22 Sunday Ordinary Time, 28 August 2011, Matthew 16:21-27

The World Youth Day logo - 2011

Just under two weeks ago, 12 days to be exact, I began the pilgrimage to World Youth Day with 24 others. We were led by our Elphin Youth Ministry director, Mr Frank McGuinness, and our spiritual director was Fr Michael Duignan. Members of the inspirational Church music group: Elation Ministries, were among our number as well.

Emblazoned on the front of our group T-Shirts was the World Youth Day logo, as well as the theme of this year's World Youth Day: "Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith" coming from St Paul's letter to the Colossians. (Col 2:7)

The first big gathering was with the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid to celebrate Mass outside at Cibeles Square. There, encouraged by the huge gathering of young people and the vibrancy of the celebration, we were let in on what may be a closely guarded secret here in Ireland: World Youth Day would be one big party from the beginning to the end.

After Mass, as the crowds moved towards the Underground, our group made its way to a local cafe/bar. The musicians in our group got out their instruments and treated us to a feast of traditional Irish music on the fiddle accompanied by African drums. Some other pilgrims from London heard the sound of our music and asked to join with us.

A request came from the owner/manager of the cafe, a young, heavily pregnant woman. She came in to share with us that the child in her womb was dancing along with us in our joy! I was reminded of John the Baptist jumping for joy in Elizabeth's womb at the sight and sound of Our Lady.

The whole experience of World Youth Day in Madrid was refreshing, uplifting, full of life, and simply great fun. Gathering with at least a million others, in the blistering heat & sunshine, as the Pope was given the keys of the City by the Mayor, we danced and sang and got to know one another. There, I met a young couple from Italy – Magdalena and Samuel. We exchanged badges – they giving me one from their home diocese of Alba, me giving them a badge for the International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin next summer and encouraging them to come along.

That evening, the Pope told us, English-speaking pilgrims, to make "these days of prayer, friendship and celebration bring us closer to each other and to the Lord Jesus. ... so that we may be joyful witnesses to Christ, today and always." In these words the Pope encouraged us to be full of joy, to be full of prayer and to be jubilant in our celebrating. In this place we were to encounter the joy of meeting other young people of faith, to sing and to dance, to pray and be rooted in our relationship with Jesus. And, we were to bring that joy home! Not to leave it in Madrid! But to share it with everyone – that the Good News is not dreary, bad or sad, but vital, singing, dancing: full of life and joy.

The highlight of our pilgrimage was the gathering at Cuatro Vientos, a military airport on the southwest of Madrid. There, with what turned out to be some 2 million young people, we waited for, and kept vigil with, the Holy Father.

It was the toughest part of the pilgrimage, walking almost 41/2 hours to the site in the midday sun with temperatures hovering around 40C.

As the vigil began around 10pm, a storm blew up with heavy rain and high winds. Neither of these extremes could keep our spirits down. Shortly after, the vigil continued – the Pope smiling, even as he got soaked by the rain and lost the small, white, zucchetto that he normally wears on his head. His hair tousled, the Pope continued to smile, beginning again – "Queridos jóvenes amigos" – My dear young friends – delighting in the patient joy among the gathered pilgrims.

After a short night's sleep outside in our sleeping bags, we gathered ourselves once more at one of the large flat screens and tuned in our small FM radios to the translation in English. This was what we had kept vigil for, the Papal Mass with the biggest open-air Church on earth, for that moment at least.

During his homily, the Holy Father told us: "Christ cannot be separated from the Church any more than the head can be separated from the body (cf. 1 Cor 12:12)."

He then went on to say: "Make Christ, the Son of God, the centre of your life. But let me also remind you that following Jesus in faith means walking at his side in the communion of the Church. We cannot follow Jesus on our own. Anyone who would be tempted to do so “on his own”, or to approach the life of faith with that kind of individualism so prevalent today, will risk never truly encountering Jesus, or will end up following a counterfeit Jesus."

This was especially important for us young Irish pilgrims to hear – conscious as we are of the brokenness and sinfulness of our Church. That Christ is fundamentally connected to the broken and sinful Church is something that we may find hard to take in and accept.

The Pope encouraged us: "Having faith means drawing support from the faith of your brothers and sisters, even as your own faith serves as a support for the faith of others."

He advised us that: "Growing in friendship with Christ necessarily means recognizing the importance of joyful participation in the life of your parishes, communities and movements, as well as the celebration of Sunday Mass, frequent reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation, and the cultivation of personal prayer and meditation on God’s word."

My experience of World Youth Day was an upbuilding of my own personal faith, and the common faith I share with you, and with millions of other people throughout the world. It opened my eyes, once more, to the great truths of Christianity and the wonderful diversity of cultures that make up our universal Catholic Church. The joy-filled memory of those days will help me to persevere and endure the testing moments that we are living through in the present time.