Seminarians' Pilgrimage

World Youth Day is a combination of large and small events (many of which are still pretty big). Pilgrims come in groups from all over the world, and your group becomes your family for the next two weeks. This family unity was felt in the days of the diocese, but there we were also divided into groups of about four per host family. Once in krakow we were all together, moving about the city. We did some of our own events, for example a private Mass or visiting places such as the Divine Mercy Shrine, Wawel Castle and Cathedral, the home town of St. John Paul II, and Auschwitz. On top of these group events we also attended events open to the broader WYD community such as the welcoming of Pope Francis, his Vigil and Sunday Mass, as well as smaller events such as catechesis sessions, where there would be music, a few talks, including one from a Bishop or Cardinal, and it all culminated with Mass.
I would like to share a little more about my experiences at these sessions. Although there were catechesis events scheduled throughout the city and surrounding countryside in a multitude of languages, we regularly went to the large English-speaking location at Mercy Centre (the Tauron Sports Arena) which was sponsored by the Knights of Columbas. The Sisters for Life were also helping to organize the city vents there. It was awesome to see so many religious sisters from their community and others all in one place! In fact that was one of my favorite parts about works youth day, religious brothers and sisters or priests in clerics were everywhere!

The Mercy Centre was an incredible place. Not only was there easy access food, which is sometimes difficult to find on pilgrimage, but they also had the opportunity for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and confessions. It was such a hot spot that, when it was open to the whole WYD Community for an evening catechsis, it was bursting at the seams. Only a few members of our group were able to get in, leaving the rest of us with many other pilgrims who listened to the talks and songs on the speakers outside. It was a little surprising to see how much fun people had being locked out, and to see how much they still participated in the festivities.
The next day, last Thursday, we were able to get inside without a problem. We stayed late into the afternoon. During our time there, I saw a lot of friends from the States and even got to talk to Cardinal Tagle. He has given a talk and celebrated Mass for us, and encouraged us to be open to God’s mercy. He said that it seems odd to give a talk that basicly says “be open to be forgiven” since it would seem obvious that we would want to be forgiven. But tge truth is that we are not. Often times we put walls up and want to stay inside or we want to do it ourselves. Our pride gets in the way. Rather, he encouraged us to reach out to others to acknowledge our weakness but also how much we are loved that the shepherd would leave the other 99 sheep to save us, or the poor widow would clean the whole house and rejoice in finding us who are but a small coin.

The times of catechesis were a great place of prayer, community, and teaching. The talks were enriching and very moving.Not to mention, the breakout sessions were a great way to discuss the faith in a smaller group setting. The Masses were a beautiful experience with so many people there. Adoration and confessions were a great consolation, to take the talks and my experiences to a silent conversation with the Lord.

-Michael

I apologize for the delay in posting. Our time here in Kraków has been amazing, and has flown by. Tonight we are back on the gym floor after the open air camp out in Campus Miseracordiae, field of mercy, where about 2 million pilgrims met for a night vigil and Mass with Pope Francis. The magnitude of that alone should give a glimpse into the busyness of our schedule.

I’ll share one story now,but I hope to give a few further reflectionso when I have some more travel time. Yesterday we got to the Campus around 4 or 5pm. We staked out our spor with tarps and sent a delegation to pick up food from the supply stop. Long story short, they ran out of food since no more trucks could get in till later. We turned back, disappointed, and a little daunted that we hadn’t had lunch and now had no dinner or breakfast. Thankfully, our neighborsite showed us some mercy and a pile of donations formed in our tarp camp. We had enough to be satisfied fir dinner and even a bit left over. Laterms that night we sent anorge delegation to try again. This time they made it back with food bags, though it took them 3 hours. This is just one example of the generosity of pilgrims and volunteers as well as the magnitude of world youth day. I would be remiss if I failed to mention the tireless and joyful service of the military and volunteers who worked to supply us with food, water, and safety by working long hours of constant service.

Tomorrow, Monday, we head to Warsaw to visit Our Lady of Częstochowa before flying home on Wednesday.

God Bless! And know of our prayers despite the infrequent blog posts.

I have been thinking about this post since our stay in Compostela but I haven’t found the words to express myself. I still don’t have the words, but it has been long enough, and I’ll give it a try.

The few days leading up to Santiago de Compostela were pretty tiresome. Although it was great to run into old friends, I was also tired and struggling with the increase of new pilgrims as we got closer. I found my patience becoming shorter, accompanied by generally being worn out. I found it difficult to pray as I wanted or to think/mediate well. There were some questions to which I just couldn’t find the answers. In the midst of this, I felt God’s presence. In every Church which I visited I found pictures or statues of the Sacred Hearts. It was like I was being followed, and I kept hearing the message to trust in God and to remember his love. It was a great consolation to simply know that I am loved despite my errors, failures, and difficulties.

