Hello friends,

Welcome back to Emmaus Journey. As the summer heat continues to rise, I hope you’re able to find ways of keeping cool. Speaking of cool, there is something really "cool" and exciting that will take place this month in Toronto, Canada. It’s World Youth Day 2002. Some of us probably know what World Youth Day is already, but for those who don’t, here’s a brief explanation.

World Youth Day (WYD) is an event that brings together Catholic youth from over 150 countries. It’s a chance for young people to learn about their faith and celebrate it with each other. One of the many highlights of WYD is that the young people will get to be with the Pope and meet with other youth from all over the world. It’s a very happy and exciting occasion for those who attend. Since World Youth Day 2002 will take place in Toronto, Canada, participants will learn how Canadian Catholics live their faith and also experience the way of life in Canada. In addition, foreign participants will share with everyone about how they live their faith, about their culture, tradition and their way of life in their countries.

WYD 2002 will begin from July 23^rd - 28^th, 2002. This is an electrifying and totally inspirational event. Imagine tens of thousands of young people from all over the world, though strangers, yet they come together, united by the strong bond of their Catholic faith, to share and profess their love for God and for the Church. This year’s theme for World Youth Day is: "You are the salt of the earth, the light for the world." As you know, salt is used not only to improve the taste of food, but also to preserve and to clean. So when Jesus said "you are the salt of the earth," I think it means that we’re the ones to improve the condition of the world, to make it better and preserve it from being "spoiled" by sins and darkness etc. I like this theme a lot! Pope John Paul II truly believes that the youth of today are empowered to bring the Light of Christ to this darken world. Through WYD, the Pope wants to encourage the Catholic youth to live their faith and let it shines bright for the world to see; in doing so, others will recognize God through us.

I think that World Youth Day is an awesome opportunity for youth to be inspired and reaffirmed on their journey of faith. I ask that we pray for our Pope, all the participants, the organizers and for the success of World Youth Day. May this event bring about many fruitful outcomes and may our faith be renewed and grow deeper as a result of it. In light of this, I’d like to share with you a letter from our beloved Pope John Paul II regarding World Youth Day. Even though many of us will not be able to attend WYD, let us be united in spirit with all the participants and pray that each one of us will truly become the "salt of the earth and the light for the world."

Smile, God loves you,

Tess Nguyen

*ps: If you like music, you should check out the WYD theme song: "The Light of the World." It’s really cool. This song is sung in many different languages (but unfortunately, not in Vietnamese though,). You can listen to a 30-second sample of this song from this web site: "www.wyd2002.org"

JOHN PAUL II'S MESSAGE
FOR WORLD YOUTH DAY 2002 (excerpt)

Dear Young People!

1. (.) By now World Youth Day has become an important part of your life and of the life of the Church. I invite you, therefore, to get ready for the seventeenth celebration of this great international event, to be held in Toronto, Canada, in the summer of next year. It will be another chance to meet Christ, to bear witness to his presence in today´s society, and to become builders of the "civilization of love and truth."

2. "You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world" (Mt 5:13-14): this is the theme I have chosen for the next World Youth Day. The images of salt and light used by Jesus are rich in meaning and complement each other. In ancient times, salt and light were seen as essential elements of life.

"You are the salt of the earth...." One of the main functions of salt is to season food, to give it taste and flavour. This image reminds us that, through Baptism, our whole being has been profoundly changed, because it has been "seasoned" with the new life that comes from Christ (cf. Rom 6:4). The salt that keeps our Christian identity intact, even in a very secularized world, is the grace of Baptism. Through Baptism, we are re-born. We begin to live in Christ and become capable of responding to his call to "offer [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (Rom 12:1). Writing to the Christians of Rome, Saint Paul urges them to show clearly that their way of living and thinking is different from that of their contemporaries: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect" (Rom 12:2).

For a long time, salt was also used to preserve food. As the salt of the earth, you are called to preserve the faith which you have received and to pass it on, intact, to others. Your generation is being challenged in a special way to keep safe the deposit of faith (cf. 2 Th 2:15; 1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 1:14).

Discover your Christian roots, learn about the Church´s history, deepen your knowledge of the spiritual heritage that has been passed on to you, follow in the footsteps of the witnesses and teachers who have gone before you! Only by staying faithful to God´s commandments, to the Covenant which Christ sealed with his blood poured out on the Cross, will you be the apostles and witnesses of the new millennium.

