26 Marian Helper • Winter 2023-24 • Marian.org An estimated 1.5 million people of all ages gathered in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 1-6, 2023, for the 15th World Youth Day, and the Marians were there. Father Andy Davy, MIC, led a group of young people from St. Mary Parish in Plano, Illinois, accompanied by now-Dcn. Stephen Castellano, MIC, and Br. Alex, MIC. “This was my third World Youth Day, and as expected it was extraordinary,” Fr. Andy recalled. “Journeying with young people from practically every country on earth, we allowed the Lord to speak to us through the various adventures of joy, hardship, providence, and faith. It was an unforgettable time with some very special brothers and sisters in Christ.” Now based at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he is the new director of postulant formation, Fr. Andy reminisced about the experience. Crucial moment “This World Youth Day could not have happened at a more crucial time for a post-COVID world of youth that really have regressed in certain very basic human and social aspects,” he observed. “There are fears today among young people that my generation didn’t have to experience, and so many heightened areas of uncertainty,” Fr. Andy continued. “This gathering was an opportunity for youth of the Church to rise up, discovering from the Light of Christ who they are, and that they are unconditionally loved, and then go forth with that love to a world that has lost its identity and is trying to figure out, ‘Who am I?’” Father Andy noted the affinity with the Virgin Mary (see Lk 1:39-40). “We are to imitate Mary’s becoming awake, rising up, going with haste to a broken humanity that needs the ‘Jesus is looking at you now’ Jesus himself is looking at you now, he who knows you and reads your innermost being; he looks into your heart, he knows your joys and sorrows, your successes and defeats. And he says to you today, here in Lisbon, at this World Youth Day: “Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid! Be encouraged!” — Pope Francis, Aug. 5, 2023 World Youth Day 2023 By Chris Sparks
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