JAMAICA — It’s been around five months since 300 young pilgrims took the trek from the Diocese of Brooklyn to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day.
To reflect on this journey and reconnect with each other, around 75 of those pilgrims came together for a Holy Hour on Friday, Jan. 12, at Holy Family Catholic Church. With a lit candle in hand, the youth sat in both silent prayer and prayed the rosary, recalling the most memorable parts of their trip from July.
Shaden De Leon Cruz, 16, came to the Holy Hour with fellow parishioners from the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Jamaica to “take time to be alone with God and really thank Him for the experience.”
The most moving aspect of World Youth Day, De Leon Cruz said, was seeing the devotion of the other young pilgrims who were with her, and feeling how her perspective on the world has transformed since the journey, particularly when it comes to expressing her faith.
“If others can express their religion, then I can too,” she said.
Bishop Robert Brennan joined the pilgrims at the Holy Hour to revisit and share his own experiences during World Youth Day. One of his greatest memories, he told the attendees, was visiting the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, where the 2 million attendees came together to pray the rosary in a range of different languages.
Bishop Brennan said participating five months ago in the trek to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, where Mary appeared, reinforced the Holy Mother’s proximity in the pilgrims’ lives, and this Holy Hour gave them a chance to be reminded of that.
“Most of our life is lived in the ordinary day to day, and we need times to bring us back to those moments of grace. That’s what something like this is about. To remind us who we are, to remind us of the closeness of God,” Bishop Brennan said.
Luis Ayala, 31, shared Bishop Brennan’s sentiments, noting how the candlelit Holy Hour reminded him, too, of their procession at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. For that reason, this Holy Hour was more moving to him than other religious hours he’s experienced.
“I knew of the apparitions and the story that we all know, but I felt a conviction around that Marian devotion, and so that part of the trip really stuck with me. That’s where [his] faith grew the most.”
Ayala, a parishioner at St. Peter & St. Paul Catholic Church in South Williamsburg, had never been to World Youth Day before and was initially drawn to the celebration by the opportunity to see Pope Francis. Upon witnessing the Holy Father drive by, he said he “got goosebumps” and “felt that was indicative of how special the experience was.”
In addition to parishes, different religious organizations sent groups to World Youth Day. Rachel Burgos attended the event through St. John’s University, along with 13 other students, and she called it the “trip of a lifetime.” Now, she feels blessed to be around other devout young Catholics and to find rest through God.
“Just having had that experience, it is a good reminder that our God over there in Lisbon is the same God here in Queens, New York,” Burgos, 25, said.
The night was more than just a reunion and reminiscing, said Father James Kuroly, but also to relive and recapture the enthusiasm of World Youth Day. As director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Father Kuroly witnessed firsthand the attendees’ transforming experience and is already making plans for the diocese’s involvement in an upcoming event.
While the next World Youth Day isn’t until 2027, Father Kuroly told the Holy Hour participants that the Diocese of Brooklyn has begun a pilgrimage to Rome for the Youth Jubilee in 2025. It will be a nine-day trek, beginning on July 27, 2025, and more information can be found at www.petersway.com. The enrollment deadline is June 1, 2024.