From July 31 to August 10, 2016, representatives from Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Philippines have joined the 2nd Meeting of the SCJ Young Priests in Indonesia. Besides the common activities, the participants are given the opportunity to visit some important and interesting places of SCJ presence and of the host country. The SCJ Philippine Region is represented by: Fr. Marlo N. Piloton, Fr. Christoper C. Alburo and Fr. Joseph D. Muego.
On July 28, 2016, the Philippine delegation visited the “Have No Fear!” Centre of John Paul II and Divine Mercy Shrine in Łagiewniki, Kraków.
The long time private secretary of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, put forward a proposal to build a center to commemorate the Holy Father. The idea was to create a place of prayer, education and voluntary service, a place for meetings and exchanging views.
As its motto, the Centre has the words of Pope John Paul II, spoken during the inauguration of his pontificate: “Have no fear! Open wide the door for Jesus Christ.”
The construction started in 2008 and has included: Saint John Paull II Sanctuary, John Paul II Institute, a volunteer center, a hotel and a pilgrim’s guest house, a retreat center, an amphitheater, outdoor Stations of the Cross, a rehabilitation center, a meditation and recreation park and other facilities.
The Sanctuary is a truly unique place. It is located on two levels. The upper part is formed by the main church, while the lower part houses by the Relic Church, surrounded by numerous thematic chapels. Among the relics and mementos of Saint John Paul II there are e.g.: an ampule with the Pope’s blood placed in a marble altar, a papal pastoral cross, papal chasuble and the cross in front of which Saint John Paul II prayed during his last Way of the Cross in the Roman Colosseum.
Among the many symbols, it is worth paying attention to the Sacredotal Chapel, modelled on Saint Leonard’s Crypt at the Wawel Royal Castle. There, one can find the slab from the first tomb of Saint John Paul II in the Vatican Grottoes.
It is worth noting that the Centre is located in Krakow (Cracow), between Łagiewniki and Borek Fałęcki, in the place of the old Solvay plants, in which Karol Wojtyła used to work during World War II as a factory worker.
The Sanctuary of Divine Mercy is situated in buildings of monastery of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, which was founded in 1891 as A. Lubomirski’s Foundation for girls and women in need of moral renewal.
In period between world wars in this Monastery lived and died Saint M. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), through Saint Faustina Lord Christ gave the message of the Divine Mercy to the Church and to the whole world. It sheds light on the mystery of the Divine Mercy, calls to put trust in God and have merciful attitude towards neighbors and also to proclaim and pray for Divine Mercy for whole world through practicing new forms of worship of the Divine Mercy (the Divine Mercy Image, the Divine Mercy Sunday, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Hour of Mercy).
In 1943 Father J. Andrasz SI the Cracow confessor of Faustina blessed the first Divine Mercy Image painted by A. Hyła, offered as ex-voto, thanksgiving to God for saving his family during war, and initiated solemn masses honoring the Divine Mercy.
The image quickly became well-know for many graces, the number of pilgrims has grown each year, considering also the pilgrims visiting the Sister Faustina’s tomb.
Very dynamic expansion of worship of the Divine Mercy was launched by the beatification of Sister’s Faustina (18th of April 1993) and her canonisation (30th of April 2000), and also thanks to pilgrimages of John Paul II to Łagiewniki (1997 and 2002). It caused the extension of the Sanctuary i.a. building a new church – basilica, that was consecrated on 17th of August 2002 by Pope John Paul II in 2002. In this place Pope solemnly entrusted the world to the Divine Mercy.
In the afternoon, the Dehonian group from the Philippines, together with other pilgrims, joined the first official encounter with the Holy Father, at a ceremony in Błonia, Kraków.
Below is the English translation of Pope Francis’ prepared address, given in Italian, following a welcome from the archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz:
Dear Young Friends, good evening!
