POLAND-BOUND FOR WORLD YOUTH DAY
Atotal commitment. This is how 24-year-old Monna Eve Señara describes her youth group’s preparations for the upcoming World Youth Day (WYD) in Krakow, Poland.
Señara, along with 23 other Cebuano youth, spent a year raising funds for their group’s travel expenses to Krakow, where the 31st year of the international youth gathering founded by St. John Paul II will be held.
“As a group, we sold Catholic statement shirts, rosaries, and books in parishes, did Christmas caroling, sold concert tickets, recorded and sold song albums, and we also asked for donations from friends and families,” said Señara.
“Personally, I raised funds by saving money from my allowance and taking part-time jobs,” she added.
Her youth group will be joining WYD as part of the delegation of the Community of St. John-Cebu.
According to Señara, 13 youth members are from Kaire, the young adult group of The Community of St. John, while four of them are members of UP Fiat (Marian-Eucharistic Ministry) and three other youth members.
The event, now held every two or three years, draws hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world.
Señara considers the fundraising an essential part of the preparation because it allows them to “see how God works through the generosity of others.”
“It would really not be possible for us to go to World Youth Day if not for all the help we received,” said Señara.
THE JOURNEY
Señara considers preparing for World Youth Day a total commitment—it entails spiritual, physical, financial, intellectual, and also practical preparations.
“From the moment we decided to take on this journey, we had to accept and go through a lot of challenges. We always keep in mind that the pilgrimage does not start on World youth Day itself, but it already started when we first made the decision to join,” she said.
Since July of last year, Señara and her group had a monthly spiritual formation with talks, reflections and prayer.
The group even went on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Bishop Camomot in Carcar City, asking for his intercession for their petition.
They also did an apostolate during Labor Day, helping out the street vendors as corporal work of mercy, which the Pope encourages especially that this year is the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
The group also learned some song and dance numbers that they will present during some of the activities. And they learned basic Polish words, too!
ONE WITH CHRIST
Señara considers World Youth Day as an amazing, life-changing experience for anyone who wants to follow Jesus.
“I want my life to be transformed by Him and the World Youth Day is one of those experiences that can truly transform one who is open to the love of God. It is a time filled with extraordinary graces and joy and as a Catholic youth, I want to receive these graces in order to strengthen my faith and grow more in His love,” Señara said.
Being a graduating student, Señara also hopes to seek guidance from God, through the World Youth Day.
According to the WYD official website, the event’s Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is hard at work planning the events for the WYD, including catechetical sessions, pilgrimage, reconciliation opportunities and the chance to meet Pope Francis.
“I am really looking forward to meeting other young people from different countries, discovering how they live their faith in their own culture, and sharing with them our own Catholic faith and culture as Filipinos,” said Señara.
She’s also excited to know more about Poland and their Catholic history, visiting the hometown of St. John Paul II, and the Shrine of Divine Mercy.
The World Youth Day is an event that aims to gather the youth from the different dioceses around the globe. Through the event, the church hopes to reach out to the youth.
“Our youth is one of the most fun, adventurous, and unforgettable years of our life. Sometimes we think that the church is not a place where we can experience these things, but that is completely false. The church is a place where we encounter Jesus, who makes our joy complete, and the church is God’s people, who joyfully seek Him and who can be our friends as well,” Señara said.
Señara, being a devoted Catholic, urges the youth to take part in the different activities the Church has been organizing in order to strengthen our relationship with Jesus.
“There are many activities in our parishes, religious communities, and youth groups that encourage us to grow in our Christian faith even as students or young adults. There are camps, choirs, praise and worship events, prayer times, and other activities. Sometimes also, we think that other young people are not interested in these kind of stuff but if you try to find out and meet the people in your own parish, you will see there are many young people like ourselves, who dedicate themselves to the Church and love Jesus with great joy and want to follow Him even when they are young,” she added.
Señara and the members of her youth group will be heading to Krakow on July 13.