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August 2011

August 20

Pope hears confessions in the park at WYD

August 20, 2011

MADRID — Pope Benedict XVI began his third day in Madrid by hearing confessions in one of 200 portable confessionals set up in a park for World Youth Day pilgrims. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the pope offered the sacrament of reconciliation to four World Youth Day volunteers: two young men and two young women. The pope heard the confessions of two in French, one in German and the confession of a Spaniard in Italian. While the pope used one of the same portable white confessionals that all penitents and priests in the park used, a white screen was placed around his to increase privacy. Organizers originally had said the pope would offer the sacrament to three young people.

At WYD vigil, pope encourages young people to use prayer to find their life’s vocation

August 20, 2011

MADRID - Hours after firefighters doused overheated pilgrims with much-needed jets of water, the heavens added to their efforts by driving rain and wind onto the more than 1 million young Catholics camping at Cuatro Vientos airbase Saturday night for the World Youth Day vigil. But the rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the pilgrims, who sang and chanted all the louder for Pope Benedict XVI, who entered the airbase to cheers and applause. The pope, however, skipped the longer speech he had prepared in favor of short addresses to pilgrims in Spanish, French, English, German, Italian, Portuguese and Polish. In the different languages, he told the young people to be proud of the gift of their faith they should “gather with others to deepen it, be faithful to the celebration of the Eucharist, the mystery of faith par excellence.” Pope Benedict asked that the youths, during the eucharistic adoration that followed, to “raise our minds and hearts to Jesus Christ” so he “may he pour out his Spirit upon us and upon the whole church, that we may be a beacon of freedom, reconciliation and peace for the whole world.” He encouraged them to seek out their life’s vocation and to “persevere in it with joy and fidelity, knowing that he never abandons you or betrays you.”

August 22

Quarter million pilgrims disappointed after being refused entry to papal Mass

August 22, 2011

MADRID, SPAIN - Hugo Lage had been looking forward to the papal vigil, overnight sleep and closing Mass at Cuatro Vientos aerodrome for months. It is, after all, the culmination of World Youth Day. But his experience couldn't have been further from what he was expecting. Lage was one of the estimated 250,000 pilgrims who were denied access to the Cuatro Vientos aerodome, despite having paid for seating. "I came from Brazil and this is the moment we're all waiting for," Lage, 21, told The Catholic Register. "I tried so hard to get my seating — near the front of the stage — and now I can't even get in the worst place to see the Pope."

Youth told to share the faith

August 22, 2011

MADRID, SPAIN - Pope Benedict XVI saw that 1.5 million young people could be buffeted by gusty winds and drenched by a driving rain and still fall silently to their knees to adore the Eucharist.

Locked out pilgrims make do with their own WYD closing Mass

August 22, 2011

MADRID, SPAIN - While 1.5 million pilgrims gathered at Cuatro Vientos airbase for the World Youth Day closing Mass, about 85 Canadian pass-holding pilgrims who were denied entry to the grounds because of overcrowding gathered in a hotel lobby to celebrate Mass and hear the words of Pope Benedict XVI. With a BlackBerry in hand, Toronto Auxiliary Bishop William McGrattan read the Pope's homily before the Pope himself had read it to the crowd at Cuatro Vientos. Despite a rough night for many pilgrims who were shut out due to volume, spirits were high at the hotel Mass. "Dear young friends, as the successor of Peter, let me urge you to strengthen the faith which has been handed down to us from the time of the Apostles," read Pope Benedict's homily. "Make Christ, the Son of God, the centre of your life." The homily also strongly emphasized that following Jesus means "walking at His side in the communion of the Church."

August 23

Pope tells young to build on their faith, share it with the world

August 23, 2011

Below is the homily of Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day 2011's closing mass in Madrid's Cuatro Vientos Air Base. Dear Young People, In this celebration of the Eucharist we have reached the high point of this World Youth Day. Seeing you here, gathered in such great numbers from all parts of the world, fills my heart with joy. I think of the special love with which Jesus is looking upon you. Yes, the Lord loves you and calls you his friends (cf. Jn 15:15). He goes out to meet you and he wants to accompany you on your journey, to open the door to a life of fulfilment and to give you a share in his own closeness to the Father. For our part, we have come to know the immensity of his love and we want to respond generously to his love by sharing with others the joy we have received. Certainly, there are many people today who feel attracted by the figure of Christ and want to know him better. They realize that he is the answer to so many of our deepest concerns. But who is he really? How can someone who lived on this earth so long ago have anything in common with me today? The Gospel we have just heard (cf. Mt 16:13-20) suggests two different ways of knowing Christ. The first is an impersonal knowledge, one based on current opinion. When Jesus asks: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”, the disciples answer: “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets”. In other words, Christ is seen as yet another religious figure, like those who came before him. Then Jesus turns to the disciples and asks them: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter responds with what is the first confession of faith: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. Faith is more than just empirical or historical facts; it is an ability to grasp the mystery of Christ’s person in all its depth. Yet faith is not the result of human effort, of human reasoning, but rather a gift of God: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven”. Faith starts with God, who opens his heart to us and invites us to share in his own divine life. Faith does not simply provide information about who Christ is; rather, it entails a personal relationship with Christ, a surrender of our whole person, with all our understanding, will and feelings, to God’s self-revelation. So Jesus’ question: “But who do you say that I am?”, is ultimately a challenge to the disciples to make a personal decision in his regard. Faith in Christ and discipleship are strictly interconnected.

