Many Languages and Many Cultures, One Body of Christ

Bishop John M. LeVoir of New Ulm, Minnesota, will be attending WYD for the first time. He thinks WYD is a unique opportunity for youth to experience the universal Church and get them on fire for the faith.

I am going to World Youth Day for two reasons. One is to be with the young people from my Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota. Two is to experience for myself this Catholic phenomenon. This will be my first WYD. I am very excited to be going.

I hope the youth from my diocese and from the world get encouraged to remain "Rooted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith" (Colossians 2:7), which is this WYD theme. To WYD U.S. youth will bring their excitement, enthusiasm, faith, and a desire to see Pope Benedict and to meet Christ.

WYD gives the youth of the world an opportunity to experience the universal nature of the Church. The Church is greater than what the youth experience in their home parishes. Instead, the Church is world-wide. There are many languages and many cultures all united in Christ. Together with Christ, the faithful form one Body: the Body of Christ.

This is my first WYD, but I have seen the effects of past WYDs on our youth, especially WYD in Denver in 1993. Blessed John Paul II set the U.S. youth on fire for the faith then and it is still burning today.

+ Bishop John M. LeVoir

Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, USA

Young People’s Witness of Faith Inspiring to Bishops

Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, says World Youth Day is a unique opportunity to witness young people look deep into their hearts and get inspired by them. He adds that WYD is a gift to the whole Church and not just those attending.

As a bishop, attending World Youth Day is a wonderful opportunity for a number of reasons. First, young people probably do not realize how inspiring their witness of faith is for their bishops. Bishops have very busy schedules. The opportunity to witness young people look deep into their hearts and souls, and encounter Christ in a way that might change them forever is not always on a bishop’s regular schedule. World Youth Day has a way of making such experiences more possible and more prevalent. These experiences are inspiring in my own life and help me want to deepen my own relationship with Christ in a whole new, and perhaps unparalleled, way.

Spiritually speaking, WYD is a phenomenon of prayer. Everywhere you turn you see young people praying rosaries, novenas, or some other expression of prayer.

WYD also provides opportunity to meet my brother bishops from around the globe. While the Church is so similar in many ways, the manner in which the Church exists globally varies greatly, as the needs and cultures vary greatly too. Enriching the spiritual lives of young people remains one of the common threads that each bishop has a keen interest in facilitating. At WYD I am afforded the opportunity to engage in a more pastoral and personal conversation with the youth. Through masses, the sacraments, prayer, and conversation, I will be more available to the youth than I may usually be able to be. This opportunity is a great joy to me. Nobody becomes a priest to shy away from opportunities to have a personal relationship with God’s people. The youth are not only special to Christ, but they are also the future mothers, fathers, deacons, priests, and religious of his Church.

An experience difficult to describe

My hope is that this experience will help the youth from the Diocese of Venice grow closer to Christ and his Church. It’s a simple hope, but one that I have seen happen time and time again at WYD.

The spiritual benefits of a pilgrimage rely on the openness of the pilgrim to Christ and the Holy Spirit. Assuming they are open, the benefits of a pilgrimage such as this are nearly boundless. It really takes being there for some of those experiences to be fully understood.

Seeing the Holy Father, whether face-to-face or from a distance, and standing in a crowd amongst thousands of other passionate Catholics is marvelous experience that is difficult to articulate. The same can be said for a young man who meets a priest on the pilgrimage and discovers he may have a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. In such cases, the person can explain what happened, but cannot articulate sufficiently the feeling or the emotion that makes the experience so significant and memorable.

WYD benefits the entire Church

On the other hand, WYD does not benefit only the individuals who make the pilgrimage. The Church is universal. When one person’s faith life and relationship with Christ is deepened, the entire Body of Christ, the Church, is made more whole. The benefit of millions of young people making a pilgrimage to a single city to encounter Christ, share their faith with like-minded believers and connect with the Church Christ founded is profound and of benefit to everyone, whether or not you are actually in Madrid.

Similarly, those not attending WYD have an opportunity to participate by praying for those who are making the pilgrimage. The universal quality of prayer makes those at home equally able to impact the life of another.

I encourage anyone not attending WYD who knows someone that is going, or even if just concerned for the future of the Church, to pray for those going to Madrid. Pray that those attending are able to take advantage of every opportunity available to them and remain focused on Christ. Pray that they grow in faith, grow in love and peace, and grow in appreciation of Christ’s Church. In praying for those attending World Youth Day, all become a kind of participant and help the life of the Church grow.

Our youth did not shy away from spiritual renewal

World Youth Day is an immensely important phenomenon within the Catholic Church, in part, because it does what so many people have tried to do: connect the youth with Christ. Too often valiant attempts to engage the youth in an honest and straightforward conversation with Jesus Christ becomes watered down by the perceived need for entertainment to keep their attention. The importance of WYD is that it reminds the Church that when you present Christ authentically, especially in the Eucharist, people will come in droves.

