Testimonies / Témoignages

These are some testimonies from a few of our WYD pilgrims:

Summing up World Youth Day in a few short sentences is difficult! It's been an amazing few weeks filled with life changing experiences. Top one would have to be seeing Pope Francis. It's the first time I've seen any pope, definitely a dream come true! During Mission Week prior to WYD in Rio, our group was asked to provide an hour of worship music and readings for adoration.  It was fun practicing and playing together, also watching people enter into prayer with Jesus through our worship was a blessing. One of the days in Rio, a few of us went up to see Christ the Redeemer statue in the early morning. Fellow pilgrim Jonathan Roy proposed to Alice De Roth just as the sun was rising! Such an amazing moment!

As I head back home after these few weeks of pilgrimage, I will be taking back with me the message of faith, hope, and most especially the enthusiasm and zeal for the Church that I've seen here with more than three million young Catholics gathered together from all around the world. 

God bless,

Erin Humphrey

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WYD 2013 in Rio was actually my third World Youth Day. With that experience in hand, I've learned that it's better not to have too many set expectations for this massive pilgrimage. That being said, I found that WYD in Rio managed to surprise me in many ways. For instance, I definitely did not expect the closing Mass site to be moved because the original site was flooded. Of course, some of these developments, such as the rainy weather for much of the week and a chaotic transportation system, were disappointing. But this is not a vacation! This is a pilgrimage, and curve balls are part of the whole experience - not to mention that they are an opportunity for us to grow in certain virtues, such as patience. To be sure, there were some high points as well. The catechesis sessions were amazing, and of course it helped that they were in English, a welcome respite from the Portuguese-speaking Brazilian world. Indeed, one of the biggest culture shocks for me was actually Holy Mass, as in Brazilian it seems to be mostly a loud, long celebration. For me, not having some quieter moments as well as understanding very little that was going on was definitely a struggle, so to be part of a Mass that was much more comfortable for me was welcome. That being said, it was quite a special moment to be able to go to Mass at Copacabana Beach twice, both times receiving Communion. I could go on and on about all the highs and lows of WYD, but that would be quite the novel. All in all, I am happy to have been part of this World Youth Day and of the second-largest closing Mass in WYD history at 3.2 million people!

God Bless,

Nicolas Church 

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Les JMJ à Rio de Janeiro ont été différentes de mes trois dernières JMJ à Madrid, à Sydney et à Cologne. Les journées en mission avec les Oblats à Aparecida nous ont permis d'animer l'adoration pour des centaines de jeunes de partout autour du monde! Ce fut une expérience inoubliable! À Rio, nous étions bénis que le Pape François passe devant notre hôtel en voiture tous les jours. Les catéchèses auxquelles nous avions assistés étaient très enrichissantes et le sacrement de réconciliation très profond pour moi! J'ai aimé pouvoir rester à la vigile toute la soirée, particulièrement parce que le lieu avait changé à la dernière minute et on ne savait pas si on pouvait rester la nuit jusqu'au soir-même! 

Sarah Du Broy

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WYD in Rio was an experience to remember! First of all, my boyfriend's proposal at the foot of Christ the Redeemer will be engraved in my memories forever!

Second, I was able to see the Pope up close, from a few feet away, not once, but three times! Each time was special and powerful! "Papa Francisco", as they lovingly call him, has such a genuine smile, filled with tenderness and humility. The crowds were running after his Popemobile to get just one more glimpse of His Holiness.

What I will take home from this first WYD is the joy I felt of being able to openly, freely and proudly celebrate and rejoice in my Catholic faith with millions of young people and finally not feel like the minority, but the majority!  Every single person I met was a testimony of faith to me and has re-invigorated my faith, my hope and my love for God. 

Alice De Roth

La messe à la plage Copacabana avec le Pape François et trois millions de jeunes!

Ce matin, le plus grand rassemblement de gens sur la plage Copacabana à Rio de Janeiro, au Brésil a eu lieu en honneur de la messe du Pape François pour les Journées mondiales de la jeunesse.