Jack Layton's spiritual side revealed during battle with cancer

August 23, 2011

OTTAWA - Jack Layton was not religious but the former NDP leader is being remembered as a deeply spiritual man whose commitment to a caring society had a Christian foundation.

Memories of Madrid #4 - Darrell Vekasi

August 23, 2011

World Youth Day - Memories of Madrid [images/stories/ysn/ysn11/wyd2011_logo-300x300.jpg]Please, as we are called, go to a World Youth Day/s, if you are able to! Thank you Jesus, God, and Pope Benedict, for a safe trip for all and myself. I have become closer and more knowledgeable of my faith and God because of many opportunities. I also enjoyed the unique aspects of Italy, my host in Cintruenigo, during Days of the Diocese, as well as Madrid, the World Youth Day host. "Joy" was referenced by the Archbishop during a Catechesis session. Jesus. Others. Yourself. World Youth Day in Madrid, has provided wonderful memories, you and I need to now daily keep active and apply to others, for the next 20 years and the rest of our lives! Daily, we are tested and with the help of God, we are able to make positive decisions. With Jesus, we experienced the most precious Madrid Memories. My most memorable, the second day of Catechesis, on the Thursday, as I cried and saw my Father very clearly, who passed away many years ago, after as he always said, carried his Cross. The music before, during, and after Communion moved me greatly as I prayed. Also, I am very happy to have been chosen last year with my Sister to be Godparents. What happiness, to have seen the Vatican, the Sistene Chapel, Cintruenigo, and the events of World Youth Day, in Madrid, as well as daily morning and evening prayer.

Memories of Madrid #3 - Katrina Read

August 23, 2011

World Youth Day - Memories of Madrid [images/stories/ysn/ysn11/wyd2011_logo-300x300.jpg]My name is Katrina Read and I have just experienced my first World Youth Day. I didn’t know what to expect, I figured if nothing else it would be a free trip to Spain but it was so much more. I never realised there were so many practicing Catholics my age. The people I normally associate with are Catholic but not to the extent of the people I met on this pilgrimage. It was refreshing to be around a group of young people whose faith was so strong, I could ask questions and their answers were always so pure and honest, so straightforward, there was no arguing with them. I don’t know when exactly it happened, but one day I woke up and more than anything I wanted to go to mass. My perspective on so many issues had changed. I had been learning new things about my faith since the beginning, but didn’t realise it until I went to “Theology of the body”. “Theology of the body” was my favourite lecture on the pilgrimage. It was very inspiring and the speaker was captivating. Witnessing people in my parish grow in their faith was exciting, we had all matured so much in our faith.

Memories of Madrid #2 - Stefanie Romano

August 23, 2011

World Youth Day - Memories of Madrid [images/stories/ysn/ysn11/wyd2011_logo-300x300.jpg]Today was the opening day of World Youth Days Madrid!!!!! Alleluia!! The pilgrims were excited to make it over to the Love and Life Center at the Palacio in downtown Madrid bright and early for the Canadian welcome, and as we got closer and closer, we found more and more english speaking pilgrims! The day was full of welcoming introductions and I ran into an array of my Toronto friends speaking at the podium and working behind the scenes. I was very proud to tell my pilgrims about the Salt and Light connection in Toronto. The day was focused towards the Opening Mass in Cibelas Square at 8pm. The subway trains were rammed like sardines in a can, but it is nothing that us WYD troopers aren't used to, so we walked 45 minutes to our destination. Encountering different countries with their flags, we joyfully and energetically join in on their cheers. That is the language that breaks all barriers during world youth days --- enthusiasm! Even on our most tiring walk, our energy flows out of us like a river. When we arrived at Plaza Cibeles, our spot on the street was more than 1km away from the altar. We had to watch on a large screen. It was beautiful to sit on a crowded street surrounded with different countries chanting their favourite chants. Whats more, is that they were all there to listen to God`s word.

