The Vigil and WYD Mass

This August 84 young people from across our diocese including a few seminarians, five priests and the Archbishop responded to Pope Benedict’s call to join him for the World Youth Day celebrations in Madrid, Spain and to reflect on the theme ‘Planted and Built Up in Christ Firm in the Faith’.

Over two million young people responded to this call. It was an incredible opportunity for all pilgrims to encounter the universal church, to be nurtured in the ways of the Gospel by the Holy Father and his bishops and to be inspired and strengthened by the joyful, vibrant and lively witness of so many young Catholics.

The walk to Cuatro Vientos (Four Winds) for the Vigil and WYD Mass had a real pilgrimage feel to it.

We gathered as one universal family, moving en masse towards the final destination of our pilgrimage: World Youth Day. We reached a point where we were able to look down upon the air base and here the sheer scale of world youth day became a reality with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims already assembled there.
After a long day in the 45 degree heat it was soon time for the Vigil with the Holy Father.

Great ripples of excitement ran through the crowds as the screens showed the Pope getting into the infamous popemobile. As the evening drew in, great storm clouds positioned themselves above the airbase and as the Pope attempted to read his address the rain came down and the winds battered the airbase. At one point the Pope’s zucchetto flew off his head and across the sanctuary much to the amusement of the Holy Father and pilgrims alike. The service was temporarily stopped and the organisers commented over the microphones that ‘We had asked for water and God had heard and answered our prayers’ – a reference to the scorching heat previously encountered.

Over two million young people responded to this callThen as the Blessed Sacrament was exposed silence fell over the grounds and two million people entered into profound prayer and reflection before the Lord. This moment of silence really was breath taking. What else but the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist could inspire so much reverence, wonder and awe amongst so many young people?
After a half decent night’s sleep under the stormy skies we woke up to find the rest of the base starting to prepare for the WYD Mass. Soon the Holy Father had arrived and the crowds went wild!

The WYD song Firmes en le Fe rang out across the fields as the Holy Father made his way around the base and was greeted by a multitude of flags and banners from every corner of the globe. The wise words of the homily really touched my heart and emphasised how an authentic relationship with the Lord requires a relationship with his church. He called on us to be missionaries and encouraged the English pilgrims to ‘return home and take back the good news of Christ’s love which we have experienced in these unforgettable days’.

Being a young Catholic in England is not easy as we are very much a minority group within society but WYD has really strengthened my faith and the witness of over 2 million other Catholics has inspired me to persevere and continue to deepen my relationship with the Lord in communion with his one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.
During my time in Madrid I kept a blog of our diocesan pilgrimage, which you can follow at www.bcyswyd2011.tumblr.com.

‘Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith’ – World Youth Day 2011

In August Sarah Crowley from the Birmingham Catholic Youth Service lead a group of 83 young pilgrims to Spain to join the celebrations of World Youth Day 2011. Sarah was supported by 4 Diocesan priests, Fr Timothy Menezes, Fr Paul Moss, Fr Joe McLoughlin & Fr Jan Nowotnik.

The group spent their ‘Days in the Diocese’ in Valladolid, home of the English College, and then moved on to Madrid. Here are some of her thoughts and observations, written as letters home…

Monday 15th August

Hola from Madrid,

We arrived safely in Madrid this afternoon and I headed straight out to pick up our accreditations and rucksacks. These are full of great resources for the pilgrimage including what we have found to be essential pilgrimage kit – a Spanish fan. The Pope has also given us a present; a new youth catechesis called YOUCAT, I can’t wait to have a look at that.

We enjoyed a fabulous Mass with Archbishop Bernard this morning with the Leeds and Middlesboro dioceses and their Bishops. The Archbishop asked us a question:  If we were to choose only one moment, like a snap shot or photo, to sum up how we can walk more closely with Christ what would it be? After Mass and some fond farewells, we were waved off by the Archbishop, our new families from Valladolid and volunteers, with the bells of the English College ringing. There were lots of tears and promises to return.

It has been such a blessed pilgrimage so far, blessed with the families we stayed with in Valladolid, the volunteers who looked after us and shepherded us around the city, the program set up for us and our pilgrims themselves. There was quite a buzz about the talks we had in Valladolid; contemplative life by a very dynamic Poor Claire sister, outreach and drug rehabilitation programs run by volunteers at a local parish, and the theology of the body talk provoked a lot of discussion especially as, due to the split program, not all of us had heard it. The verdict: can we have more teaching and advice like this at home?

Lots of love, prayers and blessings
Sarah

Friday 19th August

Hi From Madrid,

We have had the most fantastic day today - one of the best of the trip. We started with catechesis at a stadium hosted by an American organization ‘Life and Love’ including some amazing Sisters of Life – a new order who work with women in New York – very inspiring, very good role models for the Church. At the stadium were 10,000 young Catholics, 600 priests and 25 bishops. It’s like the NIA and it’s filled with young Catholics!

Archbishop Timothy Dolan from New York was excellent (introduced by Maggie and Bob McCarthy), the praise and worship was animated by the Curtis Stevens band and an amazing singer called Francisco.

Most of the group went back to the stadium this evening for stations of the cross which was being televised into the (air conditioned) stadium - it was 40 degrees today so this was quite an attraction. The televised version had catechesis beforehand and a brilliant commentary. The reflections and prayers very moving and the Pope’s homily was amazing. He always calls us his “dear young friends”.

“My dear young friends, may Christ’s love for us increase your joy and encourage you to go in search of those less fortunate. You are open to the idea of sharing your lives with others, so be sure not to pass by on the other side in the face of human suffering, for it is here that God expects you to give of your very best: your capacity for love and compassion”.

Love and prayers
Sarah

Saturday afternoon 20th August

Hola

Whilst we were waiting for the Pope to arrive for the WYD vigil this afternoon , I remembered Archbishop Vincent’s words in Lourdes a few years ago when he told us pilgrimage has the word ‘grim’ in it reminding us that a pilgrimage without challenges doesn’t change us. Well the challenge today is the heat. It’s 45° and there isn’t any shade for pilgrims and only few umbrellas for the sick or less able pilgrims. The airfield looks like a cross between a festival and a refugee camp with hoards of people continuing to flood in, trying to find a space to sit or lie down.

Saturday night – after the rain!

The word on the field is that there are 2 million people here. Some of our seminarians haven’t been allowed in as the gates have been shut, and we have also heard that the Westminster and Leeds pilgrimages haven’t got in. It seems the amount of pilgrims have been underestimated.
As the Pope arrived so did some big black clouds, closely followed by dramatic lightning forking across the sky. The wind came first, blowing the pope’s skull cap off and then torrential rain - as one of our pilgrims said “rain we understand - now we feel at home!” When the visuals and audio were back on line we heard the Pope calling us his ‘dear young friends’ talking about the adventure we were having together and praising us for our ‘force’ over the rain. The service continued with Adoration for which a very ornate monstrance rose up out of the stage. Those of us that had had the privilege of sharing Adoration with the Pope last year at Hyde Park were really looking forward to this part.
As we lie down to sleep tonight, I can hear guitars and the quiet buzz of conversation, It’s amazingly quiet actually. 2 million young people are waiting to hear what the Pope has to say to them, they want to be guided by the Pope they love, to a deeper faith, they celebrate being Catholics.

Can’t wait until the Mass tomorrow!!!

Good night, God bless
Sarah