Sixty-five young pilgrims from the Diocese of Dallas have journeyed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to join Pope Francis at World Youth Day 2013. I am grateful that so many of our young adults are interested in and passionate enough about their Catholic faith to travel more than 5,200 miles to be with our Holy Father as he celebrates his first-ever WYD as pope.
These young adults join millions of other young Catholics from around the world at WYD to celebrate and deepen their faith in Jesus Christ. This wonderful pilgrimage includes great opportunities for community prayer and celebration of the Eucharist, evangelization and catechesis.
Just think, members of our diocesan group will be in attendance to directly hear our Holy Father as he delivers his message of faith and hope in Rio. As we have come to know Pope Francis, it is almost expected that he will challenge the pilgrims to make caring for the poor of the world more of a priority. As someone who has attended WYD in the past, I can tell you that it certainly can be a life-changing experience.
I am especially grateful to our Diocese of Dallas Youth and Young Adult Ministry office who helped organize the trip and to Jason Deuterman from Holy Family of Nazareth who led our diocesan group. I am also grateful to the priests who accompanied our pilgrims: Father Tom Cloherty, pastor of Prince of Peace parish; Father Jason Cargo, pastor of Immaculate Conception in Corsicana; SMU Campus Ministry chaplain Father Arthur Unachukwu, and Father Gaston Giacinti from St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
I encourage you to follow our local group’s WYD experience at www.catholicyoungadultsofdallas.org/wyd2013.
Most importantly, I hope you will join me in praying for all those making this WYD pilgrimage. May God bless our young pilgrims and protect them in this journey of faith!
Photo Credit: Twitter user @JasonDeuterman.
This post is also available in/Esta entrada también está disponible en: Spanish