I have led groups of 35+ youth to fived different WYD. For some it meant nothing, for others it changed their lives dramatically for the better. The same thing that happened to those who encountered Christ when he walked the roads of Palestine. To be bitter about WYD, to see it as a negative, is simply to have a very narrow view of what brings people to Jesus.
I have led groups of 35+ youth to fived different WYD. For some it meant nothing, for others it changed their lives dramatically for the better. The same thing that happened to those who encountered Christ when he walked the roads of Palestine. To be bitter about WYD, to see it as a negative, is simply to have a very narrow view of what brings people to Jesus.
Because I have criticised WYD does not imply "bitterness" - not at all. I love the Church and all my brother and sisters, we should be capable of having frank discourse, including when we feel things are not up to scratch.
We have had WYD for most of my lifetime and it has done nothing to arrest the steep decline in the Church. I think it does a poor job of presenting Catholicism and is more informed by secular trends than Catholic ones.
The Church is capable of so much better, than is the real tragedy in my eyes.
I agree people can encounter God in many ways, even unusual ways, but the trends for decades now suggest that ever fewer people are having such an encounter.
Maybe its time to rethink?
If the kids want to dance around wearing devil horns, while a "priest DJ" spins the decks, then can get that in any nightclub in their own town or city - they dont need to go to WYD for it.
Should the Church not offer something different to secular society?
I have led groups of 35+ youth to fived different WYD. For some it meant nothing, for others it changed their lives dramatically for the better. The same thing that happened to those who encountered Christ when he walked the roads of Palestine. To be bitter about WYD, to see it as a negative, is simply to have a very narrow view of what brings people to Jesus.
Hi Eric,
Because I have criticised WYD does not imply "bitterness" - not at all. I love the Church and all my brother and sisters, we should be capable of having frank discourse, including when we feel things are not up to scratch.
We have had WYD for most of my lifetime and it has done nothing to arrest the steep decline in the Church. I think it does a poor job of presenting Catholicism and is more informed by secular trends than Catholic ones.
The Church is capable of so much better, than is the real tragedy in my eyes.
I agree people can encounter God in many ways, even unusual ways, but the trends for decades now suggest that ever fewer people are having such an encounter.
Maybe its time to rethink?
If the kids want to dance around wearing devil horns, while a "priest DJ" spins the decks, then can get that in any nightclub in their own town or city - they dont need to go to WYD for it.
Should the Church not offer something different to secular society?