World Youth Day is a pilgrimage. Many young people in our culture would be scared away by such an idea, since our society strays from spiritual renewal. The young people of the Diocese of Venice responded with maturity and excitement to the pilgrimage, as they have to our diocesan youth rallies.

The sacrifice these young people and their parents have made to attend WYD indicates a desire for a deeper relationship with Christ. That reality alone should inspire the Church and remind us that while we face many challenges, the youth are ready and willing to take the Church into the future with the same reverence and devotion to Christ as has always been present.

+Frank J. Dewane
Bishop of the Diocese of Venice in Florida, USA

The source of our unity is Jesus Christ

Today our World Youth Day compass takes us to the South. From Raleigh, North Carolina, Bishop Michael Burbidge says events of this magnitude joyfully remind us that we belong to something bigger than our parish or diocese.

This will be the first time I attend World Youth Day. I am going to WYD so that I may participate in a true pilgrimage. I will be traveling with youth and young adults from my diocese and welcome the opportunity to be with them in prayer, especially as we gather with youth from around the world in the presence of the Successor to St. Peter. I am confident this will be a spiritually enriching experience through which the Lord will shower us with abundant blessings.

It is my hope that, by participating in WYD the youth from my diocese will rejoice in knowing that they belong to something bigger than their parish/diocese and that they belong to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. May they celebrate anew the faith that unites us.

The youth from the United States bring with them to WYD the gifts of their deep faith, desire to share that faith with others as well as their joy, zeal, and enthusiasm.

WYD also provides a wonderful opportunity for bishops to journey together with their youth and young adults and to strengthen the bond we share. In a special way, we will be reminded that the source of our unity is Jesus Christ in whose Name we go forth.

The pilgrims from the Diocese of Raleigh and I look forward to our journey to Madrid for World Youth Day 2011.

Sincerely in Christ,

+Bishop Burbidge
Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge
Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

WYD through Alaskan eyes

Yep, it is Alaska’s Day at the Media Blog. An old USCCB friend and former staffer, Juneau Bishop Edward Burns shares how special the experience of World Youth Day will be for his diocese’s youth. He also is excited about being one of eight U.S. prelates who will be catechists in Madrid 2011.

It is a joy to have the three Dioceses of Alaska (Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau) join together in traveling together as a group to WYD.

The young people in the Diocese of Juneau live in some very remote places. Some of them have only experienced just a handful of other Catholic youth. For them, to gather with Catholic youth from around the diocese is great; to gather with Catholic youth from around the state of Alaska in our journey is grand; and to have a chance to celebrate a Mass with all the young pilgrims from around the United States will be fantastic. Then, for the youth of my diocese to have the opportunity to celebrate Mass with young people from around the world and with Pope Benedict XVI, the successor of St. Peter – it will be priceless!

It is my hope that through all this, they understand the fact that even on a remote island in Alaska they are connected to a wider and universal Church. I pray that they will bring back to the villages this beautiful aspect of being Roman Catholic.

This will be my fourth WYD, but my first as a bishop. The three previous times were while I served at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. During those previous experiences, I organized vocation programs in which bishops participated. This year I have been asked to be a catechist during WYD, and I am excited about this as a new experience for me.

I am aware that approximately 30 percent of the men ordained to the priesthood every year have participated in WYD. This is just one illustration that the Spirit is alive and that Christ still calls – especially as the young people come into contact with God’s presence as we celebrate Mass with the pope.

+Bishop Edward J. Burns
Diocese of Juneau, Alaska

WYD Encourages Us to Have Faith in Young People

Catholics, particularly young Catholics, may be a small and scattered minority in Alaska, but World Youth Day 2011 is going to need a big igloo to host the 160-person delegation the 49th state is sending to Madrid. From Anchorage, Archbishop Roger Schwietz—yet another Oblate bishop energized for WYD—is following up on a promise.

Since the first World Youth Day that I attended, in Denver in 1993, I have told the youth of my diocese (then it was Duluth, now Anchorage) that if a number of them wish to attend WYD I will also go. I find that sharing the experience with our youth is a special way of bonding with them even if I am not with them all the time. I also feel that it is important for our youth to encounter our Holy Father so that they have a personal experience of the Vicar of Christ and hear him teaching them. Further, it is important for young people to have a sense of the Universal Church, since, especially here in Alaska, they tend to be isolated from fellow Catholics, given the small percentage of Catholics in the population.

I hope the youth attending WYD will be supported in their faith, which is so often attacked in the school and work environments. It is also important that they have a sense of the vitality of the Church, experiencing the dynamic of so many youth gathered together, since many of our parishes are small and the proportion of youth to older people in the community is small.

Also, I find that the stereotype of Americans that youth around the world pick up, especially through the media, can be corrected by their personal encounter with our U.S. youth. WYD is helpful for the breaking down of barriers of mistrust and misunderstanding.

