Editorial: The power received

Ben Emmel, second from right, poses with friends and fellow pilgrims at Manley Beach in Australia

The pilgrimage to Australia for World Youth Day 2008 is now over and completed, and I’m sure at this moment most of the young people are still trying to figure out the best way to recover from the exhaustion brought on by the journey. I for one am fighting off jet lag, as my brain tells my body that it is indeed 3AM like Sydney.

This latest bout of fatigue is nothing, really, compared with the previous pains and trials experienced in Sydney. Sleeping on hard tile floors, taking three-minute showers in a temporary wooden box, spending countless hours on one’s feet waiting for the Holy Father, eating the same pilgrims’ food for a week: this was all happily endured by the young people throughout the globe for World Youth Day.

None of this is worth complaining about, either. It’s all part of the pilgrim’s way. And all of it was worth it. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical traveling to Australia: will we actually be able to see Pope Benedict? Will this be a disorganized and uncontrollable event, with thousands of international visitors running wild over Sydney?

Flags from many different countries fly in front of the bishops assembled for the opening Mass at Barangaroo in Sydney, as the sun sets over the harbor behind. (Catholic Herald photo by Ben Emmel)

But now I can safely say: every young Catholic needs to attend at least one World Youth Day. It is an incredible faith uplifter, a global experience, a glimpse of the universal Church. The first Mass at Barangaroo strikes me as the perfect example of this: Pope Benedict XVI hadn’t even arrived in Sydney, yet the thousands of pilgrims were cheering Cardinal George Pell like a rockstar. Flags from places as diverse as France and Fiji, Sri Lanka and Singapore, the Emirates and Eritrea: all were flying high and proud as he invoked the Holy Spirit upon the start of World Youth Day.

The theme song of WYD, “Receive the Power” was played over and over again at the many events, and everyone in Australia certainly has become familiar with the song. Kai Vang, a fellow pilgrim from Wisconsin, told me his thoughts about a line from that song: “Every nation, every tribe, comes together to worship You.”

“I was really amazed to see people from all over the world gather in one place to pray together in unity and diversity,” he told me after we had returned to the States. In many ways, this is a perfect example of the international gathering. Every nation truly did come to worship, gather with the Pope, and strengthen their own Catholic faith. All the young people came to “receive the power from the Holy Spirit,” as the song continues. We gain support from each, power in each one’s presence.

Pilgrims waves their country flags at the Final Mass at Southern Cross Precinct. (Photo by World Youth Day)

I feel that, now landed back home as an American, that I have received the power: I would not be so proud to say that I possess the Holy Spirit in his entirety, but I do know that I have been changed in some way by my fellow pilgrims, by their witness to Christ. Perhaps that’s why it’s so important for every young Catholic to scrimp and save in order to travel to Madrid in 2011: we need to see that Christ came for all, for every last pilgrim, every last person on Earth. Then we need to bring the Gospel to them. The message of the WYD theme rings true: now we will be Christ’s witnesses, unto the ends of the Earth.

As I close this Journey of Faith blog, I want to thank you, the readers, for following us pilgrims on the way from Madison to Melbourne, Sydney, and beyond. Your prayers have supported us greatly throughout the way — especially in the return of our missing luggage last week! The Pope spoke several times on the importance of those participating in WYD spiritually — you certainly have made a difference in our trip. Thank you also to those who supported the pilgrims materially — without your help, Madison would have had no presence in Australia.

I leave you with the WYD08 theme song, now a favorite of Bishop Morlino. And as Pope Benedict said, “I look forward to seeing you again in three years’ time. World Youth Day 2011 will take place in Madrid, Spain. Until then, let us continue to pray for one another, and let us joyfully bear witness to Christ before the world.”