World Youth Day

World Youth Day 2013, Brazil, via The Huffington Post

There’s an amazing cascade of photographs and posts on Twitter (example here). Many excited people from all over the globe are embarking on a long journey.

About two million students and young adults are heading to Krakow, Poland, for World Youth Day. 40,000 Americans are going, including one of our children. Pope Francis will be there.

World Youth Day is a spiritual pilgrimage. It’s not a holiday. The young people raise funds for their trip and also get together every week or two in small groups. When there, attendees walk many miles. They bring sleeping bags, and, on the Saturday night event, will sleep outside. The schedule is here.

I’ve never been. Those who go nearly always say that the experience was pivotal and transformative. They say it is physically challenging and can be uncomfortable. But, it is eye-opening to meet people from all walks of life and from around the globe. And, they pray a lot.

So, I’ll be keeping an eye on World Youth Day via social media. And, I’m looking forward to hearing an up-close-and-personal recounting in a few weeks.

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