“ We have seen the Lord!!”

“ Dear young friends,

    You have come to Toronto from every continent to celebrate World Youth Day. My joyful and heartfelt greetings go to you! I have been eagerly looking forward to this meeting, especially when day after day from all parts of the world I received in the Vatican good news about all the initiatives that have marked your journey here. And often, even without having met you, I commended you one by one in my prayers to the Lord. He has always known you, and he loves each one of you personally.”

    These words were spoken by the aging pontiff in an atmosphere that gave everyone present a taste of heaven. They confirmed the shouts of the youths gathered at the Exhibition Place on the shores of Lake Ontario: “ Papa John is in the house!” It was an emotional encounter between the father and his family, the shepherd and his flock! Recalling the original meaning of Pontifex as bridge, John Paul II was really being the bridge leading the hearts of thousands of youth in prayer to Christ!!

    We had come from afar to meet Christ: in each other, in service, in the Word, in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist, in the symbol of the Cross in his vicar: Pope John Paul II. He who had said ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be among them!’ kept his promise! We could see him in the joyous faces, in loving hearts, on the wood of the World Youth Day Cross! We could hear his voice ringing in our hearts during catechism sessions and through the words of the Pope! His presence was alive in the community and the species at the Eucharist, in his forgiving heart, in the very air we were breathing! Every person, every gathering, every bus, every train station was a burning bush afire with the presence of the Lord!

I had left Malta on 23rd July, travelling through a seemingly never-ending daylight from east to west - ‘You are light of the World!’ Travelling alone, I was eager to meet the first familiar face in Canada: my cousin was waiting for me at Lester B. Pearson Airport, Toronto. This familiar greeting was the first of a series of encounters of brothers and sisters, be they natural kin or spiritual relatives!! The family atmosphere would resound in the words of the theme song for World Youth Day 2002:

    ‘So many in our world drift into sleep, while others only know a darkness without end. Let brothers rise to call them from the deep! Let sisters take their hands to heal and be their friends. Together, let us stand against the storm and in the heart of night be the watchers of the morn.’

    I was given my rucksack, containing the pilgrim’s guide, a map, a candle, a laced wooden cross, some souvenirs and the rosary beads. At the pilgrim centre I realised that in my enthusiasm to take part in WYD 2002, I had registered through the Internet for more than once!

    Wednesday 24th July saw me heading toward the Exhibition Place guided by a helpful cousin: from Union Station, at the heart of Toronto, I left the train which was buzzing with the happy talk of young people going to Catechism. The most common question aboard was: ‘Where do you come from?’ The reply was overwhelmingly ‘United States’ or ‘Canada’ but every day introduced me to a myriad of people coming from other countries too! The least common reply was probably ‘Malta’: I could tell this from the puzzled looks I got in response to my introduction. This was always followed by a short geography lesson starting from Italy, moving down to Sicily and ending up in Malta!!
    The Exhibition Place on the shores of Lake Ontario was to be our modern day Tiberias Lake side! After a thorough security check, we would head towards the Halls reserved for Catechesis. They were large halls, bursting at the seams with young pilgrims eager to sing, pray, reflect, and listen to distinguished speakers delivering their heartfelt messages about being light of the world and salt of the earth. We were asked to grab ‘some concrete’ instead of ‘a seat’ but we didn’t mind: the presence of Christ in His Church made up more than enough for the lack of seating comfort! We were all one from 9.30 a.m. to 1.15 p.m. united in a very special way from noon to the end in the celebration of the Eucharist!
    Some of the expressions I heard during those Catechism sessions still resound in my heart! One such expression was uttered by Bishop Paul Andre’ Durocher of the Diocese of Cornwall, Ontario: “If we speak about God without a smile on our face, we haven’t really met God!” Doesn’t this bring to mind the expression on Father Preca’s face when he would speak about the Lord our God? Judging by the expressions of the youths during those days, God was really present in our hearts!! Superior General Eugenio Borg would have felt this in complete harmony with the initial joy he experienced at the dawn of our Society!

Catechism was followed by time for lunch and a youth festival! There was so much to go through! I particularly enjoyed the vocation stands, displaying the vast spectrum of missions which make up the Body of Christ! There were all kinds of expressions of Christ’s saving mission of humankind through his Church!

    Thursday 25th July was a climax! The arrival of the Pope brought a surge of joy moving through the crowds! Tears in our eyes, flags in our hands, we felt that the nations were there to greet the Vicar of Christ in the same manner in which the multitudes had thronged on the shores of Galilee! ‘Do not look for joy where it is short-lived: look for the real joy in Jesus Christ and his Beatitudes!’ Urged us Pope John Paul II. I could still hear the similar words he had spoken to us on 9th May 2001, when he had asked us Members to contemplate the face of Christ in order to radiate His real image to others!
    Saturday 27th July saw me joining other pilgrims on foot in the direction of Downsview Park, north of Toronto. It was a fairy-tale walk under a shady canopy of green leaves, over picture-book wooden bridges with cool streams below! An occasional shower by some kind person over his backyard fence helped to ease the heat after the three hour walk!
    Downsview Park was already alive! Squashing my way into the Yellow Section, I lay down on a sleeping bag to get some sleep before the Night Vigil. My Neo Catechumenate neighbours from Italy were excellent company and we discussed our different roles in the Church in a brotherly atmosphere - ‘The Word of God became flesh and made us his brothers and sisters!’

    The Night Vigil with the Pope was a feast of prayer, song and witness. I was particularly impressed by the experience of a young man from Peru who spoke of the hardships and imprisonment that he had to endure while serving in the Peruvian army as a result of letting his Christian values move him to speak out against injustice. ‘Jesus Christ is my foundation stone’ was the reason he gave for his strength through all these trials.
    As a large family of brothers and sisters, we slept on the soft grassy bed which our Father had prepared for us, in the light of the impressive Cross that could be seen far away on the highways of Toronto! A fine drizzle in the early morning reminded us that we were waking up in Canada for the ‘final’ lap of our journey: the ‘concluding’ Mass! (‘final’ and ‘concluding’ only for WYD 2002: for us they were signs of a fresh beginning!!) During his homily, the Pope urged us all to be salt and light to a world that is losing its taste and splendour!
    “No fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young. You are our hope. The young are our hope. Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”

These words, full of hope in a youthful Church, gave us a glimpse of the trust that the Pope has for the future of the People of God! He bid us farewell with a solemn command to wear the cross everyday as a sign of our choice of Christ as our Lord and guide. “ If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross everyday and follow me!”

    In Toronto (which really means ‘meeting place’ in native language) we met the Lord! May all the world be an everyday Toronto for us, living in a continuous meeting with the Risen Lord!

 

                                                                   Joseph Bonnici sdc
Zurrieq - Malta


C o n d o l e n c e s :

    Mr Loreto Xuereb, father of SDC Member Angelo Xuereb from Qala, Gozo, died on 16 October, 2002.

    Mr Michael Farrugia, father of SDC Member Mario Farrugia from St Albans, died on 31 October 2002.
    We are all asked to offer Mass and Holy Communion for his soul. May God give him eternal peace.

    Mr Joserph Sacco, died 3 November 2002 in Melbourne.
    Joseph Sacco was one of the Members selected by Father George to begin the SDC in Australia. He left Malta and arrived in Australia 17 March 1956. Together with the other five Members, he worked hard for the SDC, imbued with enthusiasm for the work of God.

    'Remember we are but travellers here' Mary Mac Killop
 

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