World Youth Day USA Guides International Pilgrimage Leaders Guide | Page 38
6. Be open to the Holy Spirit,
prompting organizers to move those
concluding events to Copacabana Beach.
wherever he may be leading you.
Pilgrim groups needed to adapt to the change
The World Youth Day experience has many
in their walking routes on Saturday and Sunday
“unexpected” moments – from life-changing
and to the inadequate number of toilet facilities
ones to minor frustrations and surprises.
at the new site. Yet, in the end, the event was
Pilgrimage leaders should anticipate these
incredibly memorable, the setting ideal, and the
unexpected events and help pilgrims learn to
pilgrims largely satisfied with the venue,
adapt to sudden changes to the itinerary. Some
especially among those whose leaders fostered a
of the most memorable moments, both positive
culture of adaptation and openness to change.
and negative, cited by past World Youth Day
While such drastic changes in the main
participants have included surprise occasions
schedule are rare, it is helpful for groups to
that were not planned or scripted.
consider all the possibilities when on an
international pilgrimage. Such adaptability
This awareness does not mean abandoning
would not be possible without supportive
careful or strategic planning on the part of
teams and prayerful preparation, realizing that
leaders or pilgrims; however, it is important to
God is ultimately in charge.
remember that adaptability can be one of the
key values learned in the preparation process.
Unexpected moments can also include chance
On a theological level, the surprises and
encounters with other pilgrims, with catechists
sometimes “messiness” of the World Youth
and confessors, with strangers on the way and
Day experience are helpful as we lean on the
local residents of the host nation, and most
Holy Spirit to bring some sense of meaning
importantly, with Christ. Consider walking
and order to the challenges and even seeming
pilgrims through a parable like the Good
“chaos” that leaders and pilgrims encounter.
Samaritan (Lk 10:29-37) – as the passers-by on
the road to Jericho unexpectedly encounter a
These unexpected moments may mean a
beaten man along their way. Or the account of
change in the location or timing of central
the Final Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) when the
events. At World Youth Day in 2013, the heavy
righteous people cry out to God, “Lord, when
rainstorms in Rio de Janeiro during the week’s
did we see you hungry and feed you, and thirsty
events caused flooding and safety concerns at
and give you drink? When did we see yo R