I will never forget the moment of the arrival of Pope John Paul II at the stadium in Denver. I think it was a moving moment for all of us bishops gathered there, as well as for the young people. I also will not forget the huge mass of people gathered in Manila for the closing Mass of that WYD and how polite and well behaved they were. The faith of those people was contagious.

The WYD gathering is one of great gifts that Pope John Paul II gave to the Church. It displays his, and Pope Benedict's, faith in young people and encourages us bishops to have that same faith and give that same attention to youth. It has given new life to youth ministry and has, at the same time, encouraged young people to consider that the Lord may be calling them to service in the Church in ordained of consecrated life. Added to that is the opportunity for catechesis so that our young people can understand their faith better while deepening their love for Jesus.

These past WYDs that I have attended have certainly been an inspiration to my ministry and a support through the years. I have found that the preparation for attending WYD, the fund-raising and other activities, have had positive results in the participation of our youth in their parish life, and thus a source of hope to other parishioners also. I certainly hope these events continue in the future.

+Roger Schwietz, OMI
Archbishop Roger Schwietz
Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, USA

A Preferential Option for Youth

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago affirms World Youth Day is a privileged venue that shows the Church’s preferential option for youth, and a time for young Catholics to experience their communion with the pope as their ‘Father in Christ.’

Why am I going? I am going to World Youth Day, as I’ve gone to every WYD since becoming a bishop in 1990, because the Church has a preferential option for youth, and WYD is a privileged venue for meeting and talking with young people.

I hope that the young people from the Chicago Archdiocese will get a sense of the universality of the Church in meeting young people from around the world in Madrid. I especially hope they will meet young people from lands where the Church is overtly persecuted. I also hope, of course, that they will draw closer to Christ in meeting his friends.

I think the gift that young people bring is themselves. They will also bring an enthusiasm and eagerness that is evident here [Chicago] when they come together. They will share the way the faith is lived, especially in parishes, here with those who live the faith in very different circumstances.

The arrival of the Holy Father is always a privileged moment in every WYD. He is a sign of our unity in faith, and the young people respond to him and to what he represents. He is their Father in Christ.

The aftermath of WYD is seen in a renewed strengthening of the faith and of youth ministry in the parishes. Young people share their faith more courageously because they have participated in WYD.

+Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago, Illinois, USA

Devotion to Mary: The Milk and Cookies of Catholicism

I got a great gift the other day – a woodcarving of a seated Madonna holding Jesus with one hand and admiring a piece of fruit – looks like an orange – with the other. It reminds me that I love the Blessed Virgin because she is a very human representation of holiness.

This is a bit of homespun theology, but to me Mary is like the milk and cookies of Catholicism – she comforts and nurtures and is there with emotional support. She has exalted titles, such as Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. She is patroness of the United States under that title. That’s good for a nation as powerful as the USA, but Mary also has titles which make her seem more accessible.

I like the title “Cause of Our Joy,” partially because it is lesser known. It is depicted as Mary with outstretched arms offering Jesus to the world. It was also the name of the Legion of Mary group I belonged to as a teenager.

Other titles have appeal at different times. When I am not sure what to do, I pray to Our Lady of Good Counsel. In times of crisis I pray the Memorare, which I associate with Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. I go to Mary for human and spiritual assurance.

I once made up a title. I prayed to Our Lady of the Press Conference before Pope Benedict’s election because I was in Rome, had to host a post-election media conference but didn’t know when it would be or which cardinals would be present or whose election we would herald. I like things more controlled, so I turned to Mary in desperation.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe caught my imagination when I was 10. I loved the account of the poor Indian Juan Diego who had to convince the local bishop that he had seen the Virgin. When Juan Diego told Mary the bishop wouldn’t believe she had appeared to him, she sent Juan Diego back to the doubter to show him an outpouring of roses on a snowy December morn. Clearly Mary would take the extra step for the little guy who needed help.

Being Irish, I have a fondness for Our Lady of Knock, who appeared with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist on a church wall in Knock, Ireland more than a hundred years ago. Washington’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a majestic church filled with numerous oratories named after titles of the Virgin. The Our Lady of Knock oratory is aglow with Waterford crystal, humble Erin’s brilliant gift.

Devotions learned early stick with you. Pope Benedict XVI prayed at the shrine’s image of Our Lady of Altoetting when he visited the national shrine in 2008. It is a replica of the one that he visited as a child in his native Bavaria and where he left his cardinal’s ring after he became pope.

Marian devotion has led some people to wrongly accuse Catholics of adoring, rather than revering, Mary, though adoration is reserved to the savior. A parish priest once complained that our annual May procession to honor Mary exceeded our celebration of the Risen Christ at Easter.

Perhaps the affection reflects the emotional aura surrounding Mary, her embodiment of the best of all maternal characteristics. She is the consoler of young children with skinned knees and the wise counselor of older ones to do the right thing in the face of life’s challenges.

Mary is the milk and cookies of our theology and provides the comfort found in an Oreo, chocolate chip, ginger snap or Social Tea. And she’s just as accessible as the supermarket shelf.