Looking Back at World Youth Day 2011: A Jesuit Reflects on What the Event Meant to Him
One year ago, World Youth Day festivities in Madrid, Spain culminated with a Mass with Pope Benedict XVI. With over 1.5 million in attendance, the event marked an opportunity for young adults from across the globe to gather together in celebration of their faith.
Before World Youth Day began, a group of 3,000 pilgrims gathered for Magis – a pastoral experience of Ignatian programs and events for students from Jesuit institutions. Last year’s Magis initiative particularly resonated with Jesuits, their partners and those with an interest in Ignatian Spirituality as it took place in the birthplace, homeland and at the sites where St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, underwent his spiritual conversion which ultimately led to the formation of the Society of Jesus and his writings of The Spiritual Exercises.
Jesuit Father Joe Laramie, recently ordained a priest, was there as a chaperone with a group of pilgrims from Boston College. A graduate student at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, Fr. Laramie looks back at his experience at World Youth Day and what it meant to him personally and for the Church in this piece for National Jesuit News.
Also included below are three video pieces looking back at the experiences of the Magis pilgrims and their Jesuit chaperones at Loyola, Spain, during the Magis experiences and ultimately, World Youth Day itself. You can also take look back by watching all of our videos on YouTube with pilgrims and U.S. Jesuits who experienced this year’s Magis and World Youth Day celebrations.
Fr. Joe Laramie, SJ, prepares for Mass along the camino while leading a group of pilgrims during Magis 2011 in Spain.
Every two or three years, on a wide plain outside a big city, the Church is transfigured. I saw it happen in Paris in 1997, in Toronto in 2002 and in Madrid last month. At Christ’s Transfiguration, “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light” [Matthew17:2]. This is why young people came to Madrid last month. To see a transfiguration, and to experience it themselves.
I stood up for the Eucharistic prayer at the final Mass in Madrid. I was so exhausted that I got light-headed as I stood. It was so bright, I could hardly see. I stood behind 14,000 priests. We were all wearing white chasuables and white hats. The pope was 100 yards away, in front of a giant white backdrop, with the sun climbing higher and higher. “El Señor es contigo.” “Y con tu espiritu,” I responded, with the priests, and 1.5 million young people. I was wearing sunglasses, but could almost see better with my eyes closed.
Christ “lead them up a high mountain” before the Transfiguration. I lived in Denver for a few years; it is hard to climb high mountains. You sweat, it’s hot, the air is thin, the rocks slide beneath your feet. Your back hurts. Your pack cuts into your shoulders. There is thunder and lightning. You need a Guide and friends. You can’t climb alone.
Three thousand young people were treated for dehydration, as we waited on the field, under the sun, the day before the Mass. Later, the crowd heard this announcement over the loudspeakers: “There are 23 lost children waiting at area E5. If you lost your child, or if you are a lost child, go to area E5.” Then, at night, a thunderstorm had pounded us. The pope was leading us in a night prayer; two acolytes held a quivering white umbrella over him as the rain blew sideways. The storm destroyed several large tents. These were 50 feet tall, 100 feet wide, with 4-inch steel supports, bolted into the ground. Picture one of those doing a backflip in 40 mph wind on a crowded field. It is a miracle that no one was injured or killed. The rain slowed, the wind stopped. It was quiet. The pope said, “Young people, thank you for your joy! Thank you for your resistance! Your strength is greater than the rain!” We smiled and cried. The 23 lost were soon found, the 3,000 thirsty were quenched. Gracias a Dios!
At the Mass, this was the Transfiguration of the Church. Singing, chanting, praying. Multilingual, multinational. With the flags and the World Youth Day shirts and hats, sunglasses, hiking boots, cameras, sweat, patience, water bottles, dirt, fatigue, chaperones, sleeping bags, and wrinkled maps.
Looking Back at Magis 2011: Part One – Gathering in Loyola Video
Jesuit Interviews Magis Pilgrims about Their World Youth Day Experiences
Today, pilgrims are joining the Holy Father for a World Youth Day vigil in Madrid, Spain. Last night, they experienced the Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross, and tomorrow, World Youth Day 2011 will culminate with the closing Mass with Pope Benedict XVI in Cuatro Vientos.
Jesuit Father Jack Bentz sat down with some Magis pilgrims to talk about their experiences at World Youth Day 2011 in this video.
U.S. Jesuits in Madrid Discuss the Arrival of Pope Benedict XVI
From the World Youth Day 2011 festivities in Madrid, Spain, Jesuit Fathers Chris Collins, Aaron Pidel and Brian Dunkle, all Jesuits with the Society of Jesus in the United States, discuss how this event is a symbol of hope and renewal for the Church.
Fr. Collins speaks about the universality of the Church and the joy of the young people as they celebrate this event united in their faith. “As for every World Youth Day, it is always a sign of renewal and hope for the entire church, the global church. That is the most striking thing about any of these these World Youth Days is the universality of the church,” he says.
Fr. Pidel talks about the Pope’s intentions for World Youth Day and how bringing young people together in this way shows the vitality of their shared faith. Pidel says, “By bringing so many young people for whom the faith is still so vital and still so much the center of their life, [Pope Benedict XVI ] has shown that the faith is still an option, that the faith itself is a treasure that continues to be hopeful, vital and ever new.”
And finally, Fr. Dunkle remarks on the way young people are drawn to the Pope and the Pope’s ability to reach and gather such a vibrant audience.
You can watch all three Jesuits discuss World Youth Day and its importance in the video below.
Seeing the Pope’s Arrival at World Youth Day 2011
Jesuit scholastic Michael Rossman and his group of Magis 2011 pilgrims lined the streets of Madrid, Spain along with millions of other World Youth Day participants to joyfully greet the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI to the festivities yesterday.
Rossman and the group of students he is chaperoning as part of Magis 2011 were overwhelmed at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Life as a Magis Pilgrim in Madrid for World Youth Day 2011
Pilgrims, like this Magis one, are camped out across the city of Madrid for World Youth Day 2011.
Madrid is bustling and bursting at the seams with over a million young people gathered for the World Youth Day celebrations. Jesuit scholastic Michael Rossman has been there from the beginning as a chaperone with a group of Magis 2011 pilgrims. He’s been sharing his experiences in video pieces and also as a World Youth Day correspondent for the Huffington Post.
Recently, he wrote there, ” Even though people heard the numbers of people expected to be here for World Youth Day, it is an entirely different experience to be surrounded — oftentimes literally, especially when traveling in the metro or attending the bigger events — by people who share the same faith.”
The Magis 2011 pilgrims at World Youth Day are staying across the city of Madrid in schools, bunking down in classrooms and even sleeping outside.
Marquette University student Emma Scuglik gives us a glimpse into what life is like as a pilgrim and how she is getting around the city, along with a million other people, during World Youth Day 2011.
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