Editorial

For World Youth Day pilgrims—and us—Mary’s example calls all to say ‘yes’ to God

It isn’t every day nearly 200 people from central and southern Indiana travel thousands of miles to another continent for a once-in-a-lifetime experience of faith.

But that’s what Archbishop Charles C. Thompson and pilgrims of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis are doing.

As you read on page 1 of this week’s issue of The Criterion, 188 people from our local Church are traveling to Portugal to take part in World Youth Day on Aug. 1-6.

And those like Caroline Bell making the pilgrimage of faith are hoping that the experience leads them to a stronger relationship with God.

“I want to follow God’s will in my life. I want to grow closer to him, so hopefully wherever he leads me I will be able to listen and follow with whatever I end up doing,” said Bell, a member of St. Malachy Parish in Brownsburg.

“Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39) is the Bible quote chosen by Pope Francis as the motto of the World Youth Day that will be held for the first time in the capital city of Lisbon. The biblical phrase opens the account of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, the biblical episode following the Annunciation (the angel’s announcement to Mary that she would be the mother of the Son of God) that was the theme of the last World Youth Day in 2019 in Panama.

“Mary of Nazareth is the great figure of the Christian journey. She teaches us to say yes to God,” reads an explanation of the theme on the World Youth Day website. “She was the protagonist of the last edition of World Youth Day and will be so once again in Lisbon.”

The culmination of the event is when the Holy Father celebrates a closing Mass with an estimated 1 million pilgrims on Aug. 6 in Lisbon. God willing, it should be a powerful witness of faith!

The pope has often used the phrase “culture of encounter” when discussing our call to be missionary disciples, and described the type of exchange he hopes participants at World Youth Day will have when he spoke with young people traveling to Lisbon from Argentina on July 16. He encouraged them to live World Youth Day intensely and be “enriched by a great diversity of faces, cultures, experiences and different expressions of our faith.”

“When we leave ourselves and meet others, when we share—when we give what we have and are open to receive what others offer us—when we don’t reject anyone, then we are all winners,” he said.

And in his message for this year’s World Youth Day published in August 2022, Pope Francis told young people: “Now is the time to set out in haste toward concrete encounters, toward genuine acceptance of those different from ourselves.”

Archbishop Thompson’s hope for pilgrims in Lisbon is that “… those participating will not only experience a spiritual renewal and reinvigoration of their own Catholic faith, but they’ll also be empowered to return to their families, parishes, schools, workplaces and communities as missionary disciples in witness to the joy of the Gospel.”

We too, pray, this journey not only bears much fruit for those from our archdiocese but for all pilgrims.

As we remember this once-in-a-lifetime journey of faith in the coming days, may we all take time to recite the official prayer for pilgrims attending World Youth Day:

Our Lady of the Visitation, you who arose and went with haste into the hill country to meet Elizabeth, lead us also to encounter all those who await us to deliver them the living Gospel: Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord!

We, too, will go in haste, without distraction or delay, but with readiness and joy. We will go with peace because those who bring Christ bring peace, and well-being comes from being generous and loving in our deeds.

Our Lady of the Visitation, through your inspiration, this World Youth Day will be a shared celebration of Christ, whom we bring to others, just as you did.

Please make this a time of testimony and sharing, of fraternity and thanksgiving, with each of us looking for opportunities to give to those who are waiting to receive. With you, we will continue on this path of encounter so that our world will join us, too, in fraternity, justice, and peace.

Help us, Our Lady of the Visitation, to bring Christ to everyone, in obedience to the Father and in the love of the Holy Spirit!

Amen.

—Mike Krokos