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American Sisters. Day 3

August 17, 2011 by 1 Comment

August 16-the first official day of WYD! Madrid is as hot as they predicted, but the heat is not stifling the spirit of pilgrims from all over the globe. So far I’ve met people from Australia (proud Aussies still on fire from WYD Sydney 2008),France, Italy, South Africa, Mexico, Rwanda, Malaysia, Canada, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, and more. I wish I spoke more languages! Cardinal Pell of Australia inspired me yesterday morning with his address to the Australian gathering at the Love and Life Center. He said that WYD is the largest peacetime gathering of young people in history. In general, such large numbers only move across continents during wars and conflicts. So WYD is a beautiful witness to the peace possible in a life with Christ! – Sr. Susan

Like Sr. Susan mentioned, the heat is not deterring the pilgrims from fully entering into the WYD events.
However, it has been interesting to see the ways in which the pilgrims “recharge” their batteries! Cafe con leche, Pepsi, chocolate and more! Yesterday we walked through a beautiful park only to see many different groups napping beneath trees and their national flags. - Sr Colleen

“If you build it, they will come.” This was a quote about a baseball stadium but it applies to WYD too. JPII had the courage to create WYD and the people have come! Last night we celebrated the Mass of Blessed JPII (perhaps someday John Paul the Great!!!) and hundreds of thousands of young people came together to worship and receive the Lord.  You should have seen the Communion lines and people helping one another to get the Eucharist!! Afterwards the streets and subways and buses were filled with young people singing and chanting and exchanging religious articles. At WYD, language is not a barrier because faith unites us. - Sr. Angela

Photo Credit: CNS photo/Paul Haring

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I am One of Those…

August 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I was sharing a story with a new found friend in the early hours of the morning while we ran together through the city, and then it occurred to me that my story might be a good story to share with all of our readers as the pilgrims come into Madrid.

Fr. Chris Valka (to the left) during World Youth Day 2008, Sydney

You see, I am one of those. . . one of those priests who God planted a little seed in while attending the opening Mass at World Youth Day.  It was Denver in 1993 and I was 17 years old.  I was actually far more interested in the Baptist Church than the Catholic Church in which I was raised, but my grandmother heard the Pope was coming and made sure I was able to attend.  The opening Mass was at Mile High Stadium and there were roughly 90,000 in attendance.  Everyone was responding in their own languages, which created a rumbling noise at all the appropriate moments.

But then we all started to sing the Alleluia – and the volume increased ten-fold.  You could literally feel the sounds reverberating through the bleachers!  I couldn’t believe how amazing it was – how much it seemed like what I imagined heaven to be like.  And so I said a little prayer to God, saying that if this group of people could make heaven feel this close and this real, then some how I have to be a part of it.  At the time I also looked down on the stage wondering what it would be like to be so involved in your faith to help put on such an event?

Fast-forward 15 years.

I am about to be ordained a deacon on my journey to priesthood with the Basilian Fathers.  It was 2008, and I was serving on the team in Sydney.  During the opening Mass, I was asked to be one of the people to receive Eucharist from Cardinal Pell, and I was very humbled to do so.

The moment was not lost on me.  Over the last 15 years, God and I had our battles, but I knew we had come full circle.  I stood there, waiting to receive communion and the choir started to sing “We Are One Body” – the theme song from Denver.  I almost laughed – God was laying it on a little thick!  But I looked over my shoulder, and thought there is some young man out there just like me 15 years ago.  God willing, he will be like me and so many others 15 years from now.

So as you read through the blogs and watch the coverage back home – pray for those in whom God will plant a seed this week.  After all, it is just a seed and some may not make it over the years, but then there are many who will . . . and I am one of those, thanks be to God.

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From Resistance to Acceptance of a Vocation

August 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Veronica Clara entered Iesu Communio after receiving the WYD cross from the young Australians

During the preparations for WYD 2011, even before it actually takes place, WYD Madrid has changed many lives. This is the story of Verónica Clara Montes a young girl who realized that she had a vocation when she took the WYD cross from the hands of young Australians for it to begin its journey all over Spain.

Quite by chance, Verónica Clara was one of the young girls chosen to go up to the altar to receive the WYD cross during Holy week in Rome, 2009.

Here is the testimony of this young girl, today a Sister of Iesu Communio:

“During WYD 2005 in Cologne I had the opportunity to live with many Christians. The experience made me realize that Christianity is not a utopia, but a living reality. I discovered the beauty of being Christian and, from that moment, I decided to participate in everything that the Church could offer me.

And then one day, with a group of young parishioners we were going over our plans to travel to Rome in Holy Week of 2009, and I was told that I’d been chosen to go up to the altar and take the cross from the hands of the young people of Sidney. I had been given the gift of being one of those chosen to take over directly from them.

‘Why me, Lord?’. That was the question in my heart, because it seemed that this was something big, too big for me. As soon as I could, I went to the chapel and prayed to Jesus: ‘Lord, don’t let me receive your Cross as if it were any old thing’… …Read More

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