TODAY'S YOUTH CELEBRATE

This month we had our local youth here to help with haying, building and praying. Some will be going to Poland at the end of the month for WYD and then on to other shrines in Europe such as Lourdes in France and  Santiago de Compostela in Spain. We know from the past that the youth never return the same. The experience is life changing for them. We pray this year's youth have the same deepening of their faith. Having visited Kraków some years ago (and attending early morning Mass in the Cathedral of Pope  St. John Paul II), I can say that this burial site of many saints is a wondrous place to visit and pray in.

WORLD YOUTH DAY 2016 (WYD 2016) is an international Catholic event focused on faith and youth, due to be celebrated from July 25–31, 2016 in Kraków, Poland, organized by the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis announced at the end of the closing Mass of the previous World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro that Kraków, Poland will be the venue for World Youth Day 2016. This will be the second World Youth Day hosted by Poland, the first being the World Youth Day 1991 held in Czestochowa.  World Youth Day began with Pope  St. John Paul II's invitation to young people in 1984 to come to Rome for Palm Sunday. More than 300,000 turned out for the celebration. The following year coincided with the United Nations International Year of Youth. Then on December 20, the Holy Father announced the first official WYD meeting for 1986. The 2016 World Youth Day in Kraków will mark 30-years since first official World Youth Day gathering.

Kraków

World Youth Day played a special role in Pope St. John Paul II's papacy, and both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have carried on the World Youth Days instituted by the saint – as a symbol of hope for young people. 2.5 million people are expected.

According to Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Metropolitan Bishop of the Diocese of Kraków, World Youth Day 2016 will be particularly significant as a tribute to Pope St. John Paul II, founder of the World Youth Day, as Kraków was his home. As he is such a popular saint in Poland, canonized on 27 April 2014, Cardinal Dziwisz said that the news of hosting another World Youth Day in Poland has been met with "enthusiasm", and all Catholic dioceses in Poland will be supporting the event. 

Special activities will relate to the Saint's devotion to the Merciful Jesus (Divine Mercy) based on St. Mary Faustina Kowalska’s apparitions and message. 

Wawel Cathedral

“God, merciful Father,
in your Son, Jesus Christ, you have revealed your love
and poured it out upon us in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, 
We entrust to you today the destiny of the world and of every man and woman”. 
We entrust to you in a special way 
young people of every language, people and nation:
guide and protect them as they walk the complex paths of the world today
and give them the grace to reap abundant fruits 
from their experience of the Krakow World Youth Day.

Heavenly Father, 
grant that we may bear witness to your mercy.
Teach us how to convey the faith to those in doubt,
hope to those who are discouraged,
love to those who feel indifferent, 
forgiveness to those who have done wrong
and joy to those who are unhappy.
Allow the spark of merciful love 
that you have enkindled within us 
become a fire that can transform hearts 
and renew the face of the earth.

Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray for us.
Saint John Paul II, pray for us.
Saint Faustina, pray for us.