Le pape à donné son homélie en espagnol et nous a dit d'être des disciples partout où on est en tout temps et de communiquer la miséricorde et l'amour de Jésus. Il prie qu'on ait une force renouvellée et de partir en mission pour évangéliser les autres jeunes.

Jésus était un homme comme nous. Il nous accompagne toujours et il nous envoie son Esprit Saint. Les Journées mondiales de la jeunesse sont seulement une étape sur le chemin ; il faut continuer de puiser plus loin.

La vie de Jésus est une vie de service. Évangéliser signifie servir et être des témoins. Celui qui évangélise est évangélisé. Jésus détruit la barrière de l'égoïsme. L'Église compte sur nous et le pape compte sur nous. Nous devons apporter la Bonne Nouvelle à tous les peuples.

Vigil at Copacabana Beach with Pope Francis

Last night's prayer vigil changed locations to Copacabana Beach because the field where we were supposed to sleep was flooded and there was damage to the structure. Even yesterday, it was unsure if  we could sleep at the vigil on the beach because of the protests and the tide of the ocean. We were blessed to be able to sleep in our sleeping bags on the beach.

Pope Francis arrived in his pope mobile, but he took time to kiss babies and children with autism, and to shake people's hands. He even got out of his pope mobile and walked on the street! He really is a pope for the people, especially for the youth!

At the vigil, Pope Francis told us that to be missionaries, we have to have a relationship with Jesus, ask him questions, and have conversations with him.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley's catechetical session on mission

This morning, at the Vivo Rio Centre, Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, Capuchin Franciscan Archbishop of Boston, gave a catechetical session on mission.

He explained that the new evangelization is about being a missionary at home, where people know about Christianity, but don't want to practise the faith. It's much more difficult to evangelize to these people than to bring the Gospel to those who had never heard it before. 

People receiving the Gospel message for the first time have a sense of amazement. In our own countries, it's harder to do because the attitude is "been there, done that".

Once we have been evangelized, we are called to be evangelizers. On Holy Thursday, Jesus gave us a new commandment - to love one another the way that he has loved us, and this is the way that people will know that we are His disciples. We need to have fraternity and friendship Amon ourselves. 

Jesus loves us first and He wants us to love others first, to forgive first and to extend ourselves first. We shouldn't wait for others to love us for us love them. 

To do this, Jesus gives us a gift to strengthen us to live out this command - the Eucharist.

Jesus commands us to love, but he also gives us the sacrament to love. 

At the Ascension, Jesus also gives us the command of commissioning - to go in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to live out this command.

Everything that we are and everything that we have is a gift and Jesus wants to give us so much more - He wants to give us himself. Our task is to help people reconnect with God through the intercession of saints.

We need to have mercy and compassion to be good evangelizers, and reach out to those in need who are spiritually poor, spiritually sick, and spiritually abandoned.  Just as we need to help people in their material needs, we need to help them spiritually and have that same sense of urgency. It's our love for Christ and for others that motivates us.

Jesus calls us to make disciples of all nations and to invite people to be part of his family. Through World Youth Day, Pope Francis and the entire Christian community commission us to go and share the Good News.

Cardinal O'Malley reminded us that to be good evangelizers, we first need to have our own conversion as our actions of love speak louder than words, then we need to learn more about our faith to be able to explain it in the light of reason, and finally, we need to share our faith with others as we are our brother's and sister's keeper. We have the secret to eternal life and to the greatest problems in life, and we need to share that secret with others.

 

Cardinal O'Malley said that most of us are called to marriage and we need to avoid the trap of cohabitation. People who live together before they get married have twice as many chances of ending up divorced than couples who live together after they're married.

When choosing a spouse, we should pray that the Holy Spirit guide our choice and to help us marry the right person, for the Holy Spirit to make that person right for us and for us to be right for that person. We need to have the same faith and mission to share Christ's love with others, and we need to be open to having children. 

Priests and religious also need to have a missionary heart and learn to love others, especially the young people by attending WYD! Jesus needs us to reach others for Him.

Nous avons vu Pape François!

