Catholic Mdical Quarterly Volume 74(3) Aug 2024
A medical student at World Youth Day
I
believe that being a young Catholic in today’s day and age is something
which is truly beautiful, but it can often feel confusing, difficult to
navigate and at times that you are alone in your walk with Christ.
World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 was an experience which conveyed the exact opposite of loneliness for me - it embodied community, companionship and communion.
Praying with young people who were on fire for Christ and hearing their testimonies about how they had sacrificed their youth to carry out their calling showed me that following Jesus and giving up your life for him is not something that we should wait to do when we are ‘ready’ or when we are ‘older.’ It is not something we should promise to do when we feel that we have enjoyed every- thing that this world has to offer for us in the hopes that we can always turn back to God when we are ready to live a life pleasing to him. It is something that we should embrace the second that we decide to give our life to God, regardless of whether you are in your youth or not.
Whilst celebrating Holy Mass and praising Jesus amongst a sea of millions of like-minded Christians I felt the true presence of the Holy Spirit and it reminded me that no matter how lonely I may feel on my walk with Christ that I am never truly alone. Navigating this world as a young Christian can be challenging and we may fall back into our wordly desires but in those times I remember a message which was echoed through out World Youth Day that will always stay with me - ‘We are in this world but not of this world.’
I would say that my World Youth Day experience reminds me every day that I am not alone, that I am guarded by the prayers of millions of Catholics around the world and that it is the same Spirit which rose Jesus from the dead and that was present all throughout World Youth Day that is also alive in you and I, and it has the power to completely diminishes the darkness of loneliness.