At last we are together! Thank you for your warm welcome! I thank Cardinal Dziwisz, the bishops, priests, men and women religious, the seminarians and those who have accompanied you. I am also grateful to all those who made it possible for us to be here today, who “went the extra mile” so that we could celebrate our faith.
In this, the land of his birth, I especially want to thank Saint John Paul II, who first came up with the idea of these meetings and gave them such momentum. From his place in heaven, he is with us and he sees all of you: so many young people from such a variety of nations, cultures and languages but with one aim, that of rejoicing that Jesus is living in our midst. To say that Jesus is alive means to rekindle our enthusiasm in following him, to renew our passionate desire to be his disciples. What better opportunity to renew our friendship with Jesus than by building friendships among yourselves! What better way to build our friendship with Jesus than by sharing him with others! What better way to experience the contagious joy of the Gospel than by striving to bring the Good News to all kinds of painful and difficult situations!
Jesus called us to this Thirty-first World Youth Day. Jesus tells us: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy (Mt 5:7). Blessed indeed are they who can forgive, who show heartfelt compassion, who are capable of offering the very best of themselves to others.
Dear young people, in these days Poland is in a festive mood; in these days Poland wants to be the ever-youthful face of mercy. From this land, with you and all those young people who cannot be present today yet join us through the various communications media, we are going to make this World Youth Day an authentic Jubilee celebration.
In my years as a bishop, I have learned one thing. Nothing is more beautiful than seeing the enthusiasm, dedication, zeal and energy with which so many young people live their lives. When Jesus touches a young person’s heart, he or she becomes capable of truly great things. It is exciting to listen to you share your dreams, your questions and your impatience with those who say that things cannot change. For me, it is a gift of God to see so many of you, with all your questions, trying to make a difference. It is beautiful and heartwarming to see all that restlessness! Today the Church looks to you and wants to learn from you, to be reassured that the Father’s Mercy has an ever-youthful face, and constantly invites us to be part of his Kingdom.
Knowing your enthusiasm for mission, I repeat: mercy always has a youthful face! Because a merciful heart is motivated to move beyond its comfort zone. A merciful heart can go out and meet others; it is ready to embrace everyone. A merciful heart is able to be a place of refuge for those who are without a home or have lost their home; it is able to build a home and a family for those forced to emigrate; it knows the meaning of tenderness and compassion. A merciful heart can share its bread with the hungry and welcome refugees and migrants. To say the word “mercy” along with you is to speak of opportunity, future, commitment, trust, openness, hospitality, compassion and dreams.
Let me tell you another thing I have learned over these years. It pains me to meet young people who seem to have opted for “early retirement”. I worry when I see young people who have “thrown in the towel” before the game has even begun, who are defeated even before they begin to play, who walk around glumly as if life has no meaning. Deep down, young people like this are bored… and boring! But it is also hard, and troubling, to see young people who waste their lives looking for thrills or a feeling of being alive by taking dark paths and in the end having to pay for it… and pay dearly. It is disturbing to see young people squandering some of the best years of their lives, wasting their energies running after peddlers of fond illusions (where I come from, we call them “vendors of smoke”), who rob you of what is best in you.
We are gathered here to help one another other, because we do not want to be robbed of the best of ourselves. We don’t to be robbed of our energy, our joy, our dreams by fond illusions.
So I ask you: Are you looking for empty thrills in life, or do you want to feel a power that can give you a lasting sense of life and fulfilment? Empty thrills or the power of grace? To find fulfilment, to gain new strength, there is a way. It is not a thing or an object, but a person, and he is alive. His name is Jesus Christ.
Jesus can give you true passion for life. Jesus can inspire us not to settle for less, but to give the very best of ourselves. Jesus challenges us, spurs us on and helps us keep trying whenever we are tempted to give up. Jesus pushes us to keep our sights high and to dream of great things.
