Remembering World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto with John Paul II

             In just a few short days, John Paul II will be canonized a Saint.  He was the Pope for 17 years of my life, and some of the most formative in my faith.  I was raised Catholic, but 8th grade and my high school years were when my faith really started becoming my own.  It was at this time that I went to several Steubenville summer conferences and World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada.  If you went, you will recall this

World Youth Day was my first and only encounter with John Paul II and it is one I will never, ever forget.  When he passed away in 2005, World Youth Day memories filled my mind, and again, as he is soon to be canonized a saint, my memory revisits those brief days I spent in Toronto with a beloved and aging Pope.  

For my group, our memories do not just consist of the actual World Youth Day events.  We traveled by bus from California to Toronto and stayed at different parishes along the way in gyms and parish centers.  We met many new faces and had many long days on the bus that involved praying the Rosary together and playing "Big Booty" (or "Praise Jesus" as it came to be called on our trip).  We made rope rosaries, and wondered what WYD would be like when we arrived. 

found on archdioceseoftoronto.blogspot.com

Here are some of my favorite memories from WYD:

• Staying with a wonderful family in St. Peterburg.  My mom, and 3 of my brothers were also part of our group, so my whole family got to stay with this Canadian family in the days leading up to the event in Toronto.  It was amazing to be able to really be a part of the culture for a few days
• Meeting Catholic "friends" from all over the world and trading shirts, pins, backpacks, and flags. 
• The lines of Portable bathrooms. 
• The lines to wait for food and confession. 
• The horrible weather.  It rained and rained.  Apparently there was even a possibility of an evacuation due to tornado warnings.  We all had sleeping bags and were in a large field for the night leading up to the Pope's arrival and it was flooding, but we all banded together as much as possible and made shelters and awaited the arrival of our beloved Pope.  
• When he arrived (no joke) the sun started shining.        
• chanting "JPII, We love you!" over and over.  What an amazing Pope.                                                   
• One of my brothers and a couple other friends braved the crowds along the route the Popemobile would take to get a closer view and wave to the Pope.  It was a long wait and it was wet, but some great memories I share with my brother.  Thanks for being there with me for that, Scott!
• The music in so many different languages, but most of all the theme song, "Lumiere Du La Monde- the Light of the World" (listen below)

                   

• Listening to an aging, but nonetheless beautiful and amazing Pope exhorting us, "You are the salt of the earth...the light of the world" and encouraging us to be brave and courageous and not be afraid to stand up for our faith. 
• His parting words, “You are young, and the pope is old; 82 or 83 years of life is not the same as 22 or 23. But the pope still fully identifies with your hopes and aspirations. Although I have lived through much darkness, under harsh totalitarian regimes, I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young. You are our hope, the young are our hope.  Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”

Some more great quotes from his 2002 visit to Toronto found here

What are your favorite memories of John Paul II?