Ce soir, nous sommes allés à la plage Copacabana pour l'accueil du pape et nous l'avions vu passer dans le papemobil et quand nous sommes retournés à notre hôtel, il y avait des barrières et des gardes de sécurité, donc nous savions que Pape François allait passer et nous l'avions attendu et il a passé en voiture juste devant nous! 

Nous  sommes tellement bénis de l'avoir vu de si proche, même si la voiture passait tellement rapidement! Jonathan a pris un vidéo et c'est beaucoup mieux que les photos que nous avions essayé de prendre. 

Go and make disciples of all nations

This morning, Archbishop Mark Coleridge  from Brisbane, Australia gave a catechetical session on the theme of WYD 2013 - Go and make disciples of all nations. 

He explained that we as Catholics are called to be disciples, but unfortunately, most Catholics are not disciples, they're baptized pagans. People who choose to follow Jesus are called disciples. 

For a Jew to choose a rabbi, in the Old Testament, it means that he is the person's teacher and master, and there is a total surrender of the disciple to the rabbi! This is hard for us to understand in today's culture to surrender ourselves totally - mind, body and soul, but this is what we are called to do as disciples.

The master has to ask questions to his disciples and they have to ask him questions. It's very interactive. 

The rabbi had a community of disciples and we are also called to be in a community of discipleship. Our presence here at WYD is our engagement to be disciples, and it's a commitment for life!

The difference is that, in the first instance,  we don't choose Jesus as our master and teacher - he chooses us.

We are called to draw all people and nations to Jesus, not for ourselves, but for Jesus.

Christianity is not about moralism, it's not just about imitating Jesus. We're talking about Jesus who was crucified and was risen - he's not just a role model - his presence and power transform our whole  life. That's what he's here to do and wants to do. 

Christianity is not, in any conventional sense, a religion. It's an encounter. When you meet Jesus, you see the truth of who you are and you see the truth of who God is! The Gospel is an experience of amazement! This experience is the heart of Christian discipleship. 

If you commit your life to Jesus, you don't lose anything, but rather gain everything. 

Take the risk, say yes to Him, and you will be rewarded in ways beyond understanding.

Hope, and letting our hearts rest in God

This morning, we went to the Vivo Rio Centre, where Cardinal Timothy Dolan gave the catechetical session on hope.

He opened by telling us of a 26 year old lady who attended WYD in Toronto in 2002. Her life had not only been transformed through WYD, it had been saved by WYD! She got into drugs and took to the streets and fell into prostitution. Many men told her they loved her for $50 for her prostitution services, but she had never been told by a man that she was loved until she met Blessed John Paul II. And he not only told her that he loved her, but that God loves her! She was tempted to overdose on drugs and end it all, but that changed through going to WYD!

Like this lady, our souls are restless and are constantly searching for God. Have you ever worked with people with cancer? There, you will see hope. You will see people smiling with their friends and family, always looking to something.

St. Augustine put it very well, said Cardinal Dolan, when he said: "We come to you, oh God, and our hearts are restless until they return to you for all eternity."

The greatest temptation in life is that something or someone else can completely satisfy us, but they can't. Only  God will never let us down. Cardinal Dolan believes that's why God made this the first commandment. When we worship idols and false gods, we brake the first commandment.

There are four threats, or enemies, to hope:

1. Ourselves - We are aware of our sins, our imperfections, our failures. That can damage our hope. Recovering alcoholics and drug addicts can only overcome their addictions when they put their hope in someone else. They need to learn to accept and forgive themselves for the mistakes they make.

2. Other people - Our family, our friends, and the people in the Church let us down   . It renews in us the profession of faith that our hope is in God and Him alone.

3. The world around us - The bad news in the world, including the poverty and violence.

4. Time - God takes His time and we're impatient people, especially when we pray! We like a microwave, but God uses a crock pot and food from a crock pot tastes better! God's will always triumphs, even when it takes time. Very often, God only fulfills our hope in eternity in heaven. 

There are some things in this life, like tragedies, which will only be answered in the next. Cardinal Dolan  told us about a woman, a doctor who travelled to French   Guyana with her husband and kids and her son died from drinking the water! That tragedy ended her marriage with her husband. Then, her seven year old daughter died from a brain tumour, even though Cardinal Dolan and others were praying for her healing. After she had passed away, Cardinal Dolan got in prayer that the girl is being held and rocked in God's arms for all eternity.

