“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses.” (Acts of the Apostles 1:8) This is the theme of World Youth Day 2008 which will take place in Sydney, Australia July 15-20. This scriptural theme was chosen by Pope Benedict XVI, who announced it and the 2008 venue at the conclusion of the last WYD which took place in Cologne, Germany in 2005. Pope Benedict’s monthly prayer intention is naturally about this upcoming international event: “That World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, may kindle the fire of divine love in numerous young people and render them sowers of hope for a new humanity.” These few words of prayer are packed with meaning as one reflects on the needs of our world today. All of us should take note of the papal intention and include it in our personal and communal prayer; if not verbatim at least by a paraphrase of its goal.

Over 250,000 participants are expected for WYD 2008. Our own diocese will be sending between 200 and 250 pilgrims, including parish groups (St. Boniface, Elmont; Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park; St. Martha’s, Uniondale; Holy Spirit, New Hyde Park; SS. Philip & James, St. James; Our Lady of Mercy, Hicksville; Curé of Ars, Merrick; and St. Catherine of Sienna, Franklin Square) as well as students from several Catholic high schools and pilgrims through our diocesan vocation office. All the pilgrims have been invited to Bishop Murphy’s Mass this Sunday, July 6 at 11a.m. at St. Agnes Cathedral to receive a blessing as they prepare for their journey to Sydney. From attending various preparation meetings with the leaders and pilgrims over the past year and a half, I can tell you that the enthusiasm level is high and the spiritual energy even higher among all our young people. They have been preparing themselves for an encounter with our Risen Lord Jesus. Yes, Pope Benedict will be there, but everyone understands that it is the Lord we seek in our common prayer and being together for those five days. This is the pope’s wish most of all, for he has faithfully preached, and will continue to do so, that it is an encounter with the person of Christ that produces the fulfillment and happiness that every human being is ultimately seeking in life.

But the encounter is not an end in itself. It is a beginning. This is where the scriptural theme of WYD 2008 from the Acts of the Apostles (1:8) becomes very relevant. After the apostles of Jesus encountered their Risen Lord, they gathered in prayer, around Mary, and awaited the Spirit’s coming to them. This coming, Pentecost, made them witnesses to Christ and His Gospel. That first Pentecost made them the first missionaries. We need to pray for a new Pentecost and therefore, for new missionaries. Pope Benedict is gathering the world’s young people together for this purpose.

We recently started a Pauline Year at the behest of the pope. At a June 28 vespers service at the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome, Pope Benedict called upon all Christians to mark what is believed to be the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Saul of Tarsus, St. Paul. No doubt, the pope will be referencing St. Paul often during his addresses and homilies in Sydney. Paul’s own encounter with the Risen Lord led him from being a persecutor of the early Christians (even being present at the stoning of St. Stephen, the Church’s first martyr) to its greatest missionary. Paul’s zeal and love for Jesus, expressed in his epistles, rush into the reader’s heart and soul. Consider the meaning of some of his well-known verses. “If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me and woe to me if I do not preach it!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). “For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:5-6) “… I even consider everything as loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish (sanitized version), that I may gain Christ …” (Philippians 3:8) “… I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me …” (Galatians 2:19-20)

When we think of the missionary activity of the Church, it’s no doubt a wise move to consult her greatest missionary for an understanding of what that activity should look like today. Paul was able to “sow hope for a new humanity” by preaching Jesus Christ to all the known corners of the world. The centerpiece of his missionary activity, that proved so effective and influential, was the proclamation of the Gospel. This is what is called for today as well. Our new missionaries who return from Sydney will have been asked by the pope to make a similar proclamation by their own lives of witness to Christ. As we welcome our missionaries home, let’s encourage them to make such a proclamation of the Gospel by providing them opportunities in our family and parish settings. Their own zeal and love of Christ will shine through because we can be sure that they “will receive power when the Holy Spirit” comes upon them in Sydney.