World Youth Day 2019 USA Leader Guides International Leader Guide | Page 8

Regarding each pilgrim , ask yourself :
● Where is he / she coming from ?
● What are the blessings and burdens of the community from which he / she comes ?
The question asked of WYD pilgrims is often : “ Where are they [ the pilgrims ] going ?” The stories so often told about a pilgrimage are the stories of the pilgrim ' s journey to someplace . But any good storyteller ( and any good pilgrimage guide ) will remind others , “ That is not the full story .” Every story starts from some place , and that place matters .
In literature and film , Homer ’ s Odyssey , Geoffrey Chaucer ’ s Canterbury Tales , Frank Baum ’ s The Wizard of Oz , Lewis Carrol ’ s Alice in Wonderland , J . R . R . Tolkien ’ s Lord of the Rings , and C . S . Lewis ’ Narnia series are all examples of a journey . But notice that the stories are not over until the heroes return home ( or arrive at a new home ) to their community . In other words , what can tend to be overlooked is the hero ’ s community . In the same way , a pilgrim does not exist in isolation but in relationships rooted in the community from which he or she comes .
Think also about the Olympics . The stories of the athletes and their relationships and
7 experiences back home form a big part of the media coverage of the Olympic games . There are stories of high school coaches who inspired athletes to do their best , of sweethearts back home who are watching every day , or parents who sacrificed countless things to make an Olympic moment possible for their child . In every city or village who sent an Olympian to compete , the community is often glued to the television , radio , or news reports , waiting to hear the name of their hometown hero .
It is impossible to understand the full story of the pilgrim without knowing his or her context . When pilgrims gather for World Youth Day , they often carry the flags of their countries — the communities from which they came . Pilgrims come from a community , and journey as a community , to encounter the Lord , so that they can return transformed to the community from which they came and transform that community . At the same time , there exists a certain fluidity in communities today , which is not always welcoming or nurturing . Even in such cases , when pilgrims return and start sharing their stories , fluid communities can become more solidified . Our modern culture often focuses only on the individual ; however , in the Judeo-Christian tradition there is also the sense of each individual being a part of a greater community , of a people .