WYD: Patiently waiting for what God has in store

By Emily Anderson
One in a series

BARCELONA, Spain — After flying across the world to Australia for World Youth Day 2008, a little six-and-a-half-hour flight followed up by another two-hour plane ride is nothing. Still after traveling for almost 18 hours patience wears so thin!

World Youth Day is all about patience, with yourself and one another. I can totally hear the super-patient teen ask me what’s next and all I can say is “waiting.” See, World Youth Day truly is about waiting: waiting for a whole group to be together; waiting for the next thing we are doing; waiting for our Lord at the overnight vigil.

I once heard a man talk about how he waits for no one. But as Catholics, we are called to wait for him who we seek. We are people that wait and my prayer as always is to be someone that waits well. I want to wait well for what the Lord has in store! Hopefully, in small ways these next two weeks, each of us can truly wait well.

Emily “Em” Anderson, 28, is the director of youth ministry at St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church, Va. She is excited to be traveling with seven teens and two other adults from her ministry. This is her second World Youth Day, having trekked across the world to Sydney with 10 teens for World Youth Day in 2008. She enjoys laughing, singing at the top of her lungs — rather badly — praying liturgy of the hours and planning her next party.

World Youth Day: Restlessness and excitement

By Emily Anderson
One in a series

I’ve noticed that the night before any big event, I am typically restless. The restlessness comes from excitement, nerves, a bit of anxiousness and normally from my lack of packing. Tonight is no different. Tomorrow (Sunday) evening, I set off to World Youth Day 2011 with seven teens and two other chaperones from St. James Parish in Falls Church, Va. No amount of prep truly prepares someone for World Youth Day; there’s always an element of surprise, excitement and once again nerves.

One of the greatest gifts I get in my life is to journey with teenagers as they come to know and love Jesus Christ in a real way. World Youth Day is so often the catalyst for this. There’s something that happens (perhaps the Holy Spirit?) when all those young people from all over the world come together and stand in the light of truth. They are the witnesses that the world is so desperately yearning for.

In the midst of a million people, God speaks to each pilgrim and for many teens the things that once seemed to be unreal or unbelievable become both. This is my prayer for World Youth Day, that in the midst of the crazy and the crowds and the nerves and the seemingly endless lines, my teens are captivated by the Lord and the things he’s asking of them and where he is calling them. Speak Lord, your servants are listening.

Emily “Em” Anderson, 28, is the director of youth ministry at St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church, Va. She is excited to be traveling with seven teens and two other adults from her ministry. This is her second World Youth Day, having trekked across the world to Sydney with 10 teens for World Youth Day in 2008. She enjoys laughing, singing at the top of her lungs — rather badly — praying liturgy of the hours and planning her next party.

Vatican liturgist ready for World Youth Day; missal published

VATICAN CITY — Msgr. Guido Marini, the master of papal liturgies, is ready for World Youth Day.

The chief Vatican liturgist has posted on the Vatican website the multilingual missal of prayers Pope Benedict XVI will use Aug. 18-21 in Madrid.

The missal includes descriptions — in Spanish and Italian — of each event and the texts of the prayers to be used at events like the welcoming ceremony and the meeting with the disabled, as well as at the Masses.

The introduction to the missal says, “Young people from every part of the earth, from every ethnic group and culture, will arrive in Madrid because they want to remain solid in the faith, rooted and grounded in Christ.”

Spanish sculpture that will be part of the WYD Way of the Cross service (CNS/WYD Madrid)

The theme, “Planted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith,” uses “metaphors of the root and of construction to show the depths of union with the Lord, the strength of the bond and the key to its vitality. To be rooted signifies belonging; one who is rooted maintains strong bonds with his or her origins,” the presentation said.

The missal includes the prayers the pope will say at the beginning and end of the Way of the Cross service Aug. 19, but does not include the text of the meditations that were written by Spanish Sisters of the Cross. The description says that in remembering Christ’s suffering, the meditations will remind people of “the suffering and pain that many young people in different parts of the world experience because of war, fratricidal conflicts, persecution because of their faith, marginalization and drug addiction. In addition, the victims of abortion, terrorism and natural catastrophes will be remembered.”

The book also describes the “Celebration of Forgiveness” being held in Madrid’s Retiro Park. It says 200 confessionals will be set up in the park beginning Sunday, Aug. 14, and priests from around the world will hear confessions in dozens of languages. The pope will hear the confessions of a small group of pilgrims Aug. 20.

An app you might not want Mom to have

VATICAN CITY — If your parents are paying your way to World Youth Day in Madrid and you want them to know where you are, then the Vatican has an iPhone and iPad app you both might want. On the other hand, you can use it just with your friends.

(CNS photos)

The iGPII application, coming to the Apple Store Aug. 1, features a “Friend Finder” so that when you are in Madrid you can find anyone you have befriended with the device. The service is part of the application’s GPS function, which also lets you figure out where you are, where WYD events are and where there is a restaurant open nearby that will accept the WYD pilgrim meal tickets.

The app, developed for the John Paul II Foundation for Youth and carrying the Pontifical Council for the Laity seal of approval, will cost $4.99 from the Apple Store in North America and €3.99 in Europe. Although journalists got a preview peek at the Italian version today, it also will be available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Polish.

Proceeds from app sales will be used by the foundation to help young people from developing countries get to Madrid and to future celebrations of World Youth Day, said Marcello Bedeschi, president of the foundation.

Iacopo Barberini, who works for Futurtech — the techie brains behind the app — said the program comes with a password that will give users free access to wi-fi hotspots in Madrid so they can update the app without paying roaming charges.

