World youth day

I don’t like big crowds. There’s no way I could fight thousands, or even hundreds of people to see an air show on base or buy an elephant ear at the fair. I even cancelled taking some of my children to Barnes and Noble Saturday evening for the midnight release of J.K. Rowlings’ newest Hogwarts book (actually, it’s the screenplay of a production on London’s Palace Theatre stage; awesome!). When the nice lady on the other end of the telephone line informed me that morning that every single one of their books was already pre-sold and that the only way I could secure a copy was if some of those buyers didn’t show up for the festivities and that I should probably arrive two hours before the eight pm line began for the 12:01am first sale, I panicked. Nope. I made it up to them by ordering two copies from Amazon, allowing them a Potter movie marathon weekend.

There was another, much bigger crowd this past week in Krakow, Poland – World Youth Day. Begun in 1984 when Pope John Paul II called for a youth jubilee on Palm Sunday, over three hundred thousand teens and young adults arrived in Saint Peter’s Square. The pope exulted, “Who claimed that today’s youth have lost their sense of values?” The Palm Sunday party continued for a few years until 1987, when a more formal celebration was held in the summer in Argentina with over a million attendees. It is now held every two to three years in cities all around the world and is a week’s worth of events. The largest crowd in 1995 for the closing Mass in the Philippines – five million people – broke records for the largest gathering of a single religious event that was broken only last year, in the same place, when Pope Francis visited and celebrated Mass for six million.

Each World Youth Day has a Scriptural theme. This year’s was Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy,” in keeping with our Year of Mercy. An estimated one and a half million pilgrims converged on Krakow last week, with over forty thousand Americans registered. There were catechesis sessions each morning, in keeping with Paul’s exhortations to Timothy as he passed on the mantle of church leadership, “And what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (II Timothy 2:2).” Our leaders were teaching, “Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter (II Thessalonians 2:15).” Interestingly, Jesus never instructed the disciples to write, but to forgive sins (John 20:23); continue the Lord’s supper (John 6:53-69; Luke 22:19-20); and go, baptize, and teach (Matthew 28:19-20).

People flocked to this World Youth Day, as to all the others. They went for Jesus: to follow him, to get closer to him, to learn from him. They went for the catechesis, for the concerts, and for the friendships forged in the sacraments and in prayer. They went for the pilgrimages, devotional journeys to sacred places. Some of this year’s were to Aushwitz/Birkenau concentration camps and to Wadowice, the childhood home of Pope John Paul II. It was sobering to see photos of the cell of Maximillian Kolbe, who took the place of a father in a starvation cell; and of young Karol Wojtyla’s city where the Nazis murdered hundreds of priests, artists, and teachers. The Mercy Center, an amphitheater set up for the addresses, was filled to the rafters according to Father Robert Barron, a bishop from Los Angeles. As one of the teachers, he was moved by the physical obviousness of the universal church as Christians from all over the world gathered to sing, pray, confess, forgive, learn, and love together.

Integral to World Youth Day traditions is a cross that travels around the world as a symbol of Christ’s love in preparation for each jubilee (The next one will be in 2019, in Panama). It is accompanied by an icon painting of Mary, who accompanied her son throughout his history. I love the physical pictures of our faith and seeing my children nod with understanding.

Pope Francis’ final homily for the final Mass this past Sunday was on Zaccheus. He spoke with joyful force, as always. As Zaccheus got himself to a place where he could see Jesus, Francis encouraged his listeners to “Bring everything to Jesus, as he will surprise you with his forgiveness and peace.”

He continued, “People will try to make you think that God is distant, rigid, and insensitive. Don’t be discouraged. Jesus demands of us real courage, the courage to be more powerful than evil by loving everyone, even our enemies. World Youth Day continues tomorrow! May we, too, now try to imitate the faithful memory of God and treasure the good things we have received in these days. Let us listen once more to the voice of Jesus as he calls us by name.”