Area Catholics Heading To World Youth Day In Rio
On July 22, 12 young Catholics from the Diocese of Evansville depart from St. Louis on a 10-day trip to World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There, they will join a massive group of youth and young adults from across the world to celebrate their Catholic identity. These young people will see Pope Francis for the first time; meet other Catholics of all nationalities from many different countries; and, most importantly, they will have the opportunity to encounter Christ in a deeper way through their experience.
Sherie Cooley, youth minister at St. Francis Xavier and St. Wendel parishes, both in Posey County, has been the coordinator of the group. The 12 participants range from recent high school graduates, to college graduates, to some young adults from across the diocese. The World Youth Day pilgrimage was planned with the help of a Catholic pilgrimage traveling agency, which assists in organizing activities, transportation and other accommodations throughout the trip. Although Cooley has attended World Youth Day in the past, this is a first-time experience for the rest of the pilgrims.
Gavin Steckler, a World Youth Day first-time participant, expects the traveling alone to be the most challenging part of the experience. “It’s a 24-hour trip from here to Brazil,” he explained. They depart from St. Louis and switch planes a few times before a long bus ride through Brazil. Steckler also explained that the World Youth Day participants had been meeting monthly to prepare for the trip. They read a book together, filled out a great deal of paperwork, and went on walks together to prepare for the event. There will be many different activities and events to choose from when they arrive at Rio de Janeiro – from Mass and Reconciliation to various catechetical opportunities and sightseeing time.
This World Youth Day is unique for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, it is Pope Francis’ first World Youth Day as the Holy Father, and it will be the first time the world has seen him with such a large group of young people.
“It will be interesting to see how the crowds respond to him, and welcome him,” Father Christopher Droste, another participant, reflected. “He speaks in a way that is very clear, simple, and resonating. He’s a very intentional speaker.” This World Youth Day will also act as a sort of homecoming for Pope Francis, who will return to South America for the first time since the College of Cardinals elected him in March to succeed Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
“He has so much joy and is so full of life,” Father Droste commented. “He shows that the source of his joy is deeper: it comes from faith.” This World Youth Day is also unique because it occurs near the end of the Year of Faith, which has been reflected even in the preparations the participants have made for World Youth Day. When they signed up to attend, there was no way of knowing whether they would even raise enough money for the event. It was through faith that the participants were able to commit themselves to the pilgrimage, and God blessed them for their commitment. “People supported it and wanted to see it happen,” Father Droste said. Not only did they raise enough money to afford the trip, they had funds left over.
World Youth Day is instrumental in bringing the Year of Faith to a close with an expected 2 million young Catholics who will gather to celebrate their faith in a public way. It is important to remember, however, that this experience is much more than the blessing of traveling to Brazil to see the pope. Each individual is called to bring the gift of faith to everyone in their daily, localized lives. Although it is good to be educated about the challenges that others face on a global scale, it is important to reach out to the people with whom we are closest. “Everyone’s my neighbor, but who can we reach today?” Father Droste reflected. “We are called to follow His presence in our midst, and to embrace it.”
Even though World Youth Day is celebrated by youth throughout the world, Father Droste believes that “Youth is a spirit, not an age.” He emphasized that youthfulness is not something you automatically lose when you grow up, but a childlike faith and spontaneity, which can be experienced through this event, but that can also affect our daily lives. “We can even find joy in suffering,” he said. “Joy is infectious; when we see it in others, we are called to be joyful like that.”
