In a few words, how would you describe World Youth Day?

Filip: During Sunday Mass, in the Creed, we say: I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church. World Youth Day is the perfect event which can show participants what the words: ‘catholic’ and ‘apostolic’ really mean!

First, let’s turn to the word ‘apostolic’. The Church is apostolic because it is built on the Apostle’s faith and tradition. The head of the Apostles, as we know, is Saint Peter. World Youth Day is an extraordinary opportunity to meet the Pope – the Peter of our times. Saint Ignatius of Antioch is famous for the words: Where the bishop is, there is the Church, these words paraphrase the eighth chapter of his letter to the Church at Smyrna, capturing one of the main ideas of World Youth Day.

Secondly, the word ‘catholic’. The word catholic comes from the ancient Greek adjective ‘καθολικός’ (katholikos), which means universal. So what does it mean that the Church is universal?

The Church is sent to all people, to all cultures, to all places. Jesus said to his disciples: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15). World Youth Day is a brilliant chance to meet people from all over the world who believe in one God. Participants could also share with each other the different ways of living the faith. It is easily noticeable that Christians have different sensibilities and spiritualities, but all have the common purpose, ‘who’ is Jesus Christ.

Elizabeth: World Youth Day is definitely an event of great joy. It’s what I would call, ‘’a life experience’’. It’s incredible to see how big and alive our Church is! So many young people from all around the world gather all together to celebrate their love for our Lord. At WYD there’s this inexplicable atmosphere of happiness, fraternity, community and joy. What also touches you are the many differences that each person has. We are all different. We all have our story to tell – and we all attend WYD for different reasons and desires. But amid our differences, we have one thing in common. We have a heart that is singing the same song: God – the incredible mystery of WYD.

What are some moments that touched you during your experience and which you think shed light upon the unique character of the Christian Faith?

Filip: I am still amazed by one moment – which I had heard about before visiting Lisbon. It’s traditional that during World Youth Day there is adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with the Pope. this is a silent adoration. When I heard 1.5 billion people gathered together falling silent all at once, I knew that something extraordinary was going on. I think nothing, apart from God’s presence, is possible to stop all noises like it happened then.

Elizabeth: Like Filip, the moments that have touched me the most were the Adorations we had. They were most special to me because it was during these moments that I felt God’s presence the most. It was during these times that I would feel Jesus speaking right through my heart pronouncing the words, ‘’Do not be afraid. I am with you’’.

Something that also touched me was the endlessness joy that everyone had during those hot and tiring days. The days we lived were pretty intense but no one would show that! Everyone was always full of energy, singing, dancing, having fun… they always had this big wave of joy and always had smiles on their faces. No matter what hour or place, you could turn around and always find people being happy. And that was such a contagious happiness! That was something that amazed me so much to the point where I was able to finally understand the ‘secret’’ meaning of being a follower of Christ —  praising, being joyful even when things gets too hard to handle, and showing happiness and gratitude even when you’re your worst. These are also some of the main keys of sainthood. Like Pope Francis once said: ‘’A sad saint, it’s not a saint’’. And like Saint Philip Neri also said ‘’A servant of God ought to always be happy’’. Let’s all be saints together!

Can World Youth Day be a space that challenges and perhaps also aids those who do not see themselves as belonging to the Christian Faith/or to any faith at all? If so, how?

Filip: Does God exist? What is He like? Why do we live? – without any doubt, I can say that everyone, at some point, is asking or asked themselves these questions. For nonbelievers or those who are still searching for answers, attending World Youth Days provides a chance to meet the Catholic Church, to compare the answers which they have in their heart with the answers which the Church proclaims.

Nonbelievers might get to know the Church which is rich – not in a financial way, but because of its diversity. Maybe somewhere, those who are searching will find their place. I hope that God will grant them the grace of faith, because as he said: Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7).

Why should anyone consider attending the next World Youth Day?

Filip: There are many reasons why we should consider attending the next edition of the World Youth Day, but maybe the one I would like to emphasize most is the fact that we can feel the Kingdom of our Father there.

We read in the Bible: For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20). In Lisbon, around 1.5 billion Christians gathered in the name of Christ. I dare say, we all had the feeling that He is there with us. On the streets there were Christians full of joy and real hope. The hope and joy which have, have their source in the Passion and the Resurrection of our Lord.

In the next chapters of the Gospel of Matthew we read: Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. (Matthew 25:40). During World Youth Days, the families, schools, and institutions that hosted us performed the Corporal Works of Mercy. They fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, sheltered the homeless. We all were immersed in the Kingdom of God. Go there to experience it. It’s worth it.

