It has been an eventful week. As we turn up the heat on the language studies, we have been graced by a Heat of new kind here in Assisi.
As seminarians we are used to sticking out, especially when we go places in a group. People just seem to know that we are seminarians. But the past couple weeks all of the seminarians we have been with here have been noticing another group that has stuck out even more than we do. It started with a few sightings last week, but now has grown into an atmosphere that has gripped the city.
Everywhere we go these days we see them, World Youth Day pilgrims! Teens from around the world on their way to Madrid, Spain to celebrate with each other, and the Holy Father, the joy of the Christian life. All of their pilgrimages end in Madrid, but for many Assisi
is a prayerful stop on the way. And we are beneficiaries of their stop. Their energy and joy is absolutely contagious. They witness, even to us seminaries, to the vitality and youthfulness of the Church today. For in the midst of our studies, travel and just the rut of community life, these teen are a beautify reminder of the zeal for which the Gospel calls.
In a more personal way, Fernando and I have been refreshed by the fire of faith of Phoenix pilgrims as they passed through. We were able to have a short, yet wonderful, lunch with some of the pilgrims from St. Joan of Arc Parish, a couple brother Phoenix seminarians (Jimmy Wraith and Ryan Lee), and Fr. Thielo Ramirez. We also were on the look out for Most Holy Trinity pilgrims, but unfortunately missed them, though we remain with them in prayer on their journey.
This time with our fellow Phoenicians was important to us to rekindle the zeal for the work we are doing here. Now more than ever, the reasons and people for which we go through seminary courses and formation can seem so far away, and so we are particularly grateful for their presence in Assisi with us.
Furthermore, they, and all the World Youth Day pilgrims, are joyful reminder of what our life in this world is: a pilgrimage of love and joy towards the everlasting celebration, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. All of us are in via, on the Way, and must in prayer discern how we are to follow this way and grow ever more like the Son. It is so easy to forget and let slip into the background, but what joy is to be found in being conscious of the Lord’s call to us to live out a life of grace. And it is His Grace that will strengthen us on this pilgrimage and draw us ever close to Himself, the Sun by whose burning love we are set on fire!
I hope this video of World Youth Day over the years will provide inspiration for all of you, young and old, to recall in prayer the joy of the Gospel message and the call you have received to live it in your own lives. May St. Lawrence, on whose feast day I am writing this, and the all the martyrs, whose blood became the seeds of faith for the world, pray for us as we long to live in His love on our pilgrim way.
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