WYD PREPARATIONS | KAIROS GLOBAL | AUGUST 2023

Intro: Kairos Global asked a few people about their WYD 2023 preparations. 

We are pilgrims, not tourists…

Any World Youth Day pilgrim will be able to recall the long walks, transport delays and difficulty in finding food, which is an integral part of the WYD experience. This is why it is so important for pilgrims to have as their mantra, ‘We are pilgrims, not tourists’. What is the real difference between a pilgrim and a tourist?

Both a pilgrim and a tourist may follow the same itinerary, but the pilgrim is on a sacred journey, whereas the tourist is more concerned with shopping, entertainment, comfort, personal wants, etc. In most cases, the tourist returns home the same person but a pilgrim is on a sacred journey in which God is encountered through places, people and situations. The outcome of the pilgrimage will be the transformation that has taken place inside each pilgrim and the readiness to witness Christ more fully in their lives.

When your stay is not as comfortable as you would have liked, remember you are a pilgrim, not a tourist

When the food you get is not sufficient enough or as appetising as you want, remember you are a pilgrim, not a tourist

When the long walks leave you exhausted and worn out, remember you are pilgrim, not a tourist

When the only option available is a cold shower, remember you are a pilgrim, not a tourist…

I know it’s easy to talk about this attitude of a pilgrim but difficult to possess. But we have St Joseph and Mother Mary to help us, the first pilgrims who searched for a place so that the Lord could be born. So it’s our responsibility to tune into the attitude of a pilgrim. What can we do these days to possess the attitude of a pilgrim?

Since the day I applied for a World Youth Day visa, I have been specially praying sitting before the Blessed Sacrament for an hour and reciting Rosary every day for this special intention. I started skipping a meal, reading the lives of Portuguese saints and have begun to intercede to them. Of course, participating in Holy Mass regularly and going for confession are powerful tools to prepare ourselves for a deep personal encounter with the Lord during these days. 

One of the best ways to prepare for a pilgrimage is to give selflessly of yourself for others. Not only does this help another person in need, but it also trains us to think outside of ourselves. Pilgrimage is a time to think about others as well. So start training your mind to avoid selfish thoughts and try to become a service-oriented person. Our Lord is the best example for this. He was always at the service of others.

A pilgrim is called not to be served but to serve.

Let this pilgrimage help you to experience the joy of being in the community and to serve Lord Jesus by serving one another.

- Fr Ditto Devassy, JY Priest, India

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Spreading the message of life and love

It was in November 2022 when Shoy Thomas (then International Coordinator of Jesus Youth) gave me an opportunity to conduct a pro-life exhibition during World Youth Day Lisbon 2023. I was like, ‘Wow, this is amazing!’ It was beyond what we could ask for as an opportunity to promote the pro-life message to everyone, which is a personal mission of mine.

To give a little bit of context, for the past few years I have come to the realisation that pro-life consciousness needed to be promoted more among JYs of different countries. It has been a prayer and a desire to promote this message of life and love to all our brothers and sisters of JY globally. I have had this desire due to two reasons, one it’s my personal mission, second I am so convinced that this is a need of the time and this message can bring unbelievable healing and deliverance to many people, which has been our firsthand experience being in this ministry till now.

As soon as Shoy told me about this opportunity, I was very positive and later prayed and confirmed that we could take it up. To cut the story short, though we initially planned to buy an exhibition area given by the WYD organising community, due to various reason, we could not, so we have decided to do something even better! We are planning to train JYs across different countries, who are coming for WYD and interested to be pro-life volunteers and with them we will go around the whole WYD area in small groups for pro-life outreach to the people we will meet there. I can’t wait to do this! We also plan to have some time to promote the pro-life message during the JY International gathering as well as the Arise international gathering before the WYD.

WYD has kind of put a new fire in us and the JY India National Pro-life team has been working for the past few months to revamp our exhibition materials to come up with new posters and statistics for various pro-life topics which are relevant to be presented in the context of WYD 2023. We also plan to print some wrist bands and buy 12-week rubber baby specimens which can be given away to interested people during our outreaches and other events there. We hope and pray that we are able to breathe the fire of life and love into many people we meet during the WYD.

Dino Paul, India

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A Call to Missionary Zeal

World Youth Day is a Catholic youth event held every three years in a different country around the world. It is a week-long celebration of faith and fellowship for young people aged 13 to 35. World Youth Day is a powerful experience for young Catholics allowing them to connect with thousands of Catholic young people from around the world, to learn about their faith and their mission and to celebrate their Catholic identity. Jesus Youth America has around 150 pilgrims attending WYD this year in Lisbon, Portugal and we have been preparing for almost 8 months now in various different ways.

First and foremost is the need to be spiritually prepared. This year’s motto is Mary arose and went in haste (Luke 1:39), which refers to the Visitation of the Blessed Mother to St Elizabeth. Exploring this motto as a call to zeal in our daily missionary tasks has been how all Jesus Youth America pilgrims have been preparing spiritually for WYD and this happens through our FIAT meetings. These monthly gatherings with our local pilgrim companions have allowed us to take a deeper dive into this theme through reflections, activities, discussions and fun fellowship, allowing the joy of World Youth Day to reach us months in advance and prepare our hearts for a life changing experience.

However, the preparation doesn’t stop there as JY USA has made sure to prepare us for the long walks and a lot of sun as well as learning basic common phrases in Portuguese in case we get lost.

We ask for prayers for all our national and international Jesus Youth pilgrims who are waiting in excitement for our World Youth Day experience in Lisbon and we promise to pray for all of you as well during our time with the Church’s beloved youth.

Julia Roncy, USA

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A Deep Desire

It was in 2015 that I first got to know about World Youth Day. My encounter with the Jesus Youth movement began in 2014, as I was beginning my bachelor studies. It was also during this time that my perception about the Catholic Church broadened. Until then, Catholicism was just what I knew it to be within the boundaries of Kerala. 

During my college days however, I had a lot of exposure to various speakers and Catholic influencers online. This instigated a profound curiosity to explore Catholic culture and lifestyles outside of Kerala. When I learned about World Youth Day from a group of senior JYs who were planning on attending it in 2016, a deep desire arose in me to also be a part of this. Perhaps my first preparation was the simple prayer that came to my mind then: ‘Lord, will you give me a chance to be part of this celebration myself one day?’ 

Fast forward to May 2023, and here I am in Germany booking my flight tickets for World Youth Day Lisbon. The greatest help in preparing spiritually for the event is definitely the weekly material prepared by the Jesus Youth movement. Moreover, since Portugal is the host country, preparing by interceding to Our Lady of Fatima, keeping in mind her requests to do penance, prayers and reparations for the salvation of souls has been immensely uplifting. Finally, we have also been keeping the Holy Father, the volunteers and every participant in our prayers daily, asking God’s will to be done in all our lives. 

Hoping the days of WYD celebration would impart abundance of grace upon all taking part in it.

Sam Biju, Germany

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