Local students travel to Australia for World Youth Day
Thousands gather for Mass by Pope Benedict XVI
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| After final Mass with Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, 11 students and two adults from St. Clare of Assisi parish in Ellisville were ready to return to their hostel. Among the thousands who spent the night in sleeping bags under the stars at Royal Randwick Racecourse were, from left, back row, Alex Kaemmerer (Marquette High School), Deacon Alan Whitson, Adam Bremerkamp (wearing bandanna, St. Louis University High School), Matt McBride (SLUH), Amy Keys (Rosati-Kain), Madeline Gemoules (John F. Kennedy High School), Olivia Oldenbuttel (Incarnate Word Academy), Sarah Broom (JFK), Christine Steele (St. Joseph's Academy); front row, Mark McBride (SLUH), Chelsea Smith (Marquette), Elly Lang (Rosati-Kain) and Rhoda Hernandez, youth minister. |
This sudden quiet impressed W. Alan Whitson of Ellisville, when he traveled with 11 teens, ages 16 to 18, to World Youth Day in Australia last month. Joining them for the 2-1/2-week trip was Rhoda Hernandez, youth minister for St. Clare of Assisi parish in Ellisville, where they all are members. Whitson also serves as associate director of deacons in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
"Like other adults, I was impressed that the pope was genuinely engaged and energized by the youths," Whitson said. "They would have their chants and have their bursts of songs, but when he spoke, the place would just go quiet. There was such respect."Started in the 1980s by Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day moves around the world as the current pope invites youths to journey on pilgrimage to meet and pray with him, then take the message of Christianity home with new commitment.
For the Australian event, the youths were asked to reflect on the
Whitson-brought journals to encourage his youthful travel companions to write down their impressions, pointing out that the trip resembled a vacation but had other aims as a pilgrimage.
"It's supposed to be work, spiritual work, and that we are following in the footsteps of saints who have come in the 2,000 years of the church. They have done this kind of separation from the norm to be uncomfortable and to find God in this journey and also bring Christ to others," he said.
Traveling around the world to be there, the group visited more than just Sydney. After leaving Ellisville on July 7, they swam in the Great Barrier Reef and saw the rainforest near Cairns. They rode by train to Newcastle, where they stayed with host families for Days in the Diocese. After World Youth Day, they saw the sites in Auckland, New Zealand.
Days in the Diocese was a cultural exchange and faith-sharing experience. Elly Lang, a junior at Rosati-Kain High School, said members of St. Michael's parish picnicked with them when they stayed at Lake Macquarie near Newcastle.
Then associated with the Office of Youth Ministry for the archdiocese, Liz Buncher helped coordinate the trip for another 69 local people who went to World Youth Day as a group from the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Almost half are seminarians in Shrewsbury. She now is campus minister at Notre Dame High School in Lemay.
"We spent the first four days in Moruya, a small coastal town ," said Buncher. "Sacred Heart Parish took us under their wing. It was so powerful for the people we stayed with to see these young people so excited about their faith."
She found it a "powerful" experience to see that in a country not known for outward religious devotion, Australia's young people were drawn to the thousands of youths there, because they saw their enthusiasm and zest for living their beliefs.
Pilgrimage days
The opening of World Youth Day itself was Tuesday, July 15. It climaxed with a 24-hour event at week's end.
On Saturday, groups were organized to walk the five miles to Royal Randwick Racecourse. They settled into a huge camp. There were songs and prayers throughout the night. With sunrise came morning prayer, then the Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict.
Matt McBride, recently graduated from St. Louis University High School and a student at Rockhurst College, didn't mind minimal sleep that night.
"The image I'll remember is the overnight vigil. There were so many people and the adoration at night, then Mass in the morning," he said.
Elly Lang from Rosati-Kain marveled at meeting not just friendly host families in Australia, but people from Norway and Slovenia and other corners of the world about which she knew little.
Youth minister Hernandez plans to gather her fellow travelers from St. Clare to assess their experiences among the melting pot of people registered from 170 countries.
She said, "Everyone had journeyed from somewhere, all gathering in one country to celebrate our faith. There were sacrifices - timing, lost luggage. You felt connected to so many people you just didn't know, as young Catholics growing in our faith."
At a youthful 24, Hernandez found the universality of the gathering empowered her.
"We can walk away from this experience and change the world," she said. "Pope Benedict was turning it over to us. He showed a lot of wisdom. He believes in us."
You can contact Janice Denham at jdenham@yourjournal.com
