Dear World Youth Day Pilgrims,
As you pack your bags for Panama, you are unaware of the life-changing experience ahead of you. And while you can pray and pray and pray in order to prepare, be ready to be completely blown away by the mystifying power of millions of Catholics from all over the world coming together in one place. Additionally, being in the presence of Pope Francis is astonishing, and it is evident that God is present in those sacred moments.
As a past World Youth Day pilgrim, I can acclaim that World Youth Day changed my life in more ways than one. When I left for Krakow, Poland in the summer of 2016, I was ecstatic; however, I had no idea what was about to come. My best experience of World Youth Day was standing for hours in Blonia Park in anticipation of Opening Mass. For some, it would seem like pouring rain would automatically ruin a monumental event such as World Youth Day that my classmates and I had been looking forward to for years. Yet, the rain caused more joy than I had ever seen in my life. From my left to my right, people were dancing in circles, singing, and celebrating each other's presence.
Standing on my tippy-toes, I caught a glimpse of the other pilgrims who were waiting for Opening Mass to begin. Each group was marked by certain flags, most of them were their country's flags. During my World Youth Day experience, I had met more people from around the world than ever before. The global diversity was so pure, and being in the presence of people from distant countries was truly eye-opening. And soon enough, Opening Mass began.
The Masses of World Youth Day are usually said in Italian, so it is common to look around and see other pilgrims using transmission radios to obtain a radio station with their language translation available to them. Although I did not have a radio with me, I shared one of the most amazing moments of my life with some girls standing in front of me. They were from Mexico, and because they spoke Spanish, they could easily interpret and understand a lot of Italian. Throughout the Mass, they served as my translators, and quickly afterward, we became friends and exchanged phone numbers. To this day, we still follow each other on social media.
At my World Youth Day, there were pilgrims from 189 countries in the entire world. Walking through the streets of Krakow, I would encounter people from anywhere as close to the United States as Mexico and Canada to countries as distant as Angola and Iraq.
My advice to you, future pilgrims, is to engage with as many people as possible. The language barrier is not as big as you may think, and surprisingly enough, a lot of pilgrims I met understood basic English phrases and could carry a conversation with me. But you do not need a conversation to engage with someone, a mere high five as you are crossing the street is enough to communicate that you are excited to be here.
My experiences at World Youth Day are indescribable. Never in my life have I felt God more present with me. And God definitely gave me a sign when the heavens opened during my Opening Mass in Blonia Park. This was one of the most beautiful sunsets of my life and its image of its radiant rays stretching from the sky down to the ground are engrained in my mind forever. There is a feeling of complete peace as you stand in a crowd of millions, which many would think as automatically chaotic in its essence. But World Youth Day is more than the crowds. It is not the number of pilgrims or the countries they represent that matters. It is the reason why they unite in millions in one location that matters, and that reason is to celebrate Christ and His Church.
Trust me, pilgrims, your life will be changed in these next couple weeks. My prayers are with all of you during this special time in your lives. Embrace it. Live it. Preach it.
Sincerely,
World Youth Day Pilgrim
