octoBER 2011 - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council

Canadian Pilgrims process into the Love and Life Centre with the official World Youth Day cross and icon.
Center, FROM PAGE ONE
events, the site featured an impressive array
of programs on its main stage, including
morning Masses, catechesis, panel discussions
and addresses, musical performances,
and a eucharistic healing hour. The venue included
chapels for eucharistic adoration and
prayer, rooms for meetings and breakout
talks, exhibition halls, an Internet café, food,
opportunities for confession, and more.
“The beautiful thing about the Love and
Life Centre, an oasis in the middle of this
great city, is that it is a joint effort, and most
of this is being led by young adults who are
the alumni of World Youth Days,” said Basilian
Father Thomas Rosica, the head of Salt +
Light Television.
In addition to the pilgrims themselves and
Knights of Columbus college council members,
48 Sisters of Life were among the 250
volunteers at the site.
“The sisters are here to greet the pilgrims,
to meet with them and to share with them
their own walk with the Lord,” said Mother
Agnes Mary Donovan, superior general of
the Sisters of Life. “Our dream for this site
and our vision is that Jesus Christ and the
love of the Lord will be encountered here by
all of the young people who come. We’re
hoping that the English-speaking pilgrims
from all over the world will come and that
they will feel at home here.”
If the reactions of pilgrims were any indication,
then the Love and Life Centre accomplished
this goal magnificently. In
addition to listening to main-stage talks,
many visitors to the centre spent some time
in prayer at the site’s Blessed John Paul II
adoration chapel.
“Seeing young Catholics from all over the
world inspires me and gives me hope,” said
Jerome Smith, a member of the Young
Order of Malta. “There are a lot of wonderful
people here praying for the needs of the
world. We have been praying for our pilgrims,
who don’t have the same cognition as
you and I, but at the same time, they understand
the love of Christ. ... I felt that this afternoon
— a real acceptance for these people
who often aren’t accepted by society.”
Added Christel Sonnekalb, a regional director
of operations for World Youth Alliance:
“I’m so happy this was organized,
because it gives the English speakers the possibility
to gather at one place.” “So you
might have an Australian sitting next to you,
a Canadian, a South African, a Malaysian.
It’s just a very exciting experience. It’s the joy
of being all together and remembering that
we are a universal Church.”
For more details on the Order’s involvement
in World Youth Day 2011, please visit kofc.org
and wydenglishsite.org.
The popemobile carrying Pope Benedict XVI makes its
way through a throng of young people as the pope arrives
to celebrate the World Youth Day closing Mass at
Cuatro Vientos airfield in Madrid Aug. 21. (CNS
photo/Sergio Perez, Reuters)
pope, FROM PAGE 2
it upon themselves to decide what is true or
not, what is good and evil, what is just and unjust;
who should live and who can be sacrificed
in the interests of other preferences; leaving
each step to chance, with no clear path, letting
themselves be led by the whim of each moment.”
In this light, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged
the youth to build their lives upon “the firm
foundation which is Christ.” He said that the
freedom found in Christ is the “reason for our
joy” and “the firm ground upon which to build
the civilization of love and life, capable of humanizing
all of us.”
Finally, in anticipation of the Way of the
Cross, which took place through the streets of
Madrid the following day, the pope said, “I
commend the fruits of this World Youth Day to
the most holy Virgin Mary, who said ‘Yes’ to
the will of God and teaches us a unique example
of fidelity to her divine Son, whom she followed
to his death upon the Cross.”
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