On July 20, 19 young women and two of our sisters set out on a pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2023!
Amidst waving flags and the ringing of the bell, they were sent out from our shrine in Waukesha, WI on a two-week trip to the other side of the ocean!
Their first stop will be Schoenstatt, Germany, where they will visit the Original Shrine and many of the other important places connected with the history of Schoenstatt.
They will also visit Metternich, where Sr. M. Emilie – one of our first sisters – lived and died, Gymnich, where our founder, Fr. Joseph Kentenich, was born and baptized, and Cologne – with its famous cathedral.
Their travels will eventually take them to Lisbon, Portugal, where they will join over 1,000 Schoenstatt young men and women from around the world for an international encounter and a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.
They will then participate in the World Youth Day events and finally return home at the beginning of August.
We pray for their safety, for a fruitful pilgrimage, and for many blessings for them and for all they take along in their hearts!
Message from the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for the World Youth Day 2023:
What kinds of “haste” do you have, dear young people? What leads you to feel a need to get up and go, lest you end up standing still? Many people—in the wake of realities like the pandemic, war, forced migration, poverty, violence, and climate disasters—are asking themselves: Why is this happening to me? Why me? And why now? But the real question in life is instead: For whom am I living? (cf. Christus Vivit, 286)…
The haste of the young woman of Nazareth is the haste of those who have received extraordinary gifts from the Lord and feel compelled to share them, to let the immense grace that they have experienced be poured out upon others. It is the haste of those capable of putting other people’s needs above their own. Mary is an example of a young person who wastes no time on seeking attention or the approval of others—as often happens when we depend on our “likes” on social media. She sets out to find the most genuine of all “connections”: the one that comes from encounter, sharing, love, and service….
A healthy haste drives us always upwards and towards others. Yet there is also an unhealthy haste, which can drive us to live superficially and to take everything lightly….
My message for you, dear young people, the great message entrusted to the Church, is Jesus! Yes, Jesus himself, in his infinite love for each of us, his salvation and the new life he has bestowed upon us. Mary is our model; she shows us how to welcome this immense gift into our lives, to share it with others, and thus to bring Christ, his compassionate love, and his generous service to our deeply wounded humanity….Now is the time to arise! Like Mary, let us “arise and go in haste.” Let us carry Jesus within our hearts, and bring him to all those whom we meet! In this beautiful season of your lives, press ahead and do not postpone all the good that the Holy Spirit can accomplish in you!
Rome, August 15, 2022
Click here to read the whole message.