Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Thank you very much for sponsoring me and allowing me to go to Lisbon – World Youth 2023. Words can not describe my gratitude for such a blessed and fantastic experience.

On our first evening in Viana do Castelo, a small city 40 minutes North of Porto, we attended mass and in the homily, the presiding cardinal talked about how Jesus speaks to us through every encounter of our lives. “Essentially our life is a parable. And if you can understand the parables, you are one step closer to knowing God.” So I wanted to share with you the parable of World Youth Day 2023.

Our time in Viana do Castelo was peaceful and relaxing, visiting local churches and doing team-building exercises. Although we were on a pilgrimage, we still had fun attending a party the last night, where the East Anglia diocese was the first to start dancing, followed by other pilgrims and dioceses. The highlight of our stay in Viana do Castelo was mass on Sunday at Carmelite convent. After a few days we moved on to Lisbon joining over 500,000 WYD pilgrims.

In Lisbon we had the opportunity to listen to inspiring talks and catechesis  led by Cardinal Sean O’Malley from Boston and Archbishop Anthony Fisher from Sydney about love, and Friday, to finish off in style Bishop Robert Barron talked about prayer.

So what is love? As Archbishop Anthony stated, “Society would perceive it as physical love. But love has nothing to do with sex. The gospel presents Jesus as a person full of love. As the Father loves me, so I love you.” Archbishop went on saying, “Love when the loving is hard — Jesus loved us with commitment and  He loved by sacrificing himself. As I loved, you must love each other, even sinners, even those who don’t love you back; we must all become great lovers….We become great lovers by becoming friends with God….. by listening to his voice”

Bishop Robert Barron explained how we listen to God through prayer. Bishop Barrow’s reflections were split into two sections. Firstly  “To pray is to raise one’s mind to God”. Bishop Barren said, “Our minds tend to jump around like monkeys and to pray to find the centre.  If you find the centre in Christ, all the elements in your life will come together”. He explained that’s why great saints are at peace their lives were rooted in prayer. The second observation that Bishop Barron emphasised was the importance of SILENCE. “ To pray is to find the silent place where God speaks”. Bishop gave this quote about Mother Teresa “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace” and so we come full circle. So how do we hear the voice of God? By making silence and what rises from our heart is the voice of God. It’s the deep relaxation of the soul in which we find God’s peace.

On Thursday afternoon, thousands gathered in Park Eduardo to welcome Pope Francis. During his reflection,  Pope Francis invited young men and women to reflect on how “beautiful” it is that God loves us. “God loves us as we are,” he repeated, “not as we would like to be or as society would like us to be.” Instead, we are called and loved as we are with our defects and limitations, but also “with our desire to move forward in life.” Although the words were spoken in Spanish, which meant I was able to understand only sections of his reflections, one thing that struck was the tear of joys emerging from the people I was surrounded by. On Friday, at the stations of the cross, Pope Francis reminded us that “The Cross is the greatest love. The paradox of our faith is the beauty of Christ crucified, the beauty of a love that bears the marks of my wounds, a boundless yet utterly concrete love, and thus credible”.

On Saturday we gathered for the all night vigil, slept out under the stars and awaited the concluding mass on Sunday.  World Youth Day 2023 motto was “Mary set out and went with haste”. His Holiness said, “Mary does something that was not asked of her, something that she did not have to do. Why? Because she loved, and whoever loves flies, runs and rejoices”. His Holiness concluded the evening by encouraging everyone to be people of “joy”. “Joy is missionary!” he said. “So, each of us has to bring that joy to others”.

On Sunday morning we woke to the sun rising over the sea and a special wake up call – click on the link to experience it yourself – (1) DJ Set by Padre Guilherme at World Youth Day | 06-08-2023 – YouTube

At the final mass, Pope Francis addressed the crowd about what we will bring back when we return to our daily lives. His Holiness encouraged us to, “Shine, listen and not be afraid”.  He went on to explain….

To Shine – God enlightens. He enlightens our faces, hearts, and minds and our desire to do something in life. You will become light when you do acts of love for others. But when you focus on yourself  instead of doing acts of love for others , your light will be dimmed.

To Listen – Listen to Jesus because, even with all the good will in the world, we embark on paths that seem loving but, in the end, are forms of selfishness disguising themselves as love. Listen to Jesus because he will tell you what the path of life is.” And finally,

Not to be afraid – “I tell you something very beautiful: It is no longer me, it is Jesus himself who is looking at you in this moment, he is looking at you. Jesus knows each of your hearts. He loves each of your lives. He knows your joys, your sorrows, your success and failures. And today, on this WYD, he says to you: do not be afraid, be courageous. Be not afraid, be not afraid, take heart, be not afraid”.

So, what’s the highlight of this parable….. there were so many moments of blessing.  The catechesis sessions were fantastic, especially the final talk with Bishop Robert Barron. The vigil and the stations of the cross being in the presence of the Pope were touching. I will also never forget having mass and talking with the Carmelite sisters in Viana do Castelo. Another intriguing experience was Fr Guilherme, a Portuguese priest DJeeing at 6:30 am with a combination of worship and techno music as a wake up call . Indeed, a brilliant way to wake up the crowd. Seeing Pope Francis not once, not twice, but three times from 5 meters was a dream come true. But the highlight has to be the encounters – meeting and seeing Catholics from all over the world, from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and education, smiling at me, greeting each other, shaking hands, and sharing hugs with them. And whilst we only met that day, it felt like we had known each other for a lifetime.

I am glad to have had the opportunity to attend the parable of Lisbon World Youth Day 2023. “Esta es la Juventud del Papa” –  “This is the youth of the Pope”. Every day we have the opportunity to encounter Christ, and this WYD, I felt his presence.

Thank you again for supporting me on this journey, and please pray for me and I will pray for you

Federico