The session was followed by a question and answer period, and then followed by Mass. Some of us also went to Confession before Cardinal Dolan spoke.

Adoration eucharistique et périples

Hier fut une journée très pleine! Il y avait la messe le matin, le spectacle Brésilien en après-midi puis nous avions sorti nos bagages de l'hôtel vers 17h et nous avons mené l'adoration eucharistique à la basilique à Aparecida à 18h! 

Le bus est seulement arrivé à 18h30, donc Michael et moi avions resté avec les bagages et nous nous sommes joint au groupe à la basilique vers 18h45. Imaginez qu'il fallait montrer nos passeports au chauffeur pour mettre nos bagages dans le bus! Bonne chose qu'un des employés de l'hôtel pouvait expliquer que la plupart des membres de notre groupe étaient parti à la basilique, donc certains d'entre nous ne devaient pas montrer leurs passeports... Chanceux!

Ensuite, nous avions soupé à la basilique et nous sommes allés au centre d'événements pour la clôture.

Nous avions quitté Aparecida à 1h ce matin et sommes arrivé à Rio à 6h, ensuite il fallait attendre une demi heure pour le taxi pour une autre heure de trajet pour nous rendre à notre hôtel! La plupart d'entre nous sommes très fatigués et je ne me sens pas très bien... Veuillez garder notre santé et notre sécurité dans vos prières. Nous continuons de prier pour vous!

An international festival at the centre of events

Last night, WYD pilgrims from Brazil and different Brazilian states, from Australia, Venezuela, Peru, Uruguay, Mexico, Paraguay, South Africa, Swaziland, Poland, Italy, U.S.A., and Canada, among others, participated in the international festival that was held at the centre of events in Aparecida. The dances and songs were very well done! Below are some of the photos taken last night.

Tonight, we are leaving Aparecida for Rio de Janeiro in the middle of the night and should arrive in Rio at 4 am, but it might be an hour or more later as things only actually start at least an hour later than scheduled here.

These are some photos from the international festival :

Deux messes et un film sur la vie de Saint Eugène de Mazenod en portugais

Hier soir à 18h, nous avons célébré la messe à la basilique à Aparecida. Ensuite, nous avons souper ensemble à l'hôtel et nous sommes allés au centre d'événements pour voir un film sur la vie de Saint Eugène de Mazenod. Avant le film, Zacharie Thompson a cherché des copies du DVD pour le Canada.

La messe de ce matin a duré trois heures et Mgr Daniel Berniquez a concélébré. La messe a eu lieu au centre d'événements car la basilique était beaucoup tro pleine pour accueillir les pèlerins. Les stationnement était plein avec des autobus et des voitures. Le supérieur des Oblats a donné son homélie en portugais, français, espagnol et en anglais. 

Dans son homélie, il nous a parlé de la croix dans le sanctuaire de la basilique. De la croix nait les vocations par l'eau vivante du Saint-Esprit. On voit la silouette du coeur du Christ dans la croix. Pendant nos journées en mission  avec la communauté Oblate, nous célébrons les jeunes qui sont des missionaires et nous célébrons aujourd'hui la famille Oblate et sa mission envers les jeunes. Le coeur qui embrace le monde et le coeur qui embrace les pauvres est le coeur que nous devons avoir pour continuer dans cet amour missionaire pour annoncer la Bonne Nouvelle. Nous célébrons la jeunesse et le charisme missionaire. Saint Eugène a eu un coeur à coeur avec Jésus. Son coeur avait soif de Jésus et était rempli d'amour pour le monde pour sa famille missionaire.

Voici des photos prises ce matin :

Stations of the Cross Brazilian style and a tour of Aparecida

Last night, at the centre of events, the Brazilian volunteers organized and acted out the Stations of the Cross in Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English, among other languages. They connected the youth's sufferings from around the world to Christ's sufferings. It was beautifully done!

