Lawrence Lam @ WYD2002

Sunday July 28: You Are the Light of the World

One hour after the storm hit us I got up again from my little nap. The rain slowed and stopped. Hopefully that would be the end of it. The garbage bag was generally helpful in keeping my stuff dry but it wasn't perfect. Some announcements came on the speakers asking some people to call Inspector such-and-such. I hope it's nothing bad. Dan had covered himself in plastic sheets. He got up all happy and dry walking around watching people wring out their soaked sleeping bags. That guy's been so happy since his reversion to Catholicism. I don't know how much longer he'd be happy for. The radio forecasted continuing rainstorms throughout the morning.

Isaac was up. It's funny that he was the one who said wouldn't sleep at all and instead slept the most out of all of us. I saw him talking to a camera man. He was one of Isaac's friends from church. He shared with me his media package. It had all the details of the Papal Mass outlined and timed to the minute. I asked him what he thought of World Youth Days. Typical Protestant that he was, he wouldn't admit this was at all impressive. I do not really know what would impress him, then. I'm pretty sure Urbana could not top WYD. Isaac told me afterwards "Don't worry about it. He's not very open-minded. Not like me who's sort of a...'seeker'? Is that the right word?" The camera-dude was filming Terry wringing out his sleeping bag but Melissa behind him didn't want to be on camera, so she robbed Terry of his fifteen minutes of fame.

"We're all supposed to be seeking the truth continually. So yes, we are all seekers", I replied.

Fr. Tom Rosica's image appeared on the large screens. He was in some sort of control booth with many screens behind him. He was saying something but no sound came out. Hmm. I shrugged my shoulders and carried on. The clip appeared again. Still with no sound coming out. Then we heard the sound of a rewinding tape (the quick squirrelly sound) which made everybody laugh. Then the sound came on. Fr. Rosica said that the Popemobile's path was blocked by pilgrims. He threatened that if the path is not cleared the Popemobile will not pass through the crowd. Overnight some people had moved the barricades to mark out their territory or something. So the security perimeter was compromised.

Someone went to get our breakfast. We had jambalaya for breakfast. I remember the National Post mentioning that jambalaya is not mentioned even once in the Bible whereas one apple is responsible for the Fall of Man and WYD served 1.5 million apples. 

We saw the choppers approach the grounds. The Pope was here! Jeff and I went to the front of the section to maybe get a glimpse of the Popemobile but seeing as how the path was sort of muddy, we decided that the Popemobile would not be passing through this section. We just went back to our camp. Then the rain started again. The choir was singing the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah as the choppers landed. We all got our umbrellas out again and we put all our stuff together and covered them up with as many garbage bags as we could. A bunch of us stood close together to make a big umbrella tent. Unfortunately this meant blocking out the screen for some, and when one umbrella moved out of line all this rain water would spill out on everybody else. The wind was picking up and the rain then seemed like it was falling sideways.

I heard a thunderous boom. That can't be good, I thought. The speakers closest to us seemed to have been quieted or shut off completely. I could sort of hear the choir singing "Jesus Christ, You Are My Life". Again because of the rain and wind, not many people could hear it. It would have been incredible if everybody sang this together, just because it's such a powerful song. This version was a faster and more enthusiastic version too. I wish everybody could hear it better.

When the Pope arrived on stage we gave a huge cheer. The speakers were still soft so I had to listen to my radio. He began the mass but when he said "Au nom du Père et du Fils et du Saint-Esprit" I had to tell those around me to make the sign of the Cross because we've started the Mass.

The wind really picked up. Some of the priests' vestments were flying over their heads. On the screen we saw one of the choir members' umbrella flipped by the wind. The tower girders shook. I was getting a little worried. Then I heard a loud cheer for apparently no reason. Then I looked up and saw what it was about - a balloon light snapped off its tower and was floating up into the sky. The one at the front was threatening to do the same. It was blowing violently in the wind with its supporting wire stretched to its maximum waiting to snap off any second. Then I saw our screen move...I was afraid it would fall on someone but it just blacked out. That screen was gone, but at least the speakers were still working. The next thing I knew, the balloon at the front was deflated and was resting on the steel beams.

