This week, Pope Francis makes his way to Rio for his first World Youth Day (WYD) as pontiff.
I had the awesome opportunity to attend the 2002 WYD in
Toronto. My parish didn’t have a youth group, but a friend invited me to go
along, and I said yes.
Up until that point, my only experience of God or prayer was
what I learned in my Catholic school education, through privately praying at
night in bed or having intense and moving – yet private – experiences of
intimacy with God at Mass. I just was not one to publicly proclaim or pray to
God – he was very private and confined to the walls of my school, parish or
bedroom.
July 2002, I was changed forever and the effects WYD had on
me has never left.
If you have ever been to an event like this, you know that
mere words cannot do it justice, the power of the Spirit eludes even the most
eloquent of orators. You simply have to journey with a million or more youth
and young adults for the sole purpose of giving witness to your shared Catholic
faith to understand and feel the power of God there.
It wasn’t just seeing the very soon-to-be St JP2 three times
throughout the week, or hearing catechesis, having lunch with strangers – yet
brothers and sisters – from opposite ends of the globe; the blessings of the
occasion was not just found in the opportunity to solidify your identity as a
Catholic and member of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. For me, I
think the most profound effect it had was seeing that my faith was not
just something I held or did or prayed privately, but was also meant to be
given and shared.
The gospel this weekend gives us the famous examples of
Martha and Mary. Mary, the model of contemplation and Martha, the model of active
and apostolic work. Mary wants to simply sit with Christ and be with Him,
listen to him and love Him in the silence. Martha wants to use the relationship
she has with Him to do things for Him and to serve Him actively.
Though these two are unique and different expressions of the
same love and relationship with the Lord, neither is superior to the other. We
don’t shun the apostolic life and give praise to the contemplative life. Often
times, the image of John – the Beloved Disciple - and Peter – the first Pope
- is also used in place of Mary and
Martha.
What we learn from the Gospel is that we cant treat either
as exclusive and in opposition to the other, but as compliments to the same
Mission in the One Church. Naturally, we each have our strengths and our
preferences for how we live our lives contemplatively or actively. But what is
important is that we value each other’s natural abilities and strengths in this
and that we use them all for the building of the Kingdom.
At WYD, I was transformed from believing that I could only
be a Mary to seeing that I had some of Martha in me as well.
Over the years I have grown in my awareness of this and
coming to see how I live out each of them in my life. You can be a strong contemplative
at heart, but a passionate defender of the Truth in the world. This is healthy
spirituality and a place where we each have to get to. We need to know our
natural abilities and strengths when it comes to prayer and living out our
faith in the world and then develop them in the Light of the Truth.
WYD is such a gift to the Universal Church. It has been
reported time and time again to have opened the doors to religious vocations
for 1000s of young men and women (I count myself in those numbers) and has
given millions of youth the courage to be a Mary at heart yet a Martha in the
world.
Let us pray for the estimated up to 2 million visitors and pilgrims
to Rio this week. Let us commend to our prayers Pope Francis that through his ministry
as Shepherd will be able to lead innumerable souls to the beauty of the
spiritual life and the demands of the active life.