And, how do you think that we can bring the WYD spirit to our own little communities in our hometowns?

Filip: I believe that bringing the World Youth Day spirit to our communities is possible by doing all that we were inspired to do during our days in Lisbon: expressing the joy of our faith, performing the Works of Mercy, talking about God with peers and meeting to praise God together. We also might make the Pope present among us by reading and discussing his encyclicals, Apostolic exhortations, and letters. I truly hope that we will keep the spirit in our communities, at least to the next World Youth Day!

Liza: I feel like we should not keep what we experienced in Lisbon to ourselves. Being at WYD felt as if I was given many things and now I feel the need to give what I received, to others. We are the proof that our church is still alive and that God still speaks to the young. We have now the job to show this to those who could not attend, by sharing the message of this incredible experience! All we can do is to share our experience and feelings but mostly important ,we need to share the joy we got for free. Because joy is meant to be shared with others, not to be kept to ourselves! I believe that this is what we can do in order to bring the WYD spirit to our families and communities…the rest God will do!”.

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The passion and the crucifixion of Christ are very dear to me. In fact, I sincerely believe that if Christ had to call me to be His disciple, He would call me during that journey. In Christ who is suffering, I do not see a man whom I should pity; in Christ who is undergoing His passion, feelings of guilt and shame stay away from me. As He undergoes his passion, rather, I find myself lost in His loving gaze for me. My eyes meet His and I feel tenderly loved in a complete way, in a way I have never imagined before. I feel immersed in an ocean of unconditional love.

As He is enduring the scourging, I do not see Jesus as a victim of human sin, but my Saviour who is freeing me and saving me. I realise how deeply precious and dear I am for God. I find myself wanting to hide and find comfort in His wounds. I find myself wanting to walk all this journey with Him – to be there for Him. And I can see the Spirit of the Resurrection already present.

Why should I be afraid of His passion, why should I seek to run away – when in those moments I can experience his deepest and most tender love for me?

His blood is sanctifying. It heals me. He gives me the courage to follow in His footsteps and also embrace the pains of my life steadfastly. I love the passion of Christ, for I do not simply see a human being who is undergoing pain and suffering from human sin, but the glory of God. Because during this affliction, from Him emerged only light, unconditional love, forgiveness. A torrential of graces were poured on to us! And these are graces which give us the strength to receive and accept the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Graces which, when we believe wholeheartedly that Jesus is our Saviour, can give us the faculty to transform our lives completely.

In light of all this, I am reminded of a metaphor that a priest once narrated on a radio-station. He compared the journey of Christ’s death and resurrection to a woman giving labour. The pain and suffering, irrespective of their horror, are ultimately needed for the child to be born. This means that suffering isn’t something that we should always attempt to escape, but to realise that sometimes there is a kind of freedom and potential growth in it. In a sense, the Resurrection wouldn’t make sense without the antecedence of Death. And this death – all form of death – is never separated from He who loves us. Grace gives colour even to the blackness of the tomb.

See More – Top-pope-francis-quotes-on-death/

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• The Importance of Wonder

The 20th century poet T.S Eliot wrote, “the child wonders at the Christmas Tree … let him continue in the spirit of wonder …  so that the reverence and the gaiety may not be forgotten in later experience, or in the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium, the awareness of death, the consciousness of failure, or the piety of the convert,  … let him continue in the spirit of wonder, so that before the end, the accumulated memories of annual emotion, may be concentrated into a great joy … because the beginning shall remind us of the end, and the first coming of the second coming”.

T.S Eliot was aware of how cynical and oppressed the tragedies of the world can make us, but he was also aware of our longing for something more than this world. He knew that the earth reflects a beauty and a joy whose origins surpass it. Like children, therefore, let us allow ourselves to be in awe! Let us allow ourselves to marvel with a keen and sensitive heart. The rest will follow suit!

• As with all Christian celebrations, at its heart, Advent is a time in which God continues to give Himself to us! But on our part, as human beings, what does it take for us to fully and authentically ‘receive’? 

Reflecting upon this, the German philosopher Joseph Pieper concludes that, “there can be no festivity when man, imagining himself self-sufficient, refuses to recognize that Goodness of things which goes far beyond any conceivable utility; it is the Goodness of reality taken as a whole which validates all other particular goods and which man himself can never produce nor simply translate into social or individual “welfare”. He truly receives it (God’s love and goodness) only when he accepts it as pure gift”.

