Oblate News

Reflecting on World Youth Day 2023

By Kirk Jacob

Some Reflections on my experience of WYD (World Youth Day) –

“Mary set out in haste to meet her cousin Elizabeth”

and so did our small group to Lisbon!

Looking back over my time at WYD (World Youth Day), I have this sense that so much came at my senses from all directions that it is difficult to put into words.
The theme of the WYD was “Mary set out in haste” at the time when she was pregnant to go to meet her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea, otherwise traditionally known as Ain-Kareem.Our small group equally set out in haste, firstly to meet up at Crewe in order to get to know each other and also to get a sense of the WYD programme.

WYD – Preparation weekend at Crewe
We had a wonderful preparation weekend at Crewe leading up to WYD which was facilitated by Padraig.
The weekend provided us with great opportunities for bonding. The Karaoke and games were the highlights.
We also thank Fr. Eduardo OMI for facilitating the Mass on the Sunday and encouraging full participation in the liturgy by bringing out the young people’s musical and reading gifts in a beautiful outdoor gardens at Crewe.

Darndale – overnight stay before travel to WYD in Lisbon
On the day leading up to travel to WYD, most of the group arrived in Darndale parish, Dublin, Ireland. Three of us came from London and seven of the group travelled from Wales to meet up to stay overnight at the New Life Centre.The Oblates Fr. Eduardo and Fr. Michael kindly facilitated hospitality as we found spaces to sleep for the night and flew out the next day to Lisbon, Portugal. There was much excitement and anticipation in being together as this small group and a few others who couldn’t make the Crewe preparation weekend also joined the larger group for the WYD. So, it had finally started to sink in for real that we were embarking on this new journey together with at least a million and a half people from across the world meeting up in various parts of Lisbon.

Time at WYD, Lisbon
The theme song and images to go with it left its lasting ‘ear worm’ impact on me.
So many colourful flags from all over the globe being waved by groups of people gave me a reminder of a universal global gathering, even though this particular one was Catholic.
Our small group of 30 or so young adults from the Anglo-Irish Province brought home to me that there is a longing for new pathways and new models of being Church in small Basic Christian Communities.
So the question posed to some of our small group: What will be a lasting memory from WYD that you will take with you and integrate into your daily life?
For me, it is the desire to bring people together and celebrate our diverse humanity through dance and movement. I recall the time when some of our small group ‘launched out into the deep’ at being seen at a Christian musical concert one afternoon and I was pleasantly surprised that the soul-stirring music songs of a Keralite Indian Catholic Rock band ‘VoxChristi’ spontaneously inspired our small group of rockers! In particular one song: ‘Shine a light’ spontaneously moved an Oblate Fr. Vimal, Br. Anthony and Garland to generate and initiate simple, dance movements in the large square which had such a rippling, energising effect that about fifty or sixty young adults from various nations like Germany, Spain, America, Australia just joined in instinctively to
form a steam train of people! This was even before any alcohol was consumed on a very hot summer’s afternoon which was about 40 degrees Celsius! It brought home to me that it is through our diversity, dance and movement that we speak a language that connects us in a vibrant, human way.

What would be some of the highlights from the larger gatherings?  for example: the Pope’s welcome, Opening Mass, Closing Vigil.
Normally, I am not a huge fan of being in such an enormous crowd of people, however this gathering felt quite different. When we got a glimpse of Pope Francis in his automobile and the music played through the outdoor sound systems, it felt like a chill up my spine. Hearing him speak in conversation directly to me, gave a sense of a very personal message in a global audience. Thankfully, Br.Luis OMI, one of our Spanish speakers in our small group was able to translate the important conversations. I particularly liked his message to keep bringing the unanswered questions of our lives to him and he valued our efforts to do so.

Also, I did love the great attempts made to put up huge screens in various parts of the enormous parks and this helped us see the liturgies even if at times, we were lost in the spoken foreign language. We developed camaraderie with each other in our small group in our challenging journeys to get to the big venues. Watching a nun drum in a band from Argentina who were on the side of the road to cheer us on our journey to the venue was a good highlight for me as I love music and seeing the young nun as a drummer was a totally new experience for me to see!
Also, other groups created a chain of pairs on either side to focus us to go through the ‘chain welcome’ before we got to our sleeping posts for the Vigil.

What would be some of the highlights from the smaller group gatherings like for example, the morning Catechesis?
I found the smaller group gatherings at Canacas Cultural centre a much more intimate setting. The facilitators and MCs were very enthusiastic and energetic. They came from places like
Saudi Arabia where the Catholic faith is oppressed and others were from Dubai, UAE. We had small English speaking groups from Australia, America, Singapore, Philippines and our own
group from UK & Ireland. A few personal faith testimonies were shared and small group work also had its own moments of fun amidst serious sharing.
One key small group gathering that I really valued was our own Oblate gathering on the first morning. We heard of the Australians who had a difficult journey just to arrive at WYD. Their baggage went missing and they almost lost a member of their group! We had our own problems with travel the first day in trying to get Metro and bus tickets which would be accepted on the different modes of transport in Portugal. Again, thanks to our Spanish speaking members as they tried to communicate with Portuguese officials. During our waiting times, thanks to Bertilla, we found the odd shop or two that sold the very special ‘Natas’ (the Portuguese custard tarts) which though very warm and tasty on the lips, could end up putting a good bulge on the hips!

The Oblate gathering had a selection of musical and dance inter-active sharings with Oblate young people from around the globe. The Canadians, Italian and Polish turned out in huge numbers!
It’s a pity we hadn’t enough time for small group sharing and interaction and we missed an opportunity to get to really know other groups that came there. Without translators for small groups we ended up as insular groups. I understood that an Oblate Peruvian Bishop was instrumental in getting the whole event together which was a very good idea. Fr. Chicho Rois OMI Superior General spoke to us in three languages – English, Spanish and French. He shared excellent content and gave us some good, tough questions to ponder on and share with our elbow buddies.
At the end, there was an opportunity for open questions. One of our group Chike asked him: ‘Why did you come to WYD?

Fr. Chicho replied:
“You are all Superiors General including the questioner.” He added: “You all need to be proactive in order to promote faith development and Oblateness in your approach.”
One practical request came from the Tijuana (Mexican) group who struggle with border issues at home. They would like to come to other countries and see how they handle border problems and they would welcome people to come and see how they deal with theirs. This suggestion was commended by our Superior General and he immediately invited all Oblates who were present to discuss it with him.

At the end of our time together, it was lovely to see the exchange of little wristbands and other memorabilia from within our worldwide Oblate family.