by Gabriel Marocchi and Anibal Cordero
Hundreds of youth came together in an act of faith and sacrifice on Holy Saturday to bring the message of Christ to different communities and cultures.
The Movimiento de Jornadas de Vida Cristiana, better known as the Jornada Movement, brings together youth from many parishes in Queens and Brooklyn, as well as Manhattan, Long Island and the Bronx.
The movement’s Holy Saturday tradition of the Caminata (walk) is one of the largest Via Crucis conducted on the streets of our city.
The walk was started over 25 years ago by Rudy Vargas IV and other leaders of the movement, who saw a need to evangelize and unite not only individual parish groups but also the wider community.
Leaders, then and now, believe there is nothing more beautiful than seeing hundreds of young people walking, singing, praying and sharing their faith without fear in the streets.
Each year, spiritual directors and movement leadership choose a slogan for the march and each parish walks under its own banner – all united by the same slogan.
This year’s slogan was: Revolution: Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent.”
This year, Jornadistas, young and young-at-heart, began their walk from Washington Heights at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Shrine parish, after an opening prayer by the movement’s spiritual director, Father James Kuroly, and words of inspiration from Msgr. Perfecto Vazquez, spiritual director of the Cursillos de Cristiandad, in which the Jornadista Movement finds it roots.
A blessing was given, and the procession began at 9 a.m. with over 400 Jornadistas who gathered to share, live and profess their love in Jesus Christ. They sang and prayed as they walked many blocks over several miles. The Jordanistas stopped at various parishes, where the pastors welcomed the crowds, and they then performed skits with a strong message to the hundreds watching from windows and the streets.
Inspiring Example
Youth were inspired by the example of Msgr. Vazquez, who, for over 25 years, has made this walk with them – singing, praying and encouraging all with his witness and presence.
The Caminata came to an end at St. Rosa of Lima Church, Manhattan, where parishes presented their banners before Jornadistas departed to take part in Easter Vigil Masses in their home parishes.
From the first Caminata to the most recent one, the Jornadistas of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, and their counterparts in neighboring boroughs, remain an example of dedication, sacrifice and love – always knowing that they are not walking alone, because Christ and the Blessed Virgin walks with them and within each of their hearts.