Memories of Madrid #1 - Alycia Rodrigues

August 23, 2011

World Youth Day - Memories of Madrid [images/stories/ysn/ysn11/wyd2011_logo-300x300.jpg]On Aug. 7, I embarked on a pilgrimage to Madrid with a group of 96 youth from the archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Catholic Youth (OCY). During our two-week journey through Rome, Cintruenigo, Spain (for Days in the Diocese), and Madrid, there were numerous ups and downs. On our last night in Madrid, our leaders asked all the pilgrims in our group to reflect on the highs and lows of the experience; the memories that I take away with me are undeniably founded on those very moments. My lowest point of the pilgrimage was near the end: the night of the papal vigil. My group and I spent the afternoon walking 13 km under the oppressive Spanish sun in 47 C heat. When we finally arrived at Cuatro Vientos, the vigil site, we were exhausted, hungry, thirsty and anxious to enter the gates, to see the Pope and to get some rest. To our dismay, we were informed that Gate 2 was closed and that we would have to continue walking to Gate 3. Upon our arrival there, we learned that it, too, was closed and, further, there was no more room for pilgrims. As the result of poor organization and security, we found ourselves unsure of what to do in what seemed like a desolate, barren desert. This was not the first disappointment we experienced on pilgrimage, and many of us felt like this was a breaking point; while we understood that it would not be safe to camp outside the gates, we did not want to leave. I remember looking around at my fellow pilgrims feeling heartbroken and worried.

Memories of Madrid #5 - Ken Ramiro

August 23, 2011

St Barnabas Church in Scarborough helped represent Canada at WYD in Madrid. We couldn't walk a meter without being stopped by other pilgrims for photos and memories. Young Catholics from all over the world gathered to encounter Christ and His Church. I told a pilgrim from Hong Kong that they should host WYD one time for the intentions of the Church in China, and she replied that one day WYD will be in Beijing! What great faith!

August 24

On not bracketing essentials during moral battles

August 24, 2011

Today, both within society and the churches, we are finding it ever more difficult to resolve our differences because our conversations are shot through with non-civility, name calling, character assassination and disrespect. What’s particularly worrying is that we are doing this in the name of truth, cause, the Gospel and Jesus. We are giving ourselves permission to hate, demonize and disrespect each other in God’s name. Our cause seems so important to us that, consciously or unconsciously, we give ourselves permission to bracket some of the essentials of Christian charity, namely, respect, graciousness, love and forgiveness. This is wrong: No cause allows me to exempt myself from fundamental charity, even if I see myself as a “warrior for truth.” There is a Gospel imperative to fight for truth and ultimately we all need to be prophets who fight for what is right; but even war has its ethics. Even in war (perhaps especially in war) disrespect may never be rationalized on the basis of claiming that God is on our side. Indeed, if God is on our side we should radiate respect for others.

Robert Brehl: Searching for answers in this summer’s reading

August 24, 2011

Two-thirds through, few could argue that 2011 has been a good year. What with global economic turmoil, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Middle East unrest, famine in Africa, rioting through Britain (and Vancouver), a child-hunting mass murderer in Norway, continued child abuse scandals within the Church, and despair ladled generously at almost any turn. I am not a pessimist. Really, I’m not. I am not, as Oscar Wilde said, one who when given a choice of two evils picks both. I am just trying to raise my spiritual and moral understanding during these troubling times. I doubt I am unique; merely an average person. (In fact, I was once described as a schmoe by one of my friends. An apt description, even if it came from an atheist.) I am no scholar and I am no theologian. I am a husband and a father living in suburbia. But, probably like you, I often wonder why things happen. Why were those innocent little children hunted down and mercilessly killed in Norway? Where was God’s protection? Why can’t we get food to those hungry children in Africa?

Libya’s rebel leader denies claims of Islamic extremists in group

August 24, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya - The head of Libya’s rebel forces, on the verge of taking the capital city of Tripoli, said dictator Moammar Gadhafi had tried to scare people by saying that Islamic extremists were part of the rebel movement. Mustafa Abdel-Jalil called on all Libyans to respect the lives of others and urged the rebels to show the world that Libya is a country of “religiously moderate” people. “Moammar Gadhafi will be remembered and his period of rule through the acts that he committed against the rebels and the world,” he said Aug. 22. “But God has chosen that Gadhafi’s end should be at the hands of these youths, so that they can join the Arab Spring that is going around the Arab nations. And now I say with all transparency that the era of Gadhafi is over,” he said.

