WEST MILFORD Three young people from St. Joseph Parish here joined 50 other youths from the region who were unable to attend World Youth Day (WYD) 2016, to catch the spirit of the historic event during a retreat, “World Youth Day — Not a World Away,” from July 29-31, in Monroe, N.Y.
Participating young people and their accompanying adult leaders also got the opportunity to learn more about and experience the mercy of God, during the retreat, guided by the theme “Blessed are the Merciful for They Shall Obtain Mercy” and led by the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate sisters in Monroe with help from the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. At the same time, the Holy Father was leading WYD in Krakow, Poland, where he inspired 1 million people — including 40 pilgrims from the Diocese [see lead story on pg. 1] — with his message about God’s forgiveness. The message echoed the theme of the Year of Mercy, which the universal Church is celebrating until November.
“The leaders [of the retreat] were energetic and the music ministry was beautiful with wonderful singing. It was a relaxed atmosphere and very relational. The leaders encouraged the young people to develop a relationship with Jesus. The young people responded to it. They were moved,” said Camille Kluge, St. Joseph’s youth director, who went with the young contingent from the parish along with Thomas D’Angelis and Tara Meany, college students, and Tara’s sister, Sophia, a high school student. “We felt connected [to WYD] — part of a bigger event — but also felt like we were going on a good retreat,” Kluge said.
Since its inception in 2000, “World Youth Day — Not a World Away” has been inviting teens and young adults, not able to attend an actual WYD, but still desire to “deepen their love for Jesus and their Catholic faith.” They participate in smaller scale WYD events, such as catechesis, worship and music. This year, the young people also watched some WYD events with Pope Francis in Krakow on a large video screen to hear his messages to the young people, who gathered for the historic event, according to the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate sisters, who host the retreat on the bucolic property of their Marycrest Motherhouse.
“We try to add as many of the elements they have at the main event,’’ Sister Josita, co-organizer event with Sister Maria Catherine, said.
A large tent was set up on the property with a stage for the local speakers and musicians and a large screen to watch the Pope Francis’ vigil address at WYD and his homily of the closing Mass. Retreatants participated in Stations of the Cross, a pilgrimage walk with prayer, a candlelight rosary procession and Mass and availed themselves of Confession, which the priests present always made available. Activities centered around the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy and included icebreakers, skits performed by the youth, witness talks about mercy and instruction about how to make rosaries using twine. St. Joseph’s young people performed a funny skit to dramatize the Spiritual Work of Mercy to instruct the ignorant, Kluge said.
“One speaker talked about how we can have God’s mercy no matter what we’ve done. God is waiting for us to correct our ways,” Kluge said.
The visit to Monroe by St. Joseph’s small contingent marked the West Milford parish’s first appearance at the retreat, but not its first association with the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate. The religious sisters had visited St. Joseph’s before to conduct a ministry of going door-to-door in local neighborhoods in their habits to “speak to residents about their spiritual walk and invite them back to church.” Their efforts proved successful, Kluge said.
“It [the retreat] was a nice experience to have outside St. Joseph’s that was only 45 minutes away,” said Kluge, who noted that participants originated from places, such as the Bronx. N.Y., and Pennsylvania. “It was great to meet other people and see how they are living their faith.”