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Youths earning their way to World Youth Day
By John Gleason
Hundreds of thousands—even millions—of young people from across the globe celebrating the Catholic faith: that’s what pops into one’s mind when you hear “World Youth Day.”
Established in 1985 by Pope John Paul II, the next one is set for Aug. 16-21 in Madrid, Spain. This is the second time that nation has hosted the event. The itinerary includes Mass, catecheses, music festivals and an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. The theme is “Rooted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith” (Col 2:7).
Christopher Stefanick, director of the archdiocese’s Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry Office, will lead a contingent of 102 youths from Colorado. He said World Youth Day is a momentous experience for young people.
“There is simply no better way to see the universality of the Church and the power of Jesus Christ to unite mankind than at a World Youth Day,” he said. “I’ll never forget that at a World Youth Day, in a quarter-mile walk I stopped and danced to a drum with people from the Congo, and chatted with people from France and Lebanon. All so different—yet all united in the same fundamental outlook on life that springs from the Paschal Mystery. They’re all my family.”
Unlike vacations, which are an escape from life, Stefanick said World Youth Days are pilgrimages whose aim is to help the pilgrim live life more intensely and intentionally as they journey toward heaven. That’s one of the reasons Stefanick said he keeps going back, though he admitted that by the end of the trip, he’s ready for some rest.
“World Youth Days are tiring experiences,” he said. “There’s simply no way to avoid exhaustion when you’re in a foreign country in a crowd of millions of people. But every World Youth Day has a permanent effect on me. They’re meant to help us live more deliberately for God after we get home.”
Jennifer Judge isn’t thinking about how tiring the trip might leave her. She’s been too busy working on how to get there.
“I’m going with my youth group at Church of the Risen Christ,” she said. “The cost for our trip is $4,000 per person and everyone has been doing whatever they could to raise the money.”
Judge, 15, a sophomore at Regis Jesuit High School-Girls Division, said her youth group has been working toward this goal for nearly two years with a large portion of that time spent raising funds. She and others organized a babysitting service in December for parents who needed some time to go out and do holiday shopping. The youths at Risen Christ also helped in putting together a parish directory and sold just about anything they could get their hands on.
“We sold pumpkins, wreaths, even pie cards for Village Inn—anything that would help with the cost,” Judge said. “In addition to making money, it was a great way to meet people in the parish.”
Judge said her group will first fly to Italy where they will spend a week visiting sacred sites before continuing on to Spain.
“I know this will be an awesome experience for me and my friends,” she said. “But the overall reason I’m going is to find God and grow as a person.”
Rose Mary McLeod and her husband Don will lead 145 people—the largest group from the archdiocese—to World Youth Day this year. The McLeods have been responsible for the Neocatechumenal Way in Colorado for the last two decades and have been leading WYD pilgrimages since 1991.
“In our years leading, we’ve taken about 1,000 people in all,” Rose Mary McLeod said. “This year we have people from about 20 parishes. Many of them signed up a year ago and have been working to raise money in their parishes, serving coffee and donuts after Mass, holding bake sales and car washes. We’ve had such great support from all the pastors; they really want their young people to attend.”
The Neocatechumenal Way’s trip, which costs $2,800 per person, will stop off for three days in Ireland where the youths will have the chance to evangelize in the streets of Galway, Killarney and Cork. Then it’s on to Paris for a brief stopover before taking an overnight train to Madrid.
McLeod said that, at age 70, a trip like this can be taxing at times, but it’s worth it when she sees the life-changing effects it has on the young people.
“You see such miracles in their lives,” she said. “Some come back with a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, others return with a changed attitude about their spiritual life.”
Because of its profound effect on the faith life of the participants, World Youth Day fundraiser support is money well spent.
“They come back with a heightened relationship with Christ personally,” Rose Mary McLeod said, “which has an impact on how they live.”
It is still possible to reserve a spot with a group going to World Youth Day, but time is running out. Information on the trip sponsored by the Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry Office’s can be found online at www.archdenyouth.org or call 303-715-3245. Details on the trip sponsored by the Neocatechumenal Way may be obtained by calling 303-758-1280.
To find World Youth Day fundraisers, read your parish bulletin or visit the Bulletin Board webpage of the Denver Catholic Register.
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