Truth be told, I didn’t get to go to World Youth Day 2019 in Panama this year. However, seeing posts about it, pictures on Instagram, and the Pope’s Twitter feed reminded me about my experiences from 2013 in Rio De Janeiro and 2016 in Krakow.
In case you don’t know what World Youth Day is, check out this post.
Jason over at Light & Heavy actually texted me, almost randomly, asking me about what are my favorite and least favorite things about World Youth Day.
I had to give it some thought, but I figured that it would make for a good blog post. I came up with a few favorite things.
Here are my 3 favorite things about World Youth Day:
1. Joy
One pretty obvious thing anyone notices about World Youth Day is how everyone is so joyful and excited! Sometimes it can be a little overbearing or overwhelming, but that is what makes it really cool!
Attending a World Youth Day does take effort, time, and resources. But regardless of these sacrifices, most certainly that the pilgrims who go to World Youth Day really want to be there.
I just recall the times in Rio De Janeiro and Krakow when my pilgrimage group would encounter other groups of pilgrims, and we often ended up doing cheers together like we were old friends. It didn’t really matter who they were or where they were from!
Going to the various events of World Youth Day
Honestly, I think it’s really cool to see other young people really excited and joyful about the faith because I don’t really see that in my day-to-day life.
2. Experiencing the universal church
You know how at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus commissioned His apostles to make disciples of all the nations?
Sweet. Fast forward 2000 years later, and I’m fairly certain that has largely been achieved.
And attending a World Youth Day really illustrates that point. Because like literally everyone is there!
I remember walking around the streets of Rio in 2013 and getting frequently stopped by Chileans because they saw our Texas flag flying thinking it was their flag! (Chile’s flag is very similar to Texas’ flag). We danced in the streets with Brits and Brazilians!
In Krakow, I remember seeing the flags of China and Japan flying high. Which those places don’t even have a large percentage of Christians!
To further illustrate the point of experiencing the universal church, another universal observation is that Filipinos are everywhere! I’m Filipino-American, so you can imagine that my Filipino radar is sharp enough to notice other Filipinos out and about in the world. At World Youth Day 2013 in Rio, I met Filipinos from Libya. At World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow, I met a group of Filipinos from Iceland. Crazy!
Lastly, one really aspect of World Youth Day is being able to attend Mass in other languages. Whether you’re hitting up a local church, a language-centric event, or either of the Pope’s Masses, you’ll get to hear Mass said in a differently language. Even though we may all speak different tongues, we all still speak the same language of faith, and that’s a beautiful way to encounter the universality of the church.
3. Visiting local pilgrimage sites
I’m not gonna lie–I’m a nerd. And because of my nerdy tendencies, I do really like visiting interesting churches, shrines, chapels, basilicas, cathedrals, and other places of sacred and/or historical significance.
Thinking back, a lot of the places I’ve been able to visit would have happened had I not attend World Youth Day.
For example, in Rio, my pilgrimage group got to visit the in-city Benedictine monastery, Our Lady of Montserrat. It’s up on a hill within the city. Inside is the most intensely gold-leaf decor (apparently of Baroque style) that I’ve ever seen!
Krakow was particularly ridiculous because how close things are. Just within a short drive from Krakow, my pilgrimage group was able to visit Auschwitz (former Nazi concentration camp where St. Max Kolbe was executed), Wadowice (Pope St. John Paul II’s hometown), the Divine Mercy Shrine (where St. Faustina first received vision’s of the Divine Mercy), and the church containing Our Lady of Czestochowa, which is a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary supposedly painted by St. Luke (yeah that Gospel guy).
As a bonus, here’s a short take on some least favorite things about World Youth Day:
Exposed to weather
In Rio, we were out and about walking around in July. Because the southern hemisphere has opposite seasons compared to us northern hemisphere-ers, July is basically winter time. That means that it was on the cooler side, and rain was a factor too. “Cold and damp” summarizes the weather experience we had in Rio.
Contrastingly, Krakow was very, very hot. That was in July, too. But obviously because it was summer. It wasn’t terrible except for the parts where we got stuck in crowds of pilgrims trying to traverse across town to the camp site for the final events of World Youth Day.
In either case, being outside is just a reality of the experience of World Youth Day. Being adequately prepared, which I tried to be, is a way to counter whatever the weather brings.
Not drinking enough water
Our pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow actually comprised of other trips to nearby European places. Like Rome. And Prague. Needless to say, I got kind of dehydrated in Rome and in Krakow because summers in Europe can rival that of Texas, where I’m from.
Again, being adequately prepared is a way to counter not drinking enough water. But I just don’t do a good job of reminding myself to drink water.
Fear of missing out on something cool
Lots of things happen during World Youth Day. It’s impossible to catch every single event or experience everything little thing.
Despite having been to World Youth Days in 2013 and 2016, I’ve never physically been to the closing Mass to finish it out! I detail what happened in 2013 in this blog post.
Bottom Line
Honestly, I feel like I’m not doing World Youth Day much justice in sharing with you a few of my favorite things about it. World Youth Day is definitely something to be experienced first-hand.
The joy, the universality of the church, and visiting cool sites have made World Youth Day really memorable and impactful for me.
There’s lots to love about World Youth Day, but as with any pilgrimaging endeavor, there are uncomfortable elements. And that’s okay.
Question for you–have you been to World Youth Day before? What’s your most favorite thing? And your least favorite thing?
JR is a full-time engineer working in the aerospace industry. Apart from having such a fly job, he flies unto the arms of Our Lady and the Church pursuing his faith and a relationship with Christ. Over the past several years, faith and flying via pilgrimages became a thing. When he’s not being fly, JR hangs out with family, friends, his chihuahua, and with thoughts of the next trip.