Hospice need is recognized, but little done to address it

August 24, 2011

TORONTO - For six years, the Toronto Commandery Foundation has been trying to find a site for a hospice that will allow terminally ill people to die with dignity. But as the foundation has discovered, though everyone seems to agree on the need, no one wants to address it. The foundation, a charity established with the co-operation of the Order of St. Lazarus, has spent its entire existence searching and negotiating for a site in North York to host a 10-bed end-of-life care facility. Though unsuccessful so far, there are no plans to stop looking any time soon. “We’ve got all these oncologists saying we need a hospice, but there’s just nowhere for them to go,” said Jacqueline Wood, director of the foundation. The Toronto Commandery Foundation was created out of this need, shared by a vast majority of Canadians. According to the Canadian Palliative Care Association, three-quarters of the 220,000 Canadians who die every year are in hospital or long-term care, while only 15 per cent have access to palliative or hospice care. On average, the cost of a bed in a hospice per day is $439, while a bed in a hospital or long-term care is nearly double.

WYD pilgrims show faith in the Church

August 24, 2011

MADRID, SPAIN - This World Youth Day, I have been given the gift of reflection. I had known the theme for World Youth Day Madrid for months before my departure: “Rooted and built up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith.” But only after being here do I appreciate its meaning and importance. We have to be firm in our faith because it’s so easy to be distracted in today’s world. Our priorities are out of order as we discern between what we want to be and what society tells us we should be. Money, prestige, a “perfect” outward appearance: these are all things the media tells us matter most. Firm in our faith, we can challenge these fallacies. A strong faith will give us an anchor on which to root ourselves when the tides get rough. “Make God the centre of your life,” Pope Benedict XVI said in his homily at the closing Mass. We have to make a conscious effort to put God at the top of our priority list.

Here comes the Pope

August 24, 2011

MADRID, SPAIN - The papal welcome ceremony at Plaza de Cibeles Aug. 19 was easily one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I ended up being only a few feet away from Pope Benedict XVI as he passed through the streets of Madrid in the Popemobile. Although it all feels like one big blur, here is a breakdown of what led up to the day’s grand finale. 1:27 p.m.: After meeting with the Office of Catholic Youth group, the leaders told us we needed to get to Cibeles as soon as possible in order to secure good seats. With a big Canadian flag being held up high to lead the way, we started walking very briskly. This soon turned into running through the streets. When we got to the front entrance, half our group made it in but the other half (my half) was stopped by police and told we had to enter the square via a different route. We changed our route and kept on running. 2:25 p.m.: We made it in. After changing our location three or four times, we re-locate to a spot near the papal route (where Pope Benedict would pass — so we were told — in the Popemobile before the ceremony). 3:05 p.m.: Reality kicks in. We realize we have about five hours to wait before the Pope arrives. We are directly in the sun and sitting down on the ground is not a good option — without a towel or mat the ground is extremely hot. I lather on SPF 60 sunscreen and begin the countdown.

OCY re-enacts WYD experience in Midland

August 24, 2011

MIDLAND, Ont. - Madrid wasn’t the only place where Catholic youth were gathered in force on a rainy, hot August weekend. At Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ont., another group of young Catholics made its own pilgrimage. And while it didn’t boast World Youth Day’s attendance of nearly a million and a half pilgrims, the Office of Catholic (OCY) Rally was still alive with the faith of the young. The annual rally, which ran from Aug. 19-21 this year, brought together about 600 Catholic youth ages 14-35 for a high-energy weekend of prayer, music, celebration and fun. “It gives them a chance to feel like they’re connected to the universal Church,” said John Dawson, program co-ordinator and music director of the OCY. “Young people all over the world are celebrating at the same time.” In fact, as pilgrims in Spain were walking the Stations of the Cross on the evening of Aug. 19, so were the young people in Midland — separated only by the six-hour time difference. Masses were celebrated at the same time of day, by Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid and Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins in Midland. The two events also shared the same theme, “Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith.” The rally truly had WYD pegged down to a tee, even right down to the thunderstorms on the Saturday. But the Midland pilgrims — like those in Spain — didn’t let harsh weather dampen their spirits.

Dr. McCann cared for most vulnerable

August 24, 2011

There was never a time Dr. David McCann didn’t believe and never a time he didn’t know what he believed. Until he died Aug. 8 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer, the McMaster University associate professor of family medicine and expert in disaster relief operations only believed more and more — in God, his Church, his family and the inviolable sacredness of life. The 50-year-old doctor leaves his wife Donna and five children. He also leaves a sort of second family in the Florida One Disaster Medical Assistance Team. McCann was its chief medical officer despite having moved away from Georgia to Hamilton, Ont., in 2007. A dual citizen, Dr. McCann had joined the emergency response team not long after working with survivors of the 9/11 terror attacks. He responded annually to hurricanes in the United States and to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.