Certain objects of this world cannot be made or seen as tools for us to simply use. Rather, they need to be appreciated for their own sake. In this, we can slowly discover that they are gifts given to us freely. This is what love does, after all. It gives freely. And it is only when we see creation as a free and pure gift given to us by God, that we can feel truly loved by God and understand what creation truly is.

• Seeing desires as pathways to God

In the words of St Augustine, “the entire life of a good Christian is a holy desire. What you desire, however, you don’t yet see. But by desiring you are made large enough, so that, when there comes what you should see, you may be filled”.

Augustine reminds us that desires are signs that need to be prudently understood and interpreted.  But desires are also bridges. In desiring beauty, we reach out to it. In desiring love, we seek it. This is all good, because God wants to us to be filled. And so, let us not tire to ask, to beg, to be open, to yearn! And in doing so, let us try to turn to God as well. Augustine knew too well that, ultimately, only God can fully and completely satisfy us.

• No wounds are too big for God

In one his poems St. Thomas More wrote, “Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal”.

Advent is a space in which Heaven can continue to penetrate and cultivate the earth. The earth is not fully separate from heaven, the two are not completely distinct. Indeed, in fact, the glory of earth is realised when God (heaven itself) is made one with it! This all culminates in the God-man; in Jesus himself, in him, the heaven and the earth are one.

• We’re all, in our unique ways, a faint image of God 

C.S Lewis, iconically known for crafting the Narnia book Series, noted that “we cannot conceive how the Divine Spirit dwelled within the created and human spirit of Jesus…. but what we can understand is that our own existence is a faint image of the Divine Incarnation itself… the same theme in a very minor key”.

We already harbour traces of God within us, and this can be discovered by us if we reflected deeply upon certain capacities and desires that we experience. Our nature, in its deepest core, longs for beauty, for love, for goodness, for truth – these are God’s fingerprints.

• Let yourself be perfected!

Finally, this Advent, with St. Theresa of Avila, let us express our humility and open our self to God’s healing grace. Time and again, St. Theresa prayed,

“I want to keep Advent in my soul, that is, a continual longing and waiting for this great Mystery wherein You, O Word, became flesh to show me the abyss of your redeeming sanctifying mercy….Come, O Lord, come! I too wish to run to You with love, but alas! My love is so limited, weak, and imperfect! Make it strong and generous; enable me to overcome myself, so that I can give myself entirely to You… What a consolation it will be, O Lord, at the moment of death to think that we shall be judged by Him whom we have loved above all things!”

Read more:

Astronomy and Faith – Universe of Faith

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Joy is our companion in life when we seek to be authentic, selfless, and free in the Spirit.

Joy is the genuine smile we express, when we are pondering on how grateful we are for our life.

Joy is the state of mind we experience when things are not necessarily happening as we wish them to be but we still experience deep peace within.

Joy does not need to be shot by a camera or shared on social media. It can be experienced in solitude or in the sole presence of a beloved.

Joy is what a father or a mother experience when their daughter or son who they had a difficult relationship with, now chooses to embrace them.

Joy is the gaze of a friend who looks at you dearly.

Joy are the tears that trickle down your cheeks, tears that come from a place deep within, after feeling deeply appreciated by someone who you have given your all to.

Joy is the person who realises that they have hurt someone, but they still try their best to amend things, even in their weaknesses.

Joy is the cheerful smile of a child who remembers a considerate word you have said to them.

Joy is the person who feels seen and accepted for who they truly are.

Joy is discovering a truth about yourself that you have long been searching for.

Joy is being each other’s messengers of His light.

Joy is finding a new true friend whom you can share your joys and struggles with.

Joy is understanding that even your suffering can have a purpose.

Finally, true joy is discovering that God is real and present in the life you live. It is knowing that God can use even your vulnerabilities to show His (and your) glory!

These blessings of joy do not cost money, but they cost everything.

To experience them deeply, one must offer all they are and all their life for a greater purpose. We must give our all to love purely and in simplicity.

In giving our all for love, we receive all that really matters. We receive God – love itself!

As Raïssa Maritain wrote in one of her diary entries: “joy is being able to call him Father with a great tenderness, to feel him so kind and so close to us”.

Written by Carla Borg

Read More:

What is the Good News of the Catholic Faith?

Spiritual Gifts That Ordinary People Can Give to Our Non-Ideal World

Why Are We Alive? Why Does the Human Race Exist?

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