In the Gospel, we heard how Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, stopped at a home – the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus – and was welcomed. He stopped, went in and spent time with them. The two women welcomed him because they knew he was open and attentive. Our many jobs and responsibilities can make us a bit like Martha: busy, scattered, constantly running from place to place… but we can also be like Mary: whenever we see a beautiful landscape, or look at a video from a friend on our cellphone, we can stop and think, stop and listen… In these days, Jesus wants to stop and enter our home. He will look at us hurrying about with all our concerns, as he did with Martha… and he will wait for us to listen to him, like Mary, to make space for him amid the bustle. May these be days given over to Jesus and to listening to one another. May they help us welcome Jesus in all those with whom we share our homes, our neighborhoods, our groups and our schools.
Whoever welcomes Jesus, learns to love as Jesus does. So he asks us if we want a full life: Do you want a complete life? Start by letting yourself be open and attentive! Because happiness is sown and blossoms in mercy. That is his answer, his offer, his challenge, his adventure: mercy. Mercy always has a youthful face. Like that of Mary of Bethany, who sat as a disciple at the feet of Jesus and joyfully listened to his words, since she knew that there she would find peace. Like that of Mary of Nazareth, whose daring “Yes” launched her on the adventure of mercy. All generations would call her blessed; to all of us she is the “Mother of Mercy”.
All together, then, we ask the Lord: “Launch us on the adventure of mercy! Launch us on the adventure of building bridges and tearing down walls, barriers and barbed wire. Launch us on the adventure of helping the poor, those who feel lonely and abandoned, or no longer find meaning in their lives. Send us, like Mary of Bethany, to listen attentively to those we do not understand, those of other cultures and peoples, even those we are afraid of because we consider them a threat. Make us attentive to our elders, as Mary of Nazareth was to Elizabeth, in order to learn from their wisdom.
Here we are, Lord! Send us to share your merciful love. We want to welcome you in our midst during this World Youth Day. We want to affirm that our lives are fulfilled when they are shaped by mercy, for that is the better part, and it will never be taken from us.
On his first night in Krakow Pope Francis was already stirring things up with participants in WYD by hosting an off-the-cuff Q and A and telling them to ‘make chaos’ by spreading the joy of their faith.
“You must do your duty and make chaos all night. Show your Christian joy, the joy the Lord gave you to be in the community who follows Jesus,” the Pope told those participating in World Youth Day after arriving to Krakow July 27.
He spoke from the balcony of the Bishop’s Palace, telling the thousands of youth gathered below not to be afraid, but to have faith and spread the joy that comes from following Christ.
Pope Francis is currently in Krakow for this July 27-31 trip to Poland for WYD. Every night when he comes back to the city after the day’s activities, Francis is set to appear on the palace balcony to address youth gathered below.
The tradition was initiated by St. John Paul II, who spoke to youth from the balcony every time he visited his homeland as Pope. It was continued by Benedict XVI when he visited Poland in 2006, and is now being carried on by Francis.
In his brief speech, the Pope first recalled the story of a young man who had studied graphic design for just over two years, but decided to leave his studies in order to volunteer for WYD.
He immediately put his talents to use, designing all of the banners that currently decorate the streets of Krakow in honor of WYD, the Pope said, noting that “images of the patron saints” found on practically every street – St. John Paul II and St. Maria Faustina Kowalska – were done by this young man.
In the process of his work for WYD, the youth rediscovered his faith, but was diagnosed with cancer in November, Pope Francis recalled. He noted how the doctors had amputated the young man’s leg in an effort to save his life, but it didn’t work, and the cancer continued to spread.
This young man “wanted to live through the Pope’s visit” and had even reserved a place on the Krakow tram that the Pope will take later in the week with sick and disabled youth as his special passengers. However, the young man didn’t make it, and died July 2.
“He did a lot of good for everyone,” Francis said, leading the youth below in a moment of silent prayer for the young man who died.
“We must get used to the good things and the bad things. Life is like this, dear young people,” he said, while stressing that “there is something we cannot doubt: the faith of this young man, of our friend, who worked so much for this WYD.”
