Post World Youth Day Pilgrimage Reflections

After a week of recuperation, spending time with our loved ones, catching up on school work and getting over jetlag, the World Youth Day pilgrims recollected the spirit-filled experiences of the three-week pilgrimage through Italy to Lisbon, Portugal. We also read and unpacked together the homilies and exhortations proclaimed by Pope Francis during various events throughout World Youth Day week and ask ourselves, ‘What will we take back with us as we resume our daily lives?‘

We take back deep gratitude as we are overwhelmed by the many blessings we received, particularly visiting the many sacred sights throughout Italy and witnessing the universality of the Catholic Church first-hand. We take back the transformative experiences, and as ‘Mary set out and went with haste‘ (Luke 1:39), we too set out and go with haste in sharing our experiences with our peers and the College community. And ultimately, we take back the realisation that the group were ‘not here (on World Youth Day) by accident. The Lord has called you, not only in these days but from the very beginning of your days’ (Pope Francis) and that our pilgrimage is not over but has just begun because the ultimate destination of our earthly pilgrimage is heaven.

On behalf of the pilgrims, we thank College staff and students for their support and well wishes during our pilgrimage. Our bus group leader Christopher Neaves from Sydney Catholic Schools, for making sure we were safe during the day-to-day activities. Chaplin Fr Lewi Barakat and Seminarian Cronan Yu for their spiritual guidance and for making reminding us, especially while experiencing the more difficult aspects, always to remain focused on the ‘why’ of our pilgrimage and the accompanying staff from St Patrick’s College Strathfield, Rosebank College, Casimir College Marrickville, St Vincent’s College Ashfield and Domremy Catholic College. 

If you would like to read and watch Pope Francis’ homilies and exhortations during World Youth Day week and information about the next World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea in 2027 please click the links below.

Ryan Reyes
Dean of Mission