World Youth Day celebrated globally!

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE THIRTIETH WORLD YOUTH DAY 2015

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5: 8)

Dear Young Friends,

We continue our spiritual pilgrimage toward Krakow, where in July 2016 the next international World Youth Day will be held. As our guide for the journey we have chosen the Beatitudes. Last year we reflected on the beatitude of the poor in spirit, within the greater context of the Sermon on the Mount. Together we discovered the revolutionary meaning of the Beatitudes and the powerful summons of Jesus to embark courageously upon the exciting quest for happiness. This year we will reflect on the sixth beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). READ MORE HERE

The World Youth Day cross has many names: the Jubilee Cross, the Pilgrim Cross, the Youth Cross. It was entrusted to the youth as they were given the commission to “carry it throughout the world as a symbol of Christ’s love for humanity, and announce to everyone that only in the death and resurrection of Christ can we find salvation and redemption.”The cross set out with the young people from St. Peter’s in 1984 and has since been carried around the world, making a pilgrimage from parish to parish, diocese to diocese, and country to country.

Where is the Cross:

In association with the World Youth Days, the cross will precede an international World Youth Day in a country. For example, on Palm Sunday 2009, the youth of Australia met the youth of Madrid in Rome to entrust the cross to them.

Since 2006 the cross has been making its journey through the south pacific as a testimony of Christ’s love. In 2008 it was in Sydney for the 23rd World Youth Day there. Preceding the WYD in Madrid 2011 it will be carried by the youth of Spain throughout their country renewing hope in salvation and redemption through Christ.

WYD Icon:

The cross does not journey alone, however. In our time it will always be accompanied by an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as Christ Himself was accompanied by his mother in history.) On Palm Sunday in Rome, 2003, a delegation of Canadian youth passed on the cross to that of Germany.

On the same occasion, Pope John Paul II entrusted to the youth an icon of the Blessed Mother that would accompany the cross.

“It will be a sign of Mary’s motherly presence close to young people who are called, like the Apostle John, to welcome her into their lives,” said the pontiff.Impact: So the cross and icon are carried together through the world touching hearts and inspiring holiness. There are countless testimonies from people who have encountered the pilgrim Cross and Icon. One youth from Canada’s delegation to receive the cross prior to WYD 2002 in Toronto said, “This cross has had a tremendous impact on all of the nations where it has been present. This was evident to me during the ceremonies when we received the cross from the Italians. They were extremely emotional, crying tears of sorrow because they did not want to give it up. We, on the other hand, were crying tears of joy because we were receiving a powerful symbol that we know will impact our nation.”

WHAT IS A PILGRIMAGE?

A pilgrimage is a journey a pilgrim makes to a sacred place for the purpose of venerating it or to ask for heavenly aid, and ultimately to come to know God better. Christian pilgrimages were first made to sites connected with the birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Shortly after, pilgrimages started being made to Rome and other sites associated with the Apostles, Saints and Christian martyrs, as well as places where there had been apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

In the past, pilgrims would leave their homes, families, and comforts to walk for hundreds of miles with nothing but what they could carry on their backs. Just as the pilgrims from the early centuries, we modern pilgrims also leave our homes, families and comforts in order to journey to sacred places.

Sacrifice:

Along the journey, there are many sacrifices involved. There is suffering, hunger, pain, exhaustion, extreme weather conditions, crowds, etc… All of these involve self denial in order to obtain the ultimate goal and reach the final destination. Contrasting common misperceptions, suffering is not a punishment that each receives in direct proportion to his own sins but is a result of original sin and is part of the universal human experience, something we all experience in some form.

Jesus Christ embraced his cross of suffering and death and so, too, should we embrace these sufferings with joy.

Reflection:

While journeying, a pilgrim may notice that although they are living entirely in the present, it’s not the present that matters; what matters is the distant goal. The experience one has on a pilgrimage can be fantastic and deeply meaningful, or it can be completely meaningless. It is entirely up to the pilgrim. Extra graces are given to pilgrims who open their hearts to God. Pilgrims are also called to be witnesses for Christ on their journey. As a Christian and a foreign visitor, pilgrims are ambassadors for Christ and the nation of their citizenship.

Parallel:

A pilgrimage can also be defined as the course of life here on earth. The physical pilgrimage we take to a sacred shrine is a symbol of the spiritual pilgrimage we are on throughout our lives. Each day we have the opportunity to encounter Christ through suffering, joys, interactions with others, and through every aspect of our human experience. By taking what we have learned from our pilgrimage we can put it into practice in our daily lives and come to a better knowledge of God.

Perspective:

An outside glance of an international World Youth Day would spark a bystander’s curiosity as massive crowds of young people flood the city streets. Some might cringe at the thought of those words, wondering what delinquency is in store, but to witness this gathering would end those fears. The happenstance observer would witness not angst and malice, but smiles and joy, singing and dancing young people, culture upon culture and nation upon nation, proudly holding their flags high (or wearing them), greeting one another in peace, trading their tokens, humbly realizing how small they are in a world of people, and strengthened to witness so many who share their convictions.

How did it all begin?

Beginnings:

In 1984 at the close of the Holy Year of Redemption, over 300,000 young people from around the world responded to the invitation of His Holiness John Paul II for an International Jubilee of youth on Palm Sunday in St. Peter’s square. Looking out to the crowds who answered his invitation he said, “What a fantastic spectacle is presented on this stage by your gathering here today! Who claimed that today’s youth has lost their sense of values? Is it really true that they cannot be counted on?” It was at this gathering that the Holy Father entrusted to the youth what is now known as the World Youth Day Cross, to be carried throughout the world as a symbol of the love of Christ for humanity.

