Using technology in service to the faith in this way is truly remarkable. It has opened up tremendous possibilities to Catholic leaders. More people will likely participate in the 2019 WYD through digital media and local gatherings than going to Panama. This is both a challenge and opportunity for dioceses / eparchies, parishes, and religious groups to find effective ways to engage with WYD from home.
Putting Pilgrimage in Context When people go on pilgrimage, where are they coming from? What is going on there? What are the blessings and burdens of the community or nation from which they came? These are not the questions that are usually asked about pilgrims. The main question usually is,“ Where are they going?” The stories told about pilgrims are typically stories of their journey to someplace. But as any good storyteller will remind an audience,“ 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 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,
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