This morning, we toured Aparecida and had the chance to light 2 m high candles! It was an experience we will never forget. We also visited the old basilica and crossed the long and high blue bridge to get there by foot.

These are some photos from last night and this morning:

La messe à la basilique et la catéchèse ce matin à Aparecida

Ce matin, nous sommes allés au Santuário nacional pour la messe et ensuite au Centro de eventos pour des chants et la catéchèse. On nous a dit que rencontrer l'amour de Dieu est le charisme des Oblats, et ce fut le centre de la catéchèse d'aujourd'hui. Nous sommes tous appelés à évangéliser les pauvres, les sans-abris et les personnes abandonnées. Les Oblats font beaucoup pour aider les pauvres. Notre approche aux pauvres, comme Chrétiens, doit venir de Dieu qui nous a touché. Jésus n'est pas venu pour condamner le monde, mais pour le sauver. Nous avons besoin d'avoir un coeur nouveau, transformé par le Christ. L'amour de Dieu nous transforme et nous motive pour partager l'amour de Dieu que nous connaissons de manière personnelle avec les pauvres.

Des photos prises aujourd'hui:

After 29 hours of waiting at airports, taking two planes and riding a bus, we have finally arrived in Aparecida!

We met at the Ottawa international airport at 5 pm yesterday evening, where Archbishop Prendergast saw us off and blessed us. We definitely needed a blessing to get us through this long journey to Aparecida, which took a total of 29 hours! We arrived at our hotel at 10 pm tonight. Our flight from Toronto to Sao Paulo was delayed by approximately 3 hours, so we waited in Toronto for a total of 5 hours, and finally left the Pearson airport at 3 am. Then, when we arrived in Sao Paulo at 1:48 pm, we had to wait for a bus organized by the Oblates to bring our group of nine to Aparecida, and we finally left that airport at 8 pm, and arrived in Aparecida two hours later. We were supposed to arrive here at 2 pm today.

We are blessed to have pilgrims in our group who manage fairly well in Spanish, including Jonathan who is fluent in Spanish, as none of us speak Portuguese and we have been using as much Spanish as possible to get by, and Msgr. Daniel even said he spoke Latin with the Oblate priest as that seemed to be their only common language. I have personally been practising my Spanish to order food at the airport in Sao Paulo, to help Erin purchase a bottle of water at the airport, to speak with the Oblate priest and seminarians who organized our bus transportation, and with a cleaning lady at the hotel as I was having trouble accessing the Internet. All of these were necessities and we couldn't have managed without them.

We will try to catch up on sleep tonight and the next few nights. We have an early morning tomorrow with breakfast at 7 am and Mass at 9 am.

Intense programme for Apostolic visit to Rio de Janeiro / Précisions sur le programme de Rio

In a press conference held this morning, the director of the Holy See Press Office, Federico Lombardi S.J., presented information on Pope Francis' imminent apostolic visit to Rio de Janeiro for the 28th World Youth Day. Fr. Lombardi reviewed the Holy Father's programme for the week he will spend in Brazil, explaining that this journey is “particularly significant in his continent, and this naturally lends it a particular sense of anticipation and participation”.

“As we know”, Fr. Lombardi continued, “it was not his decision to make his first trip to Latin America, but rather it was his predecessor Benedict XVI who had confirmed that World Youth Day would be held in Brazil, and had confirmed that 'the Pope' would be present, as at all the World Youth Days, even though the Pope in this case would not have been him. Therefore, Pope Francis is assuming the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate in making this trip. You will recall that practically the same thing happened at the last change of pontificate: Benedict XVI's first trip was to Germany, his homeland, to Cologne for the World Youth Day decided by his predecessor John Paul II”.

“The trip had already been decided but the programme has also been adapted, we might indeed say intensified and enriched with further events with the change of pontificate. The plan that had been drawn up for Pope Benedict XVI was less demanding, whereas with Pope Francis, some elements have been added, such as the pilgrimage to Aparecida, or the vist to the favelas, to the hospital, the meeting with the Comite de Celam. There are elements which were not scheduled in the first programme for the trip, intended for Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Francis has maintained the same days – that is, the trip was expected to take place from 22 to 29 July even before the change of pontificate – but more events have been planned for this period, especially the pilgrimage to Aparecida which will occupy a day that had in the previous draft programme been intended as a day of rest”.

