Archdiocese of San Antonio WYD 2005

Welcome WYD Pilgrims
Welcome to the website for the Archdiocese of San Antonio International World Youth Day Pilgrimage to Cologne, Germany – 2005! Welcome! Wilkommen!

We hope that what you find here will continue to be helpful for you as your parish/group prepares for this great adventure! We are in the process of updating this web site and ask for your patience while we work.

Just as each Sunday’s Eucharistic Liturgy begins when you leave your home to gather eventually with the community for praise and worship, preparation for pilgrimage begins now as you have committed yourself to the journey. What will this preparation mean for you?

* First of all, preparation for the journey means that you will personally prepare through prayer, (perhaps fasting), and service. You will also have the opportunity to develop a pen pal relationship with another WYD pilgrim from the United States.

* Secondly, your parish or group will have gatherings for fund raising, of course, but you will also gather to pray together, perhaps offer service as a group, and to get to know each other better.

* Next, our entire pilgrim community will gather monthly, also, to build community (have fun!), pray together, and learn what’s new as the pilgrimage progresses.

Because we believe that these gatherings are important, they are not optional activities. They will be scheduled at varying times and places in order to make our coming together as convenient as possible. We realize that you may have great difficulty making one or another of our gatherings, therefore, we will allow two “unexcused absences”. There will be a Day of Recollection scheduled for late spring or early summer, which no one will be excused from: There will also be a Despedida Mass at the Cathedral in June for pilgrims (and their families) that everyone will attend.

If, as Native Americans say, each journey begins with the first step, you have taken that first step and begun the journey. Enjoy! Participate! Be open to the Holy Spirit! Put your cares and concerns in the hands of our loving God, look forward in faith to what God has in store for you – for us!

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II
TO THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD
ON THE OCCASION
OF THE 20th WORLD YOUTH DAY
(COLOGNE, AUGUST 2005)

"We have come to worship him" (Mt 2:2)

My dear young people!

1. This year we have celebrated the 19th World Youth Day, meditating on the desire expressed by ...

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What is World Youth Day?
World Youth Day is a gathering of youth and young adults from over 150 countries. These “pilgrims” gather together every two years in a celebration of faith ...

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A Message from The Most Reverend Patrick F. Flores
Dear Reverend Father:

Pope John Paul II has invited the youth of the world to Cologne Germany in the summer of 2005. The Pope has called them to Cologne for August 16-21. 2005 and those days will be preceded by German hospitality in the dioceses of the country from August 1 1-15, 2005. The theme ...

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PILGRIMAGE
Let us reflect for a moment on the meaning of pilgrimage that lies at the heart of the WYD experience. The biblical story is one long pilgrimage, and a model of pilgrimage for believers. Tourists pass quickly through places, but the places pass slowly through pilgrims, leaving them forever changed. Traveling with pilgrims from the Archdiocese Of San Antonio, you will quickly become familiar with our motto: “We are pilgrims, not tourists.”

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An Invitation From Bishop Zurek
Dear Brother and Sister Pilgrims,

Our Christian heritage has been enriched with the journey called a pilgrimage. This pilgrimage is a trip to a special holy place, like Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, or to a place where Mary has appeared to someone. In May of this year I went on pilgrimage ...

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