At the cathedral in Santiago, there is a holy door to cememorate the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Walking through the Holy door is attatched the graces to be further detached from sin (of course you must desire and work towards this detachment!). Luke and I had the opportunity not only to pray at the tomb if St. James each day, but also to walk through the Holy door, to receive God’s mercy and also to offer the graces for others. But you don’t have to go on a pilgrimage to Compestela or Rome to find a holy door. Each diocese throughout the world has several Church doors declared as holy doors for pilgrimage. So take a look on your diocesan website or ask your parish priest about making a personal pilgrimage to one of these sites. You don’t even have to walk across Europe!

The cathedral was also lined with confessionals. Priests were reconciling penitents to God in many of the world languages. It was a beautiful site to see. And it was even cooler in Fatima, where a whole chapel is dedicated to confessions, and it looks similar to a hospital! By the way, going to confession is one of the requirements to receive the indulgence from the Holy door pilgrimage. One must also, recieved holy communion, pray for the popes intentions, and strive to be free from the attachment to sin. An indulgence isn’t magic, but it is an outreach from God to us from the Church to heal the damage that sin does to us. Confession forgives the sin and an indulgence (and especially the process of “getting” one) helps to free us from attachmentioned to sin.

Fatima also offered a great message if prayer, sacrifice, and penance for peace and conversion of sinners, including ourselves! But there is a bit too much about Fatima to unravel now.

We will arrive in Kraków on Tuesday morning. In fact, right now, I’m on a night train to Krakow, after finishing up our time in the diocese of Gdańsk where already we’ve heard more about God’s mercy and visited some other holy doors. This whole trip has been a long journey along the way of mercy. In some ways, it is coming to its conclusion in Kraków, with the Holy Father.

-Michael

Today was dedicated to spending time with our host families. The whole group met for Sunday Mass at the local parish. After the Mass, we sang some hymns for the parish and in return the children sang us several songs. A few members of the city council had set up a cook out for all the families hosting us. We all enjoyed some great polish food while mingling with the locals.

After the cookout, everyone left to go adventuring with their respective families. We tracked to an old military base which was first built by Napoleon and is still used today as a museum. It is very evident that the Poles have a great respect for their freedom. There are many reminders of the communist era still standing around Sopot.

After touring the base, we went kayaking along some small rivers. The entire experience was very calming and beautiful. After our little adventure, we returned home for another great dinner.

Over the last few nights we have been playing cards with the father of the family. The game of choice is bridge. This has provided us with many great conversations. Sadly, tomorrow we will be departing for Kraków, and departing our wounded full family.

– Luke

Our first few days in Poland have been filled with both beauty and busyness. First of all, the landscape is enchanting, whether it is the forested hills, the sprawling beaches, the quaint modern city or the old city centers. But most of all, the kindheartedness of the people stands out. Our host family is incredibly generous, it seems that they would feed us all day if they could. Amd I would be ok with that. Polish food is great! Tonight, also, we were playing the card game bridge, and one of our hosts, Andrje, joined in. The only difficultly was that he doesnt speak much english and had to use his wife as a translator. It made for a very fun evening.

It has been nice to be among such a large group, where I can move among its members and talk with old friends, acquaintances, and new faces. But with such a large group I’ve also had to surrender some of my freedom. It is odd to be more limited and told where to go after about 50 days of traveling at my leisure, making decisions with Luke and maybe a few others, but always retaining my autonomy. It’s a little hard to even find free time to sit and reflect.

Speaking of autonomy, today we visited the Solidarity Museum. It records the events of the worker strikes against the communist party that started here in Gdansk, about 20 minutes from whete we are staying Sopot, but it is all badicly considered one city. Anyway, it was pretty intense to walk through the exhibit and watch/read the events as they unfolded through the years. I was very touched by the role Pope John Paul II played, giving hope to the Polish people during a time of great despair and attack against human dignity. I knew of this in theory before, but walking through the museum made it a lot more concrete. It is a little hard to understand exactly what the Polish people went through, and I’m happy for this chance to get a little glimpse.

Besides the museum, we walked around the old town and visited the oldest church, now a basilica. Many of us climbed to the top of the tower. The view wasn’t great on such a foggy day but the experience was cool. At one point we were walking on boards on top of the ceiling, and another on a stair case that wrapped around the inside of the massive tower.

Lastly, I’d like to note how nice it has been to attend Mass in english, and the homily too! I know this won’t last very long as we will be joining some international celebrations. Nevertheless, after sitting through many foreign homilies, it is nice to be instructed in  language I can understand, rather than trying to guess what the priest is saying or further meditating on the word of God myself.

I assume that the rest of the trip will only get busier, but there is also much beauty ahead.

-Michael