Dunbar, Emily

Kerr, William

English

Duquesne University: Digital Commons

Spiritan Magazine Volume 36 Number 1 Winter Article 5 Winter 2012 World Youth Day, Madrid 2011: A magical gift Emily Dunbar William Kerr Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/spiritan-tc Recommended Citation Dunbar, E., & Kerr, W. (2012). World Youth Day, Madrid 2011: A magical gift. Spiritan Magazine, 36 (1). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/spiritan-tc/vol36/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Spiritan Collection at Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Spiritan Magazine by an authorized editor of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. 4 Winter 2012 / SpiritanFor two weeks this past summer we had the most en-riching and enlightening experience — the final event intwo years of preparation! We travelled from Canada toPortugal and Spain with 12 members of the Youth Missionfrom St Theresa Shrine of the Little Flower Parish in Scar-borough, Ontario. We went with young people who were inhigh school, university and college. In addition, our group wassupported by the CEO of a telecommunications company, a high school principal, and a priest. World Youth Day (WYD) wasn’t just being in a strangecountry or in Europe for the first time. It wasn’t just seeing thePope. It became a profession of our own faith and our personalconvictions. We became empowered to open ourselves up to others and their faith.FatimaBefore we went to Madrid we spent some days in Portugal.Our time at Fatima was in itself a neat thing, but the trulyamazing part was the Mass that Father Obinna had with usabout 15 metres from the bush where Mary on the 13th May1917 visited the three children — Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta.It made the Fatima story our story. We also saw some of the castles where Crusaders wouldstop and rest on their journey through Europe. Kind of like us.He talked to us like real people While in Madrid, we attended catechism sessions pretty muchdaily. Every speaker had interesting and important things tosay, but it was Archbishop (now Cardinal) Dolan, from NewYork City, who stole the show on the last day. He talked to uslike real people and told very relevant stories that made usthink and also made us laugh. He was awesome and inspiring. During the trip we met huge numbers of Catholics from Europe, South Africa, USA and Asia. In them, as well as in themembers of our own parish, we encountered people experi-encing their joy and passion in the Catholic faith. It seems thatthe real purpose of World Youth Days is to spread our faithas we experience it and to embody that same faith in our ownlives.Why not these young people in our churches?The animated mood in Madrid, the dry sun, the sometimeschallenging encounters, seeing the faith and strength of allthese young people made us wonder why we don’t find allthese young people in our churches on Sunday. Somethingmust be wrong somewhere, either from us young people orfrom the hierarchies of the church. Hope we figure it outsooner rather than later. During the campout at the air base for thevigil Mass, with lightning all around us, tentsflying and horizontal rain, Pope Benedictnever left his flock. It was fun watchingbishops, priests, nuns and the laity asone happy family not minding the rain.Together we waited out the storm.Seeing how strong and courageousall the young people were, the Popethanked everyone in these words:“Thank you young people, you rejuvenate the Pope, inspire theChurch, and refresh a worldthirsty for hope and courage.” Positives … and negativesOur group was lucky. FatherObinna not only gave every oneof us a great perspective through-out our trip and said daily Massfor us — he was a lot of fun too.He encouraged us to see the stormnot as rain, but as God blessing usand sprinkling us with holy water. Of course, it would not be hardto find some negatives about thisyear’s WYD in Madrid. It was hot,crowded and most of the Spanish people did not understand anything you said. And toilets were few and far be-tween. But that’s only if you think that way. A magical giftEmily Dunbar and William KerrSt Theresa Shrine of the Little Flower Parish, Scarborough, OntarioWorld Youth Day, Madrid 2011Spiritan / Winter 2012      5Two million people make for some big crowds, but most ofthose people were there for the same reason and were a pleasure to meet and talk to, even if it was only for a minuteor two. As for the language barrier, we breached it by usingsign language, gesturing and pointing. Proud to say “I am a Catholic”It was a true pilgrimage: physically very hard at times, but thespirit of the event, the people that came with us and those wemet, the incredible feeling of being surrounded by and part ofa group that was proud to say “I am a Catholic” will remainforever  in our memory. We are thankful for this incredible experience because, although it was not always easy or fun, wewere always surrounded by people of a like mind and heart.We cannot remember the name of the school we slept in orthat Spanish phrase that everyone yelled over and over andover again, but we will remember the bond we formed withinour group, as well as with those we met on this faith journey.While it started with our preparation in Scarborough, it trulybecame a magical gift because of everyone who spoke with usand touched us during the World Youth Day experience.Our hope is that we will be able to give back, both now andin the future, a little bit of what we have learned. To all theyoung people who came and to those who couldn’t make it,we leave you with the words of Pope Benedict: “The Popethanks you for your affection and sends you out as ambas-sadors of the joy that our world needs.” Rio de Janeiro 2013 – See you there! n“Thank you young people, you rejuvenate the Pope, inspire the Church, and refresh a world thirsty for hope and courage.” — Pope Benedict XVI

World Youth Day, Madrid 2011: A magical gift

https://dsc.duq.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1214&amp;context=spiritan-tc

World Youth Day, Madrid 2011: A magical gift

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Duquesne University: Digital Commons