It is the nature of human beings, and especially youth, to seek the Absolute, the meaning and fullness of life. Dear young people, do not be content with anything less than the highest ideals! Do not let yourselves be dispirited by those who are disillusioned with life and have grown deaf to the deepest and most authentic desires of their heart. You are right to be disappointed with hollow entertainment and passing fads, and with aiming at too little in life. If you have an ardent desire for the Lord you will steer clear of the mediocrity and conformism so widespread in our society.

3. "You are the light of the world...." For those who first heard Jesus, as for us, the symbol of light evokes the desire for truth and the thirst for the fullness of knowledge which are imprinted deep within every human being.

When the light fades or vanishes altogether, we no longer see things as they really are. In the heart of the night we can feel frightened and insecure, and we impatiently await the coming of the light of dawn. Dear young people, it is up to you to be the watchmen of the morning (cf. Is 21:11-12), who announce the coming of the sun who is the Risen Christ!

The light that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel is the light of faith, God´s free gift, which enlightens the heart and clarifies the mind. "It is the God who said, ´Let light shine out of darkness´, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). That is why the words of Jesus explaining his identity and his mission are so important: "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (Jn 8:12).

Our personal encounter with Christ bathes life in new light, sets us on the right path, and sends us out to be his witnesses. This new way of looking at the world and at people, which comes to us from him, leads us more deeply into the mystery of faith, which is not just a collection of theoretical assertions to be accepted and approved by the mind, but an experience to be had, a truth to be lived, the salt and light of all reality (cf. Veritatis Splendor, 88).

In this secularized age, when many of our contemporaries think and act as if God did not exist or are attracted to irrational forms of religion, it is you, dear young people, who must show that faith is a personal decision, which involves your whole life. Let the Gospel be the measure and guide of life´s decisions and plans! Then you will be missionaries in all that you do and say, and wherever you work and live you will be signs of God´s love, credible witnesses to the loving presence of Jesus Christ. Never forget: "No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a bushel" (Mt 5:15)!

Just as salt gives flavour to food and light illumines the darkness, so too holiness gives full meaning to life and makes it reflect God´s glory. How many saints, especially young saints, can we count in the Church´s history! In their love for God their heroic virtues shone before the world, and so they became models of life which the Church has held up for imitation by all. Let us remember only a few of them: Agnes of Rome, Andrew of Phú Yên [Vietnam, emphasis of Emmaus’ Journey], Pedro Calungsod, Josephine Bakhita, Thérèse of Lisieux, Pier Giorgio Frassati, Marcel Callo, Francisco Castellĩ Aleu or again Kateri Tekakwitha, the young Iroquois called "the Lily of the Mohawks." Through the intercession of this great host of witnesses, may God make you too, dear young people, the saints of the third millennium! (.)

5. Dear young friends, Toronto is waiting for all of you who can make it! In the heart of a multi-cultural and multi-faith city, we shall speak of Christ as the one Saviour and proclaim the universal salvation of which the Church is the sacrament. In response to the pressing invitation of the Lord, who ardently desires "that all may be one" (Jn 17:11), we shall pray for full communion among Christians in truth and charity.

Come, and make the great avenues of Toronto resound with the joyful tidings that Christ loves every person and brings to fulfilment every trace of goodness, beauty, and truth found in the city of man. Come, and tell the world of the happiness you have found in meeting Jesus Christ, of your desire to know him better, of how you are committed to proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to the ends of the earth!

The young people of Canada, together with their Bishops and the civil authorities, are already preparing to welcome you with great warmth and hospitality. For this I thank them all from my heart. May this first World Youth Day of the new millennium bring to everyone a message of faith, hope and love!

My blessing goes with you. And to Mary Mother of the Church I entrust each one of you, your vocation and your mission.

From Castel Gandolfo, 25 July 2001 IOANNES PAULUS II

Since 1984, Pope John Paul II has been gathering young people from all over the world. The history of attendance at previous World Youth Days (at the closing mass with the Pope) is as follows:

 

YEAR	LOCATION	USA ATTENDANCE	TOTAL ATTENDANCE
1984/5	Rome, Italy	Not known	Two gatherings of 300,000 each
1987	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Not known	900,000
1989	Santiago de Compostela, Spain	Not known	400,000
1991	Czestochowa, Poland	Not known	1,600,000
1993	Denver, USA	180,000	250,000
1995	Manila, Philippines	1,000	4,000,000
1997	Paris, France	13,000	1,200,000
2000	Rome, Italy	20,000	2,000,000

Even though the international World Youth Day gatherings happen about every 2 years, World Youth Day itself is celebrated each year. Some of the 'total attendance" numbers above reflect the total population at the closing Mass which includes many locals who attended only that one event.