First WYD:
The following Palm Sunday, coinciding with the United Nation’s International Year of the Youth, Our Holy Father took the opportunity to welcome the youth of the world to Rome again. Later, announcing the institution of World Youth Day on December 20, 1985, and the first official WYD was held in 1986.

International WYDs:

The following year brought about a new tradition when the second event and first international WYD took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Every Palm Sunday has since been designated as a World Youth Day, alternately celebrated at the diocesan and international levels. There have been 12 International World Youth Day celebrations, where the youth continue to answer the invitation of the Holy Father in staggering numbers and carry home the message received there to be Christ’s light to the world. While these events are organized by the clergy and laity of the Catholic Church, youth of all faiths are invited to attend and encounter Christ, making this gathering truly universal.

Reflection:

In Toronto, the last International WYD in which JPII was present he told the 800,000 gathered with him at the vigil, “When, back in 1985, I wanted to start the World Youth Days… I imagined a powerful moment in which the young people of the world could meet Christ, who is eternally young, and could learn from him how to be bearers of the Gospel to other young people. This evening, together with you, I praise God and give thanks to him for the gift bestowed on the Church through the World Youth Days. Millions of young people have taken part, and as a result have become better and more committed Christian witnesses.”

John Paul II left a legacy for the youth in his institution of World Youth Day, which Pope Benedict XVI has faithfully continued, carrying on the hope of His predecessor for the youth of the world, inviting them and commissioning them as Christ’s disciples to be faithful living witnesses.

WORLD YOUTH DAY 2016 – LIVE IN KRAKOW

A new airport, improved road and rail links, a fleet of dream buses and “Youth Bible” are among features projected for the Catholic Church’s 14th international celebration of World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, in 2016.

“It’s still 16 months to go, but the planning is well advanced,” said Msgr. Bronislaw Fidelus, a co-organizer of the event scheduled for July 26-Aug. 1, 2016..

“There’s huge interest abroad, and we’ve already registered large church groups from the U.S., Europe and Latin America. We’re sure the theme of Divine Mercy, chosen specially by the pope, will create a real openness to Christ among young participants,” Msgr. Fidelus said.

World Youth Day organizers expect the 13th international event will attract more than 2 million people from around the world.
Msgr. Fidelus said the program was approved March 13 by a Vatican delegation under Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for Laity, adding that the Polish church counted on the five-day event to renew the faith among young Catholics everywhere.

Meanwhile, a Krakow official said work was underway to expand the city’s communication and transport network and road and rail links with Europe as well as to renovate local schools to accommodate pilgrims.

“Having hosted several pilgrimages by the late St. John Paul II to his home city, Krakow is well equipped and prepared for large-scale events like this,” Filip Szatanik, spokesman for the Krakow City Council, told Catholic News Service.

“It’s also a great church city, full of sacral buildings and objects and closely linked to Poland’s Christian history. We can count especially on this side of its character to make this a major promotional opportunity,” he said.

Launched by St. John Paul II in 1985, World Youth Day is celebrated annually on a local level and every two or three years with an international gathering with the pope.

Krakow was announced as the 2016 venue by Pope Francis at the last World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

World Youth Day will have the theme, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7), and will follow April 2016 church-state celebrations of the 1,050th anniversary of Poland’s Christian conversion.

Pope Francis is scheduled to lead a televised Way of the Cross procession from the city’s Divine Mercy Sanctuary, followed by a prayer vigil on youth issues near the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and a final Mass in Krakow’s Blonia Park.

The World Youth Day website said the festival would feature a tent museum with Vatican exhibits and concerts and exhibitions at more than 100 locations, as well as “wayside catechesis” sessions in 30 languages and a “reconciliation zone” with several hundred confessionals.

It added that Poland’s 16 archdioceses and 28 dioceses had so far pledged accommodation for 373,000 foreign visitors, and said the organizing committee had been asked to add canoe trips and mountain hikes to enable foreign pilgrims to sample the life of St. John Paul II, who was archbishop of Krakow from 1964 to 1978.
Pope Francis also has been invited to visit Wadowice, where John Paul II was born in 1920, during his visit.
Organizers said the “Youth Bible,” under preparation at the Catholic University of Lublin, would present the New Testament in contemporary language without “archaic expressions.”

They added that the “virtual prayer marathon,” launched March 13, would enable young Christians to show where they were “praying to change the world,” or requesting prayers, by clicking on a website, www.mayfeelings.com/prayforwyd.
Beginning in July, a fleet of yellow “dream buses,” chartered by young Catholics at Poland’s Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Marian sanctuary, is to travel throughout Europe to publicize the celebration.

Meanwhile, a World Youth Day cross, made in 1983, has been taken to the Jasna Gora national sanctuary and the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. It was to tour Poland until the festival.

Father Tomasz Kijowski, World Youth Day spokesman, predicted the event would also have an “activating effect” on young people in Poland.

“The young have been leaving the church here — we need some shock, some impulse, to halt and reverse this trend,” Father Kijowski told KAI, Poland’s Catholic information agency.

“I wouldn’t want to suggest we’re working out some vision for a Christian Poland, but we want to initiate certain processes which will continue after the World Youth Day, instead of ending when the pope flies out.”

Source: Catholic News Service

Travel concerns for World Youth Day are common among most host cities. The best way to avoid issues during your pilgrimage is to prepare in advance. Browse the “Travel Tips” sub-menus for important considerations before you leave home.

You may also be interested in our “Preparation for WYD” posts, which will help you to prepare both physically and spiritually for your World Youth Day pilgrimage 2016.

Your Source for ALL INFORMATION HERE.