Utah youth and young adult Catholics experience World Youth Day 2016 in Kraków
Friday, Aug. 26, 2016
Courtesy photo/Saint Catherine of Sienna Newman Center
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Youth and young adults from Salt Lake City's Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center and their pastor, Fr. Lukasz Misko, OP, had the opportunity to participate with the Choir at the Mercy Centre in the Tauron Arena in Kraków at World Youth Day 2016. ?Don't be afraid to say ?yes' to him with all your heart, to respond generously and to follow him,? the pope told pilgrims at the closing Mass July 31 for World Youth Day.
SALT LAKE CITY— Parishioners from Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center and Sacred Heart Parish in Salt Lake City and Saint George Parish in St. George were among those who traveled to Kraków, Poland to attend World Youth Day 2016.
World Youth Day (WYD) originated after 300,000 young people from throughout the world gathered for the 1984 International Jubilee of youth in Rome. Seeing them, Pope John Paul II suggested that a similar gathering be held every three years. World Youth Day is celebrated in a different country each time. This year it was a worldwide encounter with Pope Francis in Poland.
WYD is open to all youth and young adults who want to be part of a festive encounter with Catholics from all over the world in an environment that is centered on Jesus Christ.
Sacred Heart parishioners Ernesto Mendez, Elia Lopez and Angelica Lopez saved for months to afford to travel to WYD.
“It was the best experience that I have ever had,” said Mendez with a lot of excitement.
For him the opportunity of evangelizing in countries where he had never been before was a surreal experience.
“Sometimes we don’t realize that we live in a routine, surrounded by commodities; and having the opportunity of traveling so far away and seeing how other Catholics celebrate our religion was great,” said Mendez.
When they were listening to Pope Francis’ messages at WYD, the one that struck Mendez the most was the encouragement that the pope gave those who attended.
“He said to always follow our dreams, that we keep on going and make our best effort, that we should be servants and not follow evil such as drugs. … We all have to fight for a better life,” said Mendez.
The group from Sacred Heart also traveled to other European countries in what Mendez considered a faith and evangelization pilgrimage.
“After this experience I want to invite everyone to acknowledge that God and his infinitive love is always present in our lives. We have to be good servants to our brothers and sisters; we have to be the voice of God’s words,” said Mendez.
For him WYD was an opportunity to experience firsthand the universality of the Church.
The weeklong XXXI World Youth Day included a complete cultural agenda in addition to the events with the pope. The theme was “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Mt 5:7)
From Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center, 21 youth and young adults, led by Dominican Fr. Lukasz Misko, pastor, embarked on a three-week journey that had as its highlight WYD 2016. “People raised some funds since some months ago and the USCCB also gave us some grants that made all this possible,” said Fr. Lukasz about the efforts to make the trip a reality.
The first week they backpacked 120 miles along a pilgrimage trail in Poland before arriving by foot at WYD in Kraków.
“That part of the experience was exhausting but enriching,” said Fr. Lukasz, adding that the youth and young adults had a very intense and amazing experience.
“We had the opportunity to have amazing conversations about where our faith comes from and stands for. … To see how they shared with strangers their experiences and their desires – that was beautiful,” said Fr. Lukasz.
The group from the Newman Center had the opportunity to participate with the Choir at the Mercy Centre in Tauron Arena Kraków at WYD.
The Mercy Centre was located in the largest multifunctional venue in Poland and was organized by the Knights of Columbus, catering particularly to those pilgrims who spoke English as their first language.
“To celebrate in a place with 15,000 people from all over the world was an amazing experience,” said Fr. Lukasz. “Some of us needed that sense of big community, especially coming from Utah; to see the crowd of all the folks sharing the sacraments – it was so uplifting.”
He said that hearing the pope’s words and his perspective of the Gospel was also a marvelous experience.
“And this is also a very important part of WYD. To hear the pope telling us to pay attention to this, be aware of that, to be on fire for this – it is to feel the presence of the Peter of our times,” said Fr. Lukasz, adding that for him it was amazing to see all these people exposed to the Catholic faith and the Catholic culture that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.
“The presence of the Lord was for sure felt,” said Fr. Lukasz.
The group from the Newman Center returned to Utah just a few days ago; they are still discerning all the joy and growth that they experienced during the trip.
“We want to share all with our parishioners, so we’ll set a time in the near future so we can share it all with them,” said Fr. Lukasz.
“Don’t be afraid to say ‘yes’ to him with all your heart, to respond generously and to follow him,” the pope told pilgrims at the closing Mass July 31 for World Youth Day, according to CNS. “Don’t let your soul grow numb, but aim for the goal of a beautiful love which also demands sacrifice.”
The group that went from Saint George Parish was formed by the Neocatechumenate Way community from St. George Parish in St. George. Ten youth, along with the catechist team and chaperones from the community, were led by Rocio Roman, youth leader director.
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