By Kiri Groeneveld
THEY went. They prayed. They met the Pope.
And that was it. Except, of course, we know it was so much more.
Maybe you followed the events streaming online, or read all the articles, or kept up to date on all the Facebook posts.
Maybe you are related to a pilgrim.
Or perhaps you were one yourself. Which-ever way you experienced it this year, there is no escaping that warm, zealous, encompassing spirit of World Youth Day – the spirit of our God.
My first WYD was Sydney in 2008, and I made the return voyage to Madrid in 2011.
This year, however, WYD Rio is the first one in five years I have experienced as a couch-pilgrim.
You see, I believe that if you are a pilgrim once, you are a pilgrim for life. So while I may not have travelled to Rio and slept out at Copacabana Beach, I feel just as connected to WYD as those lucky souls who did.
And I am not the only one.
On Sunday, July 28 – on World Youth Day – myself, along with about 500 others, gathered at St Laurence’s in South Brisbane to celebrate Vivid, a youth rally held by the Brisbane Catholic Youth Ministry team.
Through prayer, reflection, music and entertainment, the people at Vivid joined their pilgrim brothers and sisters in Rio to celebrate our lives of faith.
A moment of significance for me was Bish-op Joseph Oudeman’s Mass.
Bishop Joe was my WYD bishop in Madrid.
He was a fellow pilgrim on the Days in the Diocese adventure to the tiny Spanish town of Pedro Abad, and over the short time we travelled together, I came to know this beautiful, hilarious man.
As fate had it, a group of us didn’t make it to the papal Mass in Madrid in 2011, and so on World Youth Day, we had Mass with Bishop Joe instead.
It was the most incredible and honest Mass I have ever experienced. And so I felt the poignancy of Bishop Joe celebrating Mass on World Youth Day in 2013 at Vivid.
In his homily, he spoke of how from the moment we are born into the world, we are born into relationships.
We are born not only as boys and girls, but as sons and daughters to mothers and fathers.
My entire Vivid experience was bound in this simple thought.
I was blessed by the fun relationship between myself and my fellow MC, Zach Woodward, as well as the strong and constant relationships of my youth ministry friends.
There was even an old, but never forgotten, Movers and Shakers relationship from when I attended the camp in 2006.
Jacob Reust inspired and encouraged me at 16 – he is now married and finishing his degree.
Along with Bishop Joe, we were blessed to hear from another local holy figure, Christian Brother Damien Price.
While those in Brazil were challenged by Pope Francis to go make disciples of all nations, Br Damien lifted the words from Teresa of Avila and detailed beautifully how Christ has no hands but ours, and implored us to be champions of hope.
And I tell you, as the Holy Spirit whispered in Pope Francis’ ear when writing his homily for WYD, it whispered to Br Damien too.
On the same night, or morning, depending on what side of planet you were on, both speakers encouraged their audience to go and serve a world without borders or limits – because a life lived in Christ is a life lived for others.
While I must admit, I enjoyed the comforts of being a couch-pilgrim this year, I cannot wait to hear the stories from Rio.
And with the announcement of the next one in Krakow, Poland, there will be those who are already preparing for it. I know I am.
We will save our money, fundraise the rest, get time off work, learn a new language, register for a trip, meet our fellow pilgrims, pray every day, pack our bags and before we know it, we will be under those skies having Mass with Papa once more.
But once you are a pilgrim, you are always a pilgrim, continually, from now until 2016.
And so the challenge is to answer that call of discipleship – the call of being champions of hope – every day until the next WYD.
Then, we can be challenged some more.
Welcome home WYD pilgrims of 2013 – you journey has only just begun.
You can follow Kiri on Twitter and Instagram @KiriGroeneveld
