Editor's note: This is the final part of a four-column series. Check the Aug. 12, Sept. 9 and Oct. 7 editions of The Catholic Week online at mobarch.org to read the first three installments.
He demands of us real courage: the courage to be more powerful than evil by loving everyone, even our enemies.”
— Pope Francis
World Youth Day 2016
Closing Mass Homily
As we lay in the giant field on the final night of World Youth Day in Poland, the constant drumming and cheering could be heard continuously. A priest with our group had to get up at 4 o’clock in the morning in order to make his way to the main stage to be a part of the final Mass celebrated by Pope Francis. The sun came up very early and everybody started to wake up. It is difficult to really gauge the size of a crowd in the dark. When the sun lit up the field, I could get a better picture of the magnitude of the moment. I would later learn that there were around 2.5 million people at the closing Mass for World Youth Day 2016. The sight of all of the people was incredible!
Pope Francis celebrated the closing Mass and gave an inspiring homily to the faithful gathered together on the final day of World Youth Day. To distribute communion, priests were sent out to the different sections. It is hard to imagine 2.5 million people receiving communion at one Mass and this was the challenge for the priests. A priest would walk into the middle of the large field and the pilgrims would surround him in an orderly fashion and wait to receive. The priest would distribute by standing in one spot and circling. It is amazing how efficiently communion was distributed on that morning to so many people. At first I did not think there was any way that I would be able to receive communion but I stood and waited my turn and finally received the body of Christ. What an amazing way to conclude the week.
After the conclusion of Mass, it was time to head back to our hostel. Imagine leaving Bryant-Denny Stadium at the conclusion of a close Alabama game with over 100,000 people at the same time. Then multiply by 25. That is how many people were leaving at the same time. Up until this point, the weather was cooperating. As soon as we were outside the fences of the field, rain began to fall. The drops seemed huge and felt very cold. We all scrambled to put on our rain gear and protect our belongings. The rain did not last very long but had a huge impact. People were now tired and wet as they made the return trip to wherever they were staying.
It was about a two mile walk to the trains that would take us to the town center. Not only were the trains completely packed and very difficult to enter, the trains were not moving because of the traffic. As the overall leader, I was not specifically with one of the groups. With all of the chaos, I found myself alone on a train. When the train started to move, I realized that the train schedule had changed. All of the signage was in Polish and I did not recognize any of the names of the stops. I got off at a stop that I thought would connect me to the train heading to where I was staying. When I got off at the stop, I was the only person at the stop on either side of the road. All alone somewhere in Krakow. I was looking at the train map and was struggling to understand the writing. At that point, I thought I heard someone shout “Tex." I looked around but dismissed it because I thought I was imagining what I was hearing. Then I heard “Tex” again, and when I turned around I saw one of my groups. They had departed their train at the same exact stop as me. What a coincidence and a relief. We got on a train heading north. After a couple of stops, I started to recognize the stops. We were back in familiar territory even though the names of the stops were in Polish.
Everyone made it safely back to the hostel and we prepared to depart Poland. I was very blessed to be a part of this pilgrimage. It was a great group of young adults to travel with and share the experience. During the trip, we would gather each night to share our thoughts on the day. That last night before we departed, it was an incredible conversation. All of the earlier conversations had opened us up to sharing our experience with each other in a very deep and profound way.
— Tex Phelps is the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. He may be emailed at [email protected] Visit our website, www.ArchMobYouth.org Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/ArchMobYouth and follow us on Twitter and Instagram - @ArchMobYouth