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This year I was given the opportunity to go the World Youth Day in Paris from the 14th to the 24th of August. I jumped at the chance and could not believe that I was actually going until about a week before. Although I was excited, I was also apprehensive as I didn’t know any of the other members of the group going from the Salford Diocese. My fears passed away when we met and got to know each other about a week before we left for Paris. There was a real mixture of people in the group, some young some not so young. There was a welder, a decorator, a medical student, a business student, two priests, two trainee priests, an electrical engineer, two deputy heads, three college students, a factory worker and a youth worker. After a very short time we had gelled together brilliantly and after ten days, we became friends for life.

For the first four days we stayed in a beautiful city called Troyes which is to the East of Paris. We all stayed with families and the generosity and love we received whilst we were there was incredible. Our Diocese and the Diocese of Troyes spent lots of time together, we entertained each other, celebrated mass together, ate together, drank together and shared our cultures and faith together – this faith and youthful energy broke through any language barriers. We were looked after so well in Troyes that we didn’t want to leave but we went out on a real high after a fantastic mass in the local Cathedral.

After our wonderful experience in Troyes we were afraid that Paris might be a bit of an anti-climax as we didn’t know where we would be sleeping or what the area would be like. After a long and tiring journey, we eventually made it to Bondy which is just outside central Paris. Again, our anxieties subsided when we were again generously welcomed into the houses of our kind hosts. We were all really relieved as a lot of other people from other countries were sleeping uncomfortably on the floors of gyms and church halls. The days in Paris were just as long and tiring as those in Troyes had been, if not more so, but the atmosphere was electric as young people from around the world invaded Paris for the 12th World Youth day.

The World Youth Day was initiated by Pope John Paul 11 in order to bring young people from around the world together so that we could all celebrate together and then go and share it however we could. The cost is kept really low so that people from all walks of life will be able to come. Every year the World Youth day has a different theme which is taken from the gospels. This year’s theme came from the Gospel of St. John (Chapter 1 : 35-42). John the Baptist points Jesus out to his followers as being the “Lamb of God”. John’s followers go and ask Jesus, “Teacher, where are you staying?”, Jesus replies, “come and see”. These men become Jesus’ first disciples and in these few lines, Jesus is saying a lot of different things which were explained to us in the Catechises sessions by various Bishops and the Pope himself in his homilies.

We too, as young people and disciples are always being called to come and see where Jesus lives. The answer to the question, “Where does Jesus live? was summed up by the Pope Jesus lives in his people”. All of the people who we were lucky enough to meet whilst we were in Paris from Mexico, Thailand, Croatia, Spain, Italy, America, Libya and so on – proved to us that we do not have to search too far to see the face of Christ because he is in the face of every single person that we will ever encounter. He is in our parishes and he is the person sitting next to us on the bus. In Paris, I realise that I talked to Christ, ate with Christ, laughed with him, cried with him, camped down next to him and yes, even queued up for the toilets with him.

Seeing the Pope was a very exciting and emotional time for us all. When we went to Longchamp for the Papal vigil, the Pope baptised several young people from around the world, and confirmed them too. It was wonderful to see and at night it felt as though the whole world was camped out there. The mass the next day was also incredible. There were one million of us there celebrating mass. I had the strange feeling that I was a very , very tiny part of a very, very big and beautiful creation. That can really affect the whole world.

We may have gone to Paris to see the Pope, but more importantly, he had come to Paris to see us. His message was one of love, hope and justice, “Jesus is living next to you. You will see Jesus where men and women are suffering and hoping in little village. Break down the barriers of superficiality and fear and recognise that you are ‘new men and women - Follow Jesus”.

Another important part of Jesus’ demand for the disciples to “come and see” was that he didn’t care if they had money, if they were clean, if they would be good guests, if they had manners or status – he just asked them into his house. He welcomed them into his own house and even though they didn’t know him either, they went with him. They asked him questions and talked to him and told all of their friends about this man they had just met.

At this point, I think that it is important to say that it wasn't all wonderful and exciting in Paris. A lot of the time we felt tired, sweaty, dirty, fed up and annoyed that we had to do something when we really just wanted to sleep. Sometimes we found ourselves in dangerous situations and we often felt vulnerable and lost. But what made us all closer during these low periods was that we were all sharing the same feelings – just like we had shared all the joyful feelings.

This is what I sometimes feel when I come to mass. I rarely feel holy and overflowing with love. Sometimes I’m grumpy and I’ve got a lot of things to do and I’m just going through the motions. I always used to feel guilty about feelings like this but now I know that this is OK. It’s not always going to be bright lights and choirs of angels, but so what? Jesus must have felt even worse than we did on our journey at times after a day walking everywhere in the baking heat being mobbed by crowds of people grabbing at him and often swearing at him and spitting at him.

When He broke bread with his friends though, they could all start again, moan about their problems and recharge their batteries even if only for a little bit. In the Eucharist, all that we are asked to do is come and share all that we have with Jesus. If we lay all of our problems at his door then maybe we'll be lucky enough for him to lay some of his divinity at our doors.

My pilgrimage to Paris will stay with me forever, but even if some of the memories fade away, the truth of the Pope’s message will always be with me. So, don’t be afraid to, “come and see” where He lives and I'll see you for the 13th World Youth Day in Rome in the year 2000!

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