BRISBANE pilgrims have packed their bags, boarded planes and flown off to experience the joy, faith and excitement of World Youth Day in Brazil.
The pilgrims left for Chile last Tuesday for an immersion ahead of the big week in Rio from July 23-28, where they will join with an estimated four million young Catholics from around the world.
Brisbane pilgrim Delia Yandall said WYD was an event that showed the true meaning of the Catholic Church.
“No matter where you go in the world, no matter the language difference, the Sacraments are the same,” Miss Yandall said.
This would be the first World Youth Day for Miss Yandall, who had often seen and heard about WYD in the media, but never had a chance to go.
“The last one in Spain, I really wanted to get to, but it obviously wasn’t the Lord’s plan,” she said.
“I just felt the Lord was calling me this time.
“I’m looking forward to witnessing the youth of the Catholic Church.
“I’m nervous because it’s a big adventure, both obviously physically but spiritually as well, but I’m just walking with the Lord so we’ll see how we go.”
Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said he hoped the Brisbane pilgrims would have a true experience of the universal Church at WYD.
“Most people think that the Church is no bigger than their own backyard, and that’s certainly true of younger people,” Archbishop Coleridge said.
“They don’t realise just how huge the Catholic Church is, and the grandeur of the family to which they belong.
“So I think that experience of being with young people from all around the world is a very powerful experience.
“And then I think in all of that, I think some kind of fresh encounter with Jesus Christ which is the heart of Christian life, without that the faith can just become an ideology.”
He said he was “absolutely certain” that WYD would bear fruit in the Brisbane archdiocese.
“But I can’t say at this stage in any detail what that fruit will be. These are fruits of the Holy Spirit that can be very unpredictable,” he said.
“World Youth Day as I say is not a magic bullet, there’s nothing magical about it, but it is a powerful experience of the Church, of the Gospel, and of Jesus that always bears fruit, in one way or another later on.
“But I certainly hope that it will help to bring a greater sense of mission in the Archdiocese, more fire in the belly, to go out and engage into the wider culture in all new and imaginative ways.”
To see live updates on the World Youth Day journey, visit the Leader Facebook page, Twitter, or go to www.catholicleader.com.au
