crucifix I had ever seen or even in the ornate statues of Saints that seemed to be carved from the Creator directly, it was in a lesser blessing. After praying by myself I decided to walk around and absorb as much as I could of my surroundings. I began to focus on the people coming in and out of the Basilica. I first noticed a young Polish boy, probably around the age of four or five, walk in to the Church, and immediately genuflect and do the sign of the cross. I was completely blown away by his sudden reverence that, wasn’t a result of his grandmother nudging him, but rather of his own accord. A couple moments later I found a Polish family of four. Mom and dad were led by two little girls who went by one of the chapels and knelt down to pray. They had their hands clasped together towards their face, eyes closed, with a small furrow between their eyebrows, making me think, “What could they be possibly praying about?” At their age I knew the Our Father and Hail Mary, the basics, but their prayer seemed much deeper than rattling off recited verses. I let my eyes go elsewhere, not wanting to disturb their beautiful peace. When I had circled around, I saw that the family had risen from their kneeling position, and had begun walking into the depth of the Basilica. However, one of the little girls appeared cradled under her mother’s arm, weeping. Again, I was beyond stunned. There was no doubt that the Holy Spirit had impacted this young girl’s life, in a way that I couldn’t possibly try to imagine. Those two moments had left me in awe of the Polish youth, and how their culture instilled the importance of God, as not something to be shameful of, but as a major part of who they are. Now, this was only a glimpse of day one. We visited more churches that week than I can count, and prayed more than I ever had in my entire life. There was no other way to explain the pure graces we felt, than the simple fact that in Poland they live off a culture of Catholicism. The ads we saw rarely showed the immoral behavior that seems to be everywhere in the United States. It was beyond beautiful and many of us wished that we could move to Poland, where going to Church every day was the norm and there was no fear of how others would treat you based on your beliefs. That week made me fall in love with being Catholic.I wanted to emulate so badly what I had experienced in Poland, but our American culture seems to be too far out of reach to change. So, why not change the culture of my life and of our own lives? We should not hide away from our faith, or succumb to the immoralities around us, but rise above and praise God as he deserves praise. From there we can impact others’ lives, just as those young children and World Youth Day as a whole made an impact on me. |