After leading the youth in a round of applause for the example of the young man, he urged them to give thanks to the Lord “because he gives us examples of courage, of courageous youth who help us to go forward in life.”
“Don’t be afraid, God is great, God is good, and all of us have something good,” he said, and bid the youth farewell before telling them to “make chaos” all night in a show of their Christian joy.
Before going to the balcony, Pope Francis connected virtually with Italian youth participating in WYD as part of the July 26-29 youth festival, during which the youth show their culture through performances, singing, and dancing.
During the conversation, Pope Francis took questions from three Italian youth who gave their testimonies and asked a question afterwards.
He spoke to the first young person of the importance of knowing how to keep going in both good and bad moments, explaining that joy helps saves us from being “neurotic.”
The Pope then heard the testimony of Andrea, a 15-year-old from the Diocese of Bergamo who was teased growing up. As a result she attempted suicide at the age of 13. However, when she was recovering in the hospital she realized that there was nothing wrong with her, but rather with those who teased her, and that she was stronger than she thought.
While she has moved beyond that period in her life, Andrea said she still feels the pain and finds it hard to let go, and asked the Pope how she can learn to completely forgive the people who teased her.
In his response, the Pope said that cruelty is a common problem among children, and even adults. “Children are cruel many times, and they have that capacity to hurt you where it will do the most damage,” he said, noting that cruelty is the “base of all wars.”
This cruelty “kills even the good name of another,” he said, and warned against the “terrorism of gossip.”
“Gossip is terrorism,” Francis said, explaining that when a person gossips, “it destroys the dignity, the fame of a person.” To gossip, he added, is like “throwing a bomb” that explodes and destroys everything around it.
Pope Francis said this temptation is something that must be overcome with peace and forgiveness, but noted that to forgive “isn’t easy, because one can say ‘I forgive, but I don’t forget.’”
“You always carry with you the hurt of this cruelty,” he said, explaining that to completely forgive someone for harm done “is a grace that we have to ask the Lord for. By ourselves we can’t, but we have to ask the lord to give us the grace to forgive, to forgive our enemies.”
The final question Francis received was from a group of youth and a priest who had been in Munich Feb. 22 when an 18-year-old German teenager of Iranian descent killed nine people and injured nearly 30 others after opening fire at the city’s Olympia shopping mall.
After they were forced to cut their trip short and head home, the group still managed to make it to WYD, and asked the Pope how youth can spread peace in a world filled with hate.
In reply, Pope Francis spoke of the difference between peace and hate, explaining that peace always builds bridges, whereas hatred only builds walls.
“We all have a decision to make in life: do I build bridges, or do I build walls?” he said, noting that bridges unite, whereas walls divide.
“In our daily lives the ability to build a bridge when you extend your hand to a friend, you make a bridge. But when you hit, hurt another, you build a wall. Hate always grows with walls,” he said, noting that many times when we reach out our hand to build a bridge, we’re left hanging.
He said there are certain “humiliations” like this that we’ll have to experience in order to truly walk the path of unity, but stressed that we must “always build bridges.”
As the youth gathered to speak to him took up one another’s hands in a concrete show of unity, Francis closed by emphasizing that “we must build bridges, not allow ourselves to fall on the ground. No. Always seek the way to build bridges.”
Source: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/in-first-balcony-talk-pope-tells-youth-to-make-chaos-43526/
All of the pilgrims from different SCJ parishes around the world are already in Poland. Prior to the main celebration of the World Youth Day in Krakow they met together in Pliszczyn.
One of the first groups of young people, that arrived in Pliszczyn, were the Canadians from Toronto. They were followed by the young people from Brazil, Indonesia, Spain, Germany, Philippines, Slovakia and from the SCJ parish in Houston in the United States.
In Pliszczyn there were: warm welcome of the delegates, presentations, prayer and the Eucharist, fun, shared meals and tours. Most of the young people from Spain, Italy, Albania and Portugal, were accommodated by foster families from the Good Shepherd Parish in Lublin.
