Before we knew it, the week of World Youth Day in Kraków, the city of mercy, was upon us.
Things began on Tuesday with a very Aussie flavour. The Australian gathering was held in an arena. 3000 Australian pilgrims from all states and territories joined together in prayer, testimony and song. We heard a lot about what Mercy is, how we can receive mercy and also how we can give mercy in everyday life.
Later that day was the opening mass held at a big park called Blónia Park. The persistent rain wasn't enough to dampen our spirits as we joined approximately 500, 000 young people to officially open World Youth Day 2016.
On Wednesday, we attended our first catechesis session. Catechesis sessions are aimed at further educating young people about their faith. We had music, adoration with the blessed sacrament, testimonies from young people and concluding with holy mass. Today we heard from Archbishop Timothy Dolan from New York. He spoke to us about the importance of praying to Mary as an intercessor for Jesus. He also spoke about the time for mercy is NOW. He reflected on the way people tend to procrastinate when it comes to their faith and challenged us to use World Youth day as a time for making decisions.
Later that evening, we attended various events around the city in a youth festival. The majority of the Parramatta Pilgrims attended a concert by Fr Rob Galea. He is a well known priest/musician who lives in Melbourne and who shows that through song comes prayer. We sang altogether as one, we danced altogether as one and we prayed together as one. A tremendous sense of unity among the young people there, grew stronger at this point in our pilgrimage.
Thursday was a very special day of the week. In the morning, we set out to visit the shrines dedicated to Saint John Paul II and Saint Faustina. Both of these saints are Polish saints who held strong beliefs in the mercy of God. Saint John Paul II displayed great mercy in 1984 when he was shot. Instead of holding a grudge he showed amazing forgiveness when he visited this man in prison. Saint Faustina was said to be one of the first Saints to pray to the miraculous Divine Mercy painting. A replica of the original is in her chapel today. In her life she displayed a tremendous sense of devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ and consistently recited the phrase: 'Jesus, I trust in you'.
Later that day we were privileged enough to witness the arrival of Pope Francis. He was welcomed by almost 800, 000 young people. He addressed the crowd and reminded us of Jesus' undying love for each of us. He challenged us to welcome Jesus into our lives. He also said how in times of struggle and when we fall we should look up and we will see the hand of Christ reaching out for us.
Friday afternoon we were back at Blónia park for a reflection on the stations of the cross. This was really well done as each station was enacted by a different group and related to our lives today. They used acrobatics, interpretive dance, acting, singing and music to recreate the main message of each station of the cross.
Saturday presented with a us with a physically challenging yet rewarding day. Our group had made a decision to walk from our accommodation to the venue for the final mass. With all our gear for the sleep out among the stars we set off on a mini pilgrimage within our World Youth Day pilgrimage. The walk was 22km in length and we covered that in 7 hours with many rest stops along the way. We arrived at our destination for the night Campus Miseracordia(spelling). throughout the afternoon we heard many testimonies from people from different parts of the world. One girl that stood out was a young girl from Syria. Her country is in war and she lives her life along with other Christians in constant fear. She spoke of heartbreaking losses of close friends. For us her testimony really made us reflect on the things we tend to worry about in out day to day lives. We are so lucky to live in a country free from such conflict and some of the things we worry about pale in significance to people like that. Later that evening we were joined by Pope Francis for an hour of Adoration with the Blessed Sacrament. It was a truly special occasion to be praying with the Holy Father to Jesus through the blessed sacrament.
Saturday night passed on by and we awoke to a very warm sunny morning. We had reached the pinnacle of our pilgrimage. The final mass with Pope Francis. The gospel of the day was the story of how Jesus met Zaccheus. Pope Francis delivered an amazing homily where he reaffirmed that every single one of us is loved for who we are. Jesus didn't care about what others thought of him dining with a tax collector, nor did it concern him that he was short in stature. Pope Francis reminded us that it doesn't matter if you have the latest fashion trends, the latest smart phone, these things are not important. What is important is that Jesus loves YOU!
To conclude the final mass, Pope Francis announced that the 2019 World Youth Day is going to be held in Panama, a small country in Central America.
Our pilgrimage concluded on Monday with a diocesan retreat in a little town called Folwark Zalesie. This was an excellent opportunity for us to reflect on the experiences of the past two weeks. We celebrated mass and then went on for our final night in Warsaw. This was where our journey for this trip ends but this did not signify the end of this faith journey we find ourselves on. This was a truly amazing experience and one I will never forget, especially the people I met and the places I visited. I thank God for each and every grace he bestowed on me on our pilgrimage. My challenge to you is how can you be the face of mercy to the people in your lives?
I would like to thank the St. Patrick's community for their support, well wishes and prayers along the way.
I will cherish this experience for the rest of my life.
God bless you all.
