CLIFTON On a hot and humid Sunday morning in Panama City’s Metro Park, 700,000 young people heard a message loud and clear from Pope Francis, who said to them, “You, dear young people, are not the future but the now of God.”
The word “now” can summarize the experience for the young people around the globe on the occasion of the 34th World Youth Day (WYD) held in the Central American country. It helped them realize “they are not the tomorrow, not the meantime but the now of God” in evangelizing the faith. From the Paterson Diocese, 12 pilgrims traveled to Panama hailing from Holy Trinity Parish in Passaic, St. Michael Parish in Paterson and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson.
The theme of the 2019 WYD was taken from the Gospel of Luke, which recounts the Blessed Mother’s “fiat” — “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Inocencia Hernandez, a young adult volunteer with youth at Holy Trinity, attended WYD for the second time. She previously attended WYD in Krakow, Poland in 2016. Moved by that encounter, she said, “The experience of WYD is unbelievable. Going to a new country where no one knows you is a bit nerve-racking but as soon as we walked in, the Panama people welcomed us with open arms and music and we felt at home.”
This was the first WYD to take place in Central America and the Panamanian people were very gracious to the international visitors who came to the small country. Justin Carrasco, a young adult from St. Michael Parish in Paterson, said, “Being able to see so many Cardinals and the Pope, seeing and naming all the countries I saw and attending the concerts and the vigil were all wonderful experiences on their own. But for me, nothing beats being able to see the face of God in his people especially in the host families, parish community and volunteers that were with us during our pilgrimage. Those individuals were the true backbone of this whole encounter. The amount of preparation and prayers truly made dividends to be able to encapsulate the theme of this WYD which was Mary’s ‘fiat.’ That ‘yes’ she gave to the angel was felt with every family and volunteer I met.”
Lidian Nunez from the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, who attended WYD for the first time, said, “The people in Panama are some of the kindest, happiest and humble people I have ever met. The whole country just lives every day with so much joy — the joy we, as Catholics should all exert.”
Nunez adds her absolute favorite part of the WYD experience was that constant joy. She said, “Pretty much every bus, train and car ride, we were all singing Jesus jams at the top of our lungs. It was just a very moving experience since back at home I don’t have any friends who are Catholic or are so proud of their faith. It was nice to be with friends from youth group and random strangers all singing and clapping with so much joy. Even after long tiring days and early mornings, we still sang with so much happiness.”
Susana Mantilla shared similar sentiments about WYD and said, “I loved being able to share my faith with every single pilgrim that also joined us at Panama. There were no worries about being judged or looked at weird. That was because we were all there for one purpose — Jesus Christ.”
WYD was initiated by St. Pope John Paul II in 1985 and consists of week-long events which include the opening ceremony, daily catechesis, welcoming ceremony of the pope and Stations of the Cross. It culminates with a Saturday night vigil and a Sunday morning closing Mass, both led by the Pope.
The diocesan pilgrims had the chance to see Pope Francis several times during WYD. Cristian Nazario, a youth from Holy Trinity Parish, said, “I was blessed to see the Pope from a really close distance that when I saw him pass by, I got the chills and my eyes got so watery. I felt this peace that was just so beautiful. Pope Francis is such a holy man that just by seeing him you can feel God’s love and presence. Those feelings I got when I saw him, I will never forget.”
Living in today’s secular society, WYD also gave the diocesan pilgrims a chance to feel proud of their Catholic faith. Anna Halat of Holy Trinity, said, “I now know that there are millions and millions of other Catholic youth like me, who can also feel lonely in their journey of faith. I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to be able to experience God through WYD.”
Anna Halat attended with her dad, Pawel Halat, youth minister at Holy Trinity, who had attended WYD ’93 in Denver and Krakow ’16. “WYD has to be lived to be comprehended,” she said. “Each WYD is very distinct from the other ones. Each one of them has its unique spirituality. It is difficult to describe the experience. It has so many layers and dimensions.”
The next WYD will take place in Lisbon, Portugal in 2022 and many of the diocesan pilgrims hope to be there again. Willy DeJesus from Holy Trinity learned a lot about himself in experiencing WYD. “I loved every moment during the pilgrimage because it taught me a valuable lesson,” he said. “I was complaining that I was tired and that I was hot and thirsty but then I realized that this is what a pilgrimage is. I didn’t come for a vacation or for myself, I came for Jesus Christ and for Pope Francis. All the sweating was worth it. I definitely want to relive the experience because it’s so amazing seeing other people that you share the same faith with. We all have a purpose of being here and God knows it.”