In Lublin, they have learned about the history of the city and visited the former concentration camp at Majdanek.
Most of them visited the open-air Village Museum and the Catholic University of Lublin, where once a lecturer was Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. They listened to the story of Professor Fr. Andrzej Szostak about the history of the university and its relationship with the Pope from Krakow. They also met at the roadside shrines located in the area of Pliszczyn with the local population and together they participated in the Holy Mass.
On Saturday, July 23, 2016, the young people took part in the central event of World Youth Day of the Diocese of Lublin at the Arena Stadium under the slogan: “Kraków begins in Lublin.” They arrived at the stadium through the city streets in a grand and colorful parade. On the site they saw the presentation about Abraham and the staging of the history of Lublin, which seven hundred year foundation falls next year. The main point of this Prayer and Art event was the solemn Eucharist presided by the Ordinary of the Diocese of Lublin, Archbishop Stanislaw Budzik.
On Sunday, the youth from Pliszczyn and Lublin went to Stadniki, where the Sacred Heart Seminary is located and where they were joined by other delegations, namely from Moldova, Finland and France.
On July 25, 2016, the young people met with the General Superior of the Congregation of the Priests of the sacred Heart of Jesus, Very Rev. Fr. Heiner Wilmer, SCJ.
The Philippine group is being accompanied by Fr. Andrzej Sudoł, SCJ, a former missionary in the Philippines and in charge of the Dehonian Youth, who designed the program of their visit and took care about all details including transportation, accommodation and sightseeing trips.
World Youth Day is a youth-oriented International event that takes place every two to three years. The event itself is a celebration of Catholic Faith among the world’s youth, but the invitation is extended to youth of all the world regardless of religious convictions. World Youth Day was initiated by St. Pope John Paul II in 1985 with the first encounter being held in Rome in 1986.
Each international World Youth Day attracts thousands of young people from around the world to gather in a festival of unity and color. World Youth Day is not just a day, but a week of festival, celebrating the faith of young people. World Youth Day presents an opportunity for young people of different cultures and backgrounds to come together and share in the faith and culture of others. It has become tradition that the groups of young people carry various colors, flags and symbols to distinguish who they are and where they come from. This is also done through songs, chants and music. Throughout the course of the event, young people trade these symbols, flags and colors to keep as souvenirs of their time at World Youth Day and as memories of the people they met.
Although World Youth Day has become a week of celebration, the pinnacle of the festival is the open air mass held by the Pope on the last day. This is officially ‘The World Youth Day’. All the other activities are a build up to this event. The smiles and joy, singing and dancing, culture upon culture and nation upon nation, proudly holding flags high, greeting one another, trading tokens, humbly realizing how small we are in a world of people, and strengthened to witness so many who share our faith with all its difficulties and challenges, is all part of the build up to this massive International Mass, celebrating youth with their enthusiasm and joy.
There have been a total of 12 International World Youth Days since 1986. The most recent World Youth Day was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2013.
Since the WYD in Cologne in 2005, the Dehonian Youth from around the world meets together to share the richness of the spirituality of Venerable Fr. Leo Dehon and simply to celebrate. As this year, the World Youth Day is held in Krakow, Poland, the representatives from different countries are gathered around the centers of SCJ presence in different parts of the country. The youth connected with the SCJ Philippine Region is composed of 17 young people plus 3 priests and 1 SCJ seminarian. After arrival in Warsaw on July 20, 2016 and visiting some interesting places there, the group moved to Pliszczyn, Diocese of Lublin, where the SCJs have their parish and Postulancy house. After some common activities and visiting countryside they will move to Stadniki and then to Krakow to participate in the Vigil and the Mass with Pope Francis on July 30-31, 2016. The participants from the Philippines will also have an opportunity to visit some important places before their departure for the Philippines on August 9, 2016.
SCJ Philippines Region 