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The official hymn of the World Youth Day is entitled “There’s a Rush in the Air!” It invites the youth of the world to identify themselves with Mary as a person who is available for service, mission, and the transformation of the world.
¡ Hola! Bienvenido! ¡Buenos días! Welcome! These were my greetings to the pilgrims who stopped by our church, the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Church of Our Lady of the Assumption). It is a 14th-century old Gothic church in the small village of Villatuerta, Navarra. It is located on the path of the Camino going to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.
The other symbol of World Youth Day (WYD), besides the Pilgrim Cross, is the symbol that Pope John Paul II gave to the youth in 2003: the Marian icon Salus Populi Romani. It has accompanied all the WYD ever since.
In every edition of World Youth Day (WYD), there are symbols announcing the arrival of something extraordinary. These are the symbols of WYD-the pilgrim cross and the Marian icon called Salus Popoli Romani. In this article, we are going to reflect on the symbol of the cross.
Father Eduardo Revolledo Villanueva is a young Comboni Missionary from Lima, Peru. He is in Taiwan and shares his vocation story and his missionary service in the Asian continent.
I am Benjosef Carlos Raposa, the youngest of five siblings born to Juan Carlos+ and Ma. Patria. I grew up in Naga City in Bicol (Philippines) to a family whose nightly activity is to pray the rosary. At the age of seven, I followed my older brothers in becoming an altar server. In high school, I got involved in the catechetical ministry, doing volunteer works in far-flung barangays and in the jail.
The World Youth Days are, for many young people, an occasion for a deep encounter with Jesus Christ and to change their lives.
“Mary arose and went with haste” (Luke, 1:39) is the biblical quotation chosen by Pope Francis as the motto for World Youth Day. Why did the pope choose this Gospel episode? Why was Mary in such a hurry to leave her home and go to meet her cousin Elizabeth?
I am Fr. Aldrin Janito, one of the pioneering Filipino Comboni Missionaries. I was ordained into priesthood on June 7, 1999. After my ordination, I served as vocation promoter from 1999 until 2003. I was assigned to Sololo missions, Diocese of Marsabit in Kenya from 2003 to 2004. This two-year missionary service marked my life after witnessing the killing of my Kenyan people, who were mostly church leaders and infants. It was a horrible experience but it did not kill my missionary spirit. My last assignment was in South Africa where I spent 16 exciting years in two parishes, Waterval and Acornhoek.
To dare to live one’s vocation is to accept setting out on a journey, going with those who can guide us on the journey, and responding with hope in the face of difficulties. To the urgency of vocation, there has to be an “urgency of response.”
