There are a few instances in particular, however, which do seem to encapsulate some of the most prominent teachings I received, and which have made some of the deepest imprints into my memory during these days of grace.
Following our journey to Europe, early in the pilgrimage, we went to Rome. The immense, ancient structures scattered throughout the city, many of which were now churches, immediately captured my attention. From the great remains of the walls and arches of what was once the imperial palace, sitting above the Circus Maximus, to the towering columns of the Pantheon, now a temple dedicated to Mary and all the martyrs; from the holy steps, to the spiraling bases of the baldachin above the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, we were surrounded by architectural marvels. But even greater than the visible beauty of these places is the spiritual treasure housed by a great many of them. Our Catholic faith is embedded into the very structure of the city.
The Sistine Chapel inspired one of my first moments of silent (we weren’t allowed to talk) awe. As I walked in, I found myself enveloped in the story of salvation, depicted by the renaissance paintings that covered the walls and ceiling. I sat down on a bench along one of the walls, and stared up at the moments that constitute the history of our liberation from sin, and our transition to eternal life, as newly-borne children of God. This place is a monument to the living work of God among His people. Interestingly for me, I saw, and I hadn’t noticed this until I looked up far enough, that I sat just below “The Creation of Adam,” by Michelangelo, and there I beheld the great mystery of man’s decision to distance himself from God to a comfortable length, and of God’s relentless mercy which invites man to simply reach out and hold on to Him.
There is another place in Rome, however, that impacted me on a much deeper level than the Sistine Chapel; that is, the Catacombs of St. Domitilla. It is an underground burial complex and church which may be the burial site of some of Christianity’s earliest martyrs. Upon finishing my descent from the stone steps to the main church section, I could see ancient columns around the center of the space, where there are pews for Eucharistic celebrations. The walls and ceiling are made of pale stone and bricks. There is a great peace about the place which I cannot fully describe, and which overcame me, especially after attending Mass with all of our pilgrims there. I think that this place, more than anything, humbled me very much. I was in the presence of people who probably gave their lives to live their faith, our Catholic faith. I was moved to tears by this all, although I definitely tried to hide it in front of other people. After that moment, I could not help but ask myself what I’m really doing to live out my faith, and to serve God and His Church. Seeing how this place had become so special to me, I decided that I had to take something back home, something not from the gift shop just above. So when the group was almost completely out, I went by myself into the actual tunnels of the catacombs, and picked out a small stone from one of the niches. I hope to preserve it for the rest of my life.
Going forward in time, almost to the very end of World Youth Day week in Krakow, Poland, I can hear Pope Francis saying, “He who doesn’t risk, doesn’t win.” It was the evening of the Final Vigil in Campus Misericordiae. I was sitting pretty uncomfortably on a weird hole in the ground among two million Catholics. Our own pilgrims from the Diocese were scattered in pockets on different parts of the field. I was sick with a cold and felt the weight of my exhaustion from walking for miles in the sun with the night’s luggage on my back; yet, when I saw Pope Francis pass by, just meters from me, in his white Popemobile, as the orange sunlight covered the field of pilgrims, and “Abba Ojdcze” was being sung by live singers and all of us, I immediately thought to myself, “It’s all worth it… every last thing.”
Pope Francis reminded us that we did not come into this life “to vegetate,” but to love and serve one another, by actually moving, and that happiness is not simply sitting on a couch very comfortably, where we can shun every problem and every bit of compassion out of our hearts by focusing on the television screen in front of us. Along those same lines, it moved me to hear, so directly and clearly from Pope Francis, that “it is convenient for some people that we have [dumb and sleeping] young people.” All of these things kept begging the question within me, “What am I doing?” and, “What should I do”? Whereas I haven’t yet found concrete answers for the latter question, I feel like I’ve been empowered to look for that answer by following the dreams that God has placed within my heart. That statement, “he who doesn’t risk, doesn’t win,” keeps resounding in my mind. It urges me to keep trying to be who I was made to be, to search for God’s will in my own life. I feel like this is one of the greatest fruits in my life from WYD 2016.
I’ve simply experienced far too much to try to describe here, but these are a few of the most impacting, and memorable experiences from my pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2016, and there are things that I’ve yet to even process from it all. I hope that in hearing about these things that we’ve seen, heard, and felt, people will find in us a motivation for their own faith life, and that through the grace we’ve been given as pilgrims, we will become a visible sign of God’s mercy to all those whom we encounter here at home, among the people who sent us on this unbelievable journey to encounter Christ alive in His Church.
Jesús Puentes is the Administrative Secretary in the Office of Ministry With Young Catholics in the Diocese of San Bernardino.