The Pope told us "Be strong...with rain comes peace" and we continued the mass. Instead of the penitential rite, we had a sprinkling rite at the beginning of the mass. I asked myself why we need Holy Water sprinkled on us when we have all this rain. Well, the Holy Father thought the same thing and said that we had nature to help us out. I prayed that by the time the Eucharist was being consecrated the Sun would come out. 

I wasn't nearly as optimistic enough. The wind was so strong because God was blowing the clouds away. The rain stopped by the time the Gloria was sung. The wind was till going but we caught our glimpse of sunlight by then.

As I had heard before, there was liturgical dance during the Psalm. I mentioned it to Terry who was so soaked he didn't even bother with an umbrella. He just shook his head. They also skipped the second reading for unknown reasons. By the time we sang the Alleluia, the Sun was out and starting to dry us off. This allowed us to be totally attentive to the Gospel and to the Pope's homily.

And what a homily! The Holy Father's words were exactly what we needed to hear. He spoke of the universal call to holiness and to our power to change the world. His voice was a lot more slurred than the past few days. Dave said that maybe it was because of the rain and the wind.

We huddled close to Dan's boom box to to listen to the homily. The Holy Father really connected to us and got us charged up. It got us cheering and applauding to his words. At one point the Pope said "You are young and the Pope is old". We responded by chanting "Pope is Young! Pope is Young!" He certainly was. Here was an elderly man who was young because he was not disillusioned by the cynicism and "realism" of most adults today. That's why Jesus said we need to be like children to enter Heaven. The Pope replied to our chant: "I had 82 years of life. It's not the same as 22 or 23. But the Pope still fully identifies with your hopes and aspirations....Jeunesse de l'esprit! 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."  

While his speech was slurred, it was not tired. The Pope even addressed the American abuse scandals, telling us to keep loving the Church. He said the scandals fill us with "sadness and shame. BUT", he shouted with all his might, "Think of the vast majority of dedicated and generous priests and religious" to which we gave a strong cheer of support.

Kateri Tekakwitha was not canonized today but was mentioned very briefly as a role model and an example of holiness not being exclusive to age.

For the Profession of Faith, the Holy Father would ask us if we believed in certain parts of the Apostles' Creed. We would respond "Credo" to tune of "Jesus Christ, You Are My Life". For the Liturgy of the Eucharist I got Jeff's pillowcase which was kept in a garbage bag and found a place on the pavement to kneel. Terry used one of the sand bags but I thought that was not as clean as my solution. By Consecration the Lord answered my prayer. The Sun was at its hottest and brightest while I was kneeling on the pillowed garbage bag.

When it was time to make the sign of peace we knew WYD was coming close to an end. I hugged everyone around me. Vince tried to call me but could not reach me until it was actually time for communion. My phone rang and before I knew it, I had a minister of the Eucharist holding up the Body of Christ before me. I hung up the phone and received communion.

I thought to myself: Who would've thought I'd ever be at Church walking around and putting on sunscreen during communion? I had to. The sun was way too bright. Not that I could do anything about the numerous comments about my tan-line.

After the Eucharist we prayed the Angelus. I hadn't said this prayer since Grade 7. It contains Andrew's quote of the week: "Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum" (Be it done unto me according to Your Word). The prayer reminds us of the obedience of Mary to God's divine plan. That is something that I've found which brings good things to my own life: to let go and let God take over.

We closed mass off by singing Lumière du Monde one last time. They sang the verses in all the different languages that the song had been translated into. We all sang. Even Mike Connell was singing.

I discovered our banner all muddied up by the rain. Dave took it and said he would clean it up. After lunch we walked to a very crowded Downsview Station and headed back to SMC. I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open for more than a minute straight. On the way to the station we were treated to a hose spraying a mist from the hydrant courtesy of the local Fire Station. We lost people from our group in the crowds gradually. That's how it all ended. We were scattered and sent in all different directions.

The Pope sent us off with our wooden crosses to proclaim the Gospel. I think we already did some of that during the week. I hope to continue to share my story with many others.

Ite Missa Est. Deo Gratias.

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It is not my intent to offend anyone here. What I wrote was straight from the heart: uncensored, uncut.