“Of course, the Holy Father was invited by the bishops who organised and promoted the World Youth Day”, added Fr. Lombardi: Orani Tempesti, archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, and Cardinal Damasceno Assis, president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, and naturally also by the president Dilma Rousseff, “who came to the Vatican “for the inauguration of the pontificate and who met Francesco the following day, explicitly inviting him to Brazil. The Pope confirmed immediately, just a few days after his election, that he intended to travel to Brazil for World Youth Day, and this helped to speed up preparations”.

 

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Ce midi, le P. Federico Lombardi, s.j. a fourni à la presse quelques précisions sur le programme du séjour papal à Rio de Janeiro. Reprenant le calendrier publié ces jours-ci, le Directeur de la Salle de Presse du Saint-Siège a d'abord tenu à souligner qu'il s'agira d'un événement particulièrement important pour l'Amérique latine impliquant un caractère particulier tant en matière d'attentes que de participation: La décision d'effectuer ce voyage en Amérique du Sud a été prise par Benoît XVI qui avait annoncé que les JMJ 2013 se dérouleraient au Brésil. Le Pape François entend donc y prendre part comme ont fait ses prédécesseurs, tout comme Benoît XVI s'est rendu en 2005 aux JMJ de Cologne, qui avait été fixée par le défunt Jean-Paul II. Certes, le programme de ce séjour brésilien a quelque peu subi des corrections en fonction du nouveau Pape. Il était initialement plus léger et le Saint-Père a décidé de consacrer la journée de repos initiale à un pèlerinage au sanctuaire marial d'Aparecida et à la visite de la favela de Varginha, à la visite de l'hôpital San Francisco de Assis et à une rencontre avec le Comité du CELAM. Ceci n'a pas modifié le calendrier initial du séjour, qui se déroulera du 22 au 29 juillet.

Le Pape a été invité par l'Archevêque de Rio et la Conférence épiscopale brésilienne d'une part, de l'autre par la Présidente Dilma Rousseff, venue à Rome pour l'inauguration du pontificat et pour l'inviter personnellement au Brésil. Le Pape François ayant très vite confirmé sa disponibilité, il a été possible d'accélérer les préparatif du voyage papal. 

We leave for Aparecida, Brazil tomorrow / Nous partons pour Aparecida, au Brésil demain

Tomorrow, our group will meet at the international airport in Ottawa, Ontario at 5 pm. We will fly from Ottawa to Toronto at 8 pm, and from Toronto to São Paulo at 11:40 pm, arriving Thursday morning at 10:55 am, local time in São Paulo. From there, we will take a bus to Aparecida, which should take approximately two hours.

Two of our pilgrims, Alice DeRoth and Jonathan Roy, left for South America last Wednesday and they will meet us at the airport in São Paulo on Thursday morning.

Please pray for safe travels for our group and for all pilgrims travelling to Brazil for WYD, and we will also keep you in our prayers!

God bless!

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Demain, notre groupe se rencontrera à l'aéroport international d'Ottawa, en Ontario, à 17 h. Nous allons décoller d'Ottawa pour Toronto à 20 h, et ensuite de Toronto pour São Paulo à 23 h 40, et nous allons atterrir vers 10 h 55 jeudi matin, heure locale à São Paulo. De là, nous allons prendre un bus pour nous rendre à Aparecida, qui devrait prendre environ deux heures.
 
Deux de nos pèlerins, Alice DeRoth et Jonathan Roy, sont partis pour l'Amérique du Sud mercredi dernier et ils vont nous rencontrer à l'aéroport de São Paulo jeudi matin.

Veuillez prier pour un voyage sécuritaire pour notre groupe, ainsi que pour tous les pèlerins qui vont se rendre aux Brésil pour les JMJ. Nous allons également vous garder dans nos prières!

Que Dieu vous bénisse!

Ottawa to / à  São Paulo

 

 São Paulo, Brazil / Brésil