World Youth Day 2008!

World Youth Day, a week long series of Catholic-oriented events attended by the pope and young people from all over the world, was held this year in Sydney, Australia, from July 15-20, attracting 223,000 registered pilgrims from approximately 170 nations. This year’s theme, received from Pope Benedict XVI, was: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8) Catholic Digest invited four young people from dioceses across the United States to share their experiences.

Isabella Kenny, 16
Archdiocese of Denver Home parish: St. Thomas More, Centennial, Colorado
I think everybody comes to a point in their life when they start looking for answers. I had to go all the way across the world to find them. My life was good before World Youth Day: I had a loving family, good friends, the whole shebang. But there was one key piece that was missing… God. Yeah, I went to church, Confession, mentored for the middle school youth group, but it wasn’t enough. I didn’t have a strong faith and often wondered if there really was a God. But then World Youth Day happened...

SATURDAY, JULY 12

Steve Donaher, 27
Archdiocese of Boston Home parish: Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, West Plymouth, Massachusetts
As I sat with my group in the church parking lot getting ready to leave for the airport, Jim, our group leader, read us the Bible passage about the road to Emmaus, in which two of Jesus’ disciples meet Jesus after He has been crucified but don’t immediately recognize Him. It’s one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Jim read us the passage, he said, because he wants us all to be aware that God is with us even when things are not going according to plan. It reminds us to keep our eyes, ears, minds, and more importantly our hearts open at all times. We go on pilgrimages to find God in ourselves, but we will also see Him in every other pilgrim we meet. Some might say that Mass with the Holy Father at the end of the week is the main attraction, but that’s only part of it. This is going to be an amazing pilgrimage; I can just feel it.

SUNDAY, JULY 13

Irmalinda Rodriguez, 20
Diocese of Fresno Attended with: Neocatechumenal Way Home parish: St. John’s Cathedral, Fresno, California
Things are not exactly going as I planned. Our group of 120 Neocatechumens from Northern California have finally arrived in Brisbane, but first my ticket was canceled, we sat through two long flights, and I had some trouble at customs. We stopped at a church for Mass — a wonderful way to start our pilgrimage — but all I really wanted to do was eat, shower, and sleep. Later in the evening we arrived at our campground in the woods where 30 of us girls ended up sharing a room with bunk beds, two toilets, and six showers. There were ants everywhere, and huge spiders in the restrooms that made us all scream. While everyone was charging up their gadgets, the power went out! I had to shower while a friend held a flashlight from the outside. The showers were timed for three minutes and the smoke detector went off in the middle of the night. I was truly grateful for everything I have at home!

MONDAY, JULY 14

Stephanie Cipolla, 18
Diocese of Brooklyn Home parish: Holy Family, Flushing, New York Travel arranged by Regina Tours
The pilgrims from the Brooklyn- Queens Diocese, including me, attended three mornings of catechesis during World Youth Day. In the catechesis led by Father Gerard Sauer, the diocesan pilgrimage director, he spoke to us about “expiring” — having the Spirit depart from you — and being “inspired,” or filled with the Spirit. He named people present who had suffered losses: friends of mine who had lost their fathers at a young age, a chaperone who had just buried her mom, and myself (my 29-year-old cousin had just died in an accident). He spoke about hardships and about the inspiration we receive from the Lord and from those around us. Before we left New York, Father Gerard had told our parents that before the week’s end, each of us would sing, clap our hands, and cry. I had no doubt I would do all of those things, but I knew the people in my group pretty well and had a hard time imagining some of them in tears at a religious event.