In addition to the “Friend Finder,” the app has a detailed WYD program, prayers and papal messages, a city guide, information about the foundation, a ton of info about past WYDs, photo albums featuring Blessed John Paul and Pope Benedict XVI and a varied collection of YouTube videos featuring prayers set to music. One is Bobby McFerrin leading a crowd in singing “Ave Maria.”

A World Youth Day song? Quite Normal!

A musical ensemble calling itself “Witnesses to Love” from the Pope John Paul II Catholic Newman Center at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., has one of only six U.S. entries in a World Youth Day song contest.

However, while there may be only six songs from the States, worldwide there are 138 tunes in the competition. And while Witnesses to Love’s song, “Planted,” was not placed into competition until April 30 – the last possible day it could have — it climbed to 50th place after just five days and has inched its way up to 44th in electronic voting conducted at the contest site.

The top 25 vote getters will be judged by a panel, with five of them selected to be performed at World Youth Day in Madrid.

The one catch is that voting ends May 31, which means that “Planted” is going to need a lot more votes to make it to the next round.

To read more about Witnesses to Love and “Planted,” check out the story written in The Catholic Post, Peoria’s diocesan newspaper.

CNS World Youth Day blogger now a priest

Many readers may recall Deacon Chris Valka, a seminarian for the Congregation of St. Basil who blogged for us during World Youth Day in Sydney last year. Deacon Chris was ordained a Basilian priest last month at St. Anne Church in Houston. A great friend of CNS, Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, the executive director of Toronto’s Salt and Light Television, preached his Mass of Thanksgiving. You can see photos of Father Chris’s ordination and read the text of Father Tom’s homily. Don’t forget to read Father Chris’s reflection on vocations on the same site.

Father Chris is finishing up a stint in campus ministry at the university chaplaincy in Las Cruces, N.M., before doing a summer immersing himself in Catholic TV at Salt and Light. Then it’s back to the U.S. for his first assignment as a new priest.

You also can read about Father Tom being recently appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

You have to hand it to the Basilians. They stay busy.

Pope: Youths must be witnesses of hope

Pilgrims from Spain cheered when Pope Benedict XVI announced that Madrid would host the next international celebration of World Youth Day, scheduled for 2011. He made the announcement at the close of last summer's WYD celebration in Sydney, Australia. (CNS photo/Will Burgess, Reuters)

The Vatican today published the text of Pope Benedict XVI’s message to the world’s young Catholics, who will celebrate World Youth Day this year in their own dioceses. In the pope’s Diocese of Rome, and in most dioceses around the world, the celebrations will take place on Palm Sunday, April 5.

The 2009 theme is: “We have set our hope on the living God.” Here is an outtake from the papal message:

My dear friends, follow the example of Paul and be witnesses to the Risen Christ! Make Christ known, among your own age group and beyond, to those who are in search of “the great hope” that would give meaning to their lives.

If Jesus has become your hope, communicate this to others with your joy and your spiritual, apostolic and social engagement. Let Christ dwell within you, and having placed all your faith and trust in him, spread this hope around you. Make choices that demonstrate your faith. Show that you understand the risks of idolizing money, material goods, career and success, and do not allow yourselves to be attracted by these false illusions. Do not yield to the rationale of selfish interests. Cultivate love of neighbour and try to put yourselves and your human talents and professional abilities at the service of the common good and of truth, always prepared to “make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15).

True Christians are never sad, even if they have to face trials of various kinds, because the presence of Jesus is the secret of their joy and peace.”

Escaping World Youth Day, missing from home

By most accounts, World Youth Day in Australia and the corresponding Days in the Diocese program in Australia and New Zealand last month were successful. But the unexpected disappearance of several young pilgrims from Myanmar and India left their youth ministers upset and surprised. 

The Asian church news agency UCA News published a commentary on the five youths who failed to return to Myanmar. The author expressed sadness over the selfishness of those who stayed in Australia illegally.

The NZ Catholic, a client of Catholic News Service in New Zealand, covered the missing Indian pilgrims who failed to leave New Zealand after the Days in the Diocese program. Several stayed to work as illegal migrants on farms.

Check out stories on the topic here and here.

Looking for future saints at World Youth Day

Kris Dmytrenko, another of our bloggers over on our WYD blog, has his own WYD final reflections that you should read. (More final reflections on World Youth Day, if you’ve not seen them, are here, here and here.) Kris imagined that there had to be future saints camped out at the vigil Saturday night at Royal Randwick Racecourse:

Would not Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati have brought a cadre of youth from his hometown? Couldn’t you imagine a younger Blessed Mary McKillop among the joyful religious on the field?

Kris knows he can’t name saints on his own, so he introduces us to “three remarkable individuals who made an impact on me” at World Youth Day.

And so, meet Craig Ashby, Francine Bell and Anton Antonov, each with a unique story of faith. Thanks, Kris!

Pope meets abuse victims in Sydney

Pope Benedict XVI pauses during a thank-you gathering with World Youth Day volunteers in Sydney, Australia, July 21. Earlier in the morning, the pope met with clerical sex abuse victims at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

(Editor’s Update: Full story here)

DARWIN, Australia (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a 7 a.m. Mass in the chapel of the rectory at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, July 21, with four victims of clerical sex abuse in attendance. The victims were two men and two women, accompanied by supporters and by priest in charge of offering them pastoral assistance. After the Mass, the pope spoke to each individually and allowed them to share their story. Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi called it a “concrete gesture to express the feelings he had demonstrated,” earlier when the pope publically apologized to victims.

The Vatican told members of the media about the Mass with victims when they arrived at the airport Monday in Sydney, Australia, for the pope’s return flight to Rome from World Youth Day.