Youth celebrate The World youth Day for Better Tomorrow

Youth celebrate The World youth Day

    The 28^th World Youth Day (WYD) which is organized by the Catholic Church is held from 22-29 July, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro. The theme of WYD is “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Approximately 3,000,000 pilgrims are expected to attend the event. Pope Francis will grant a plenary indulgence – a remission of all temporal punishment due to sin – to World Youth Day participants. Various activities like seminars, cultural events, faith sharing and other major events like Opening Mass, Papal Welcome Ceremony, Stations of the Cross, the Vigil with the Pope and the Final Mass will take place during the WYD. The aim of WYD is to unite the youth from all over the world irrespective of class, colour, caste and sex.

    The World Youth Day was started by Pope John Paul II in 1984 and in December, 1985 he announced that World Youth Day will be an annual gathering.  From 1984-1986 the WYD was held in St. Peter’s square, Rome. In 1987 it was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina with the theme “We ourselves have known and put our faith in God’s love towards ourselves (1Jn 4:16)”. In 1989 it was held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain with the theme “I am the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6)”. In 1991 it was held in Czestochowa, Poland with the theme “You have received a spirit of sonship (Romans 8:15)”. In 1993 it was held in Denver. USA with the theme “I came that they might have life, and have it to the full (Jn 10:10)”. In 1995 it was held in Manila, Philippines with the theme “As the Father sent me, so am I sending you (Jn 20:21)”. In 1997 it was held in Paris, France with the theme “Teacher, where are you staying? Come and see ( Jn 1:38-39). In 2000 it was held in Rome, Italy with the theme “Jubilee – The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14)”. In 2002 it was held in Toronto, Canada with the theme “You are the salt of the earth; You are the light of the world (Mt 5:13-14)”. In 2005 it was held in Cologne, Germany with the theme “We have come to worship him (Mt 2:2)”. In 2008 it was held in Sydney, Australia with the theme “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses (Acts 1, 8)”. In 2011 it was held in Madrid, Spain with the theme “Rooted and built up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith (Col 2:7)”. In 2013 it was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with the theme “Go and Make Disciples of All Nations (Mt 28:19)”. Youth make up more than 50% of the total population in the world. In India itself as per the survey in 2013 the current population is 1,270,272,105 (1.27 billion) but more than 50% of India's current population is below the age of 25. Since the youth population is half of the total population Pope John Paul II felt the need to unite the youth, trained them in various aspects of life, channelize them for purposeful work and gather the youth to be messenger of peace, love and hope.

    When we look into the various aspects of growth and development in our society the work is done mostly by youth. IT companies, BPOs, Banks, and other sectors have employed so many youth because they know that they could get the best from the youth at the required time. Youth are involved in various sectors whether it might be private, government, joint venture undertakings.  World Youth Day brings the youth from all over the world so that they can share with each other about the various types of work, methods, and techniques they do and use. The WYD will transform thinking and acting pattern of the youth and thus get energized and work with zest and enthusiasm when they return.

    Youth today have been affected tremendously by the fast moving world. They want to grow, get educated, and work fast. Youth in modern times are money, pleasure, power and possession oriented. They will build and break relationship just to obtain their goals. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), US survey reveals that 56.2% of the youth drink, 44% of the youth take drugs, and 42% of the youth involves in criminal acts. Most of the crimes like fighting, rape, murder, robbery, terrorism and others are done by the youth. National Crime Records Bureau data shows that 60% of criminal acts in India is done by the Youth. According to WHO reports there are around 1 million suicides a year in the world. Why the youth are falls in such a category or stage of life? The World Youth Day through various seminars, faith sharing, and presentations try to answer the problems face by the youth today. Through talk and various meetings held during WYD the youth will come out with various solutions which will be beneficial for the youth throughout the world.

    Most of the youth today have whatever they need; they have good education, enough money, fame and all sort of entertainment they wanted. However, we see that many of the youth do not have a happy life. Why is it so? The reason is because they do not really know who they are from deep within. They have all materialistic things but their heart is empty. The World Youth Day gather the youth of all faith and countries to help them to enter into their inner being through prayers and fill their hearts with an inner joy which material things will not be able to give.  Pope Francis said, “World Youth Day aims at bringing the youth from all over the world for prayer, worship, to build and strengthen the bonds of faith, friendship and hope, symbolizing the union between people of different cultures and countries and it invites the youth to take up the call to the mission, and to be witnesses of the Risen Christ”.

    World Youth Day has also been criticized because of immoral behavior of the youth during this occasion. When youth of mixed sexes travel together like one big family for camping trips or overnight retreats they are tempted to other vices like drinking, fighting, consuming drugs and live a loose moral life. Marian T. Horvat, Ph.D. in her book What’s Wrong with World Youth Day? writes: “World Youth Day delivers a counterfeit, emotional pep-rally religion. Its ceremonies contain countless novelties, practices and sacrileges that have been condemned by the constant teaching and practice of the Popes throughout the centuries. WYD is a scandal to our young people. It corrupts the youth.” WYD is like and occasion to brainwash the youth to become fundamentalist, to imbibe western culture and neglect our reach traditions, and to run away from the reality by seeking refuge in God, through religion. WYD is a waste of time, money and resources for a youth. A youth could have used that money to educate himself or get a job during those days instead of going for WYD. Some said that WYD is a Christian method conversion.

    St. Joseph’s College is an institution that educates and transforms many youth for a better tomorrow. So as we celebrate the World Youth Day let us be messenger of peace, love, and hope to all people irrespective of status, colour, caste and sex. Josephites are suppose to be persons with good education and with a loving heart; loving God, nature and human being.

Celebrating the World Youth Day for Better Tomorrow (Edited Version)

The 28^th World Youth Day (WYD) an initiative by the Catholic Church is being held from 22-29 July, 2013 at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The event which has “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) as its theme is expected to gather approximately 3,000,000 youth from across the world. The Supreme religious head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis is scheduled to pray along with the youth during the meet. Various activities like seminars, cultural events, faith sharing and Eucharistic celebration, Stations of the Cross are all geared towards uniting the youth from all over the world irrespective of caste, class, colour, creed and gender.

The World Youth Day was started by Pope John Paul II in 1984. Realizing that the youth population is half of the total population of the world Pope John Paul II felt the need to unite the youth, train them in various aspects of life, channelize them for purposeful work and gather the youth to be messengers of peace, love and hope.

Youth today have been affected tremendously by the fast moving world. They want to grow, get educated and be settled in life at the earliest. Money, pleasure, power and position are driving their decisions quite often. They will build and break relationships just to obtain their goals. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), US survey reveals that 56.2% of the youth drink, 44% of the youth take drugs, and 42% of the youth involves in criminal acts. The number of youth involving in crimes like fighting, rape, murder, robbery, terrorism is on the rise. National Crime Records Bureau data shows that 60% of criminal acts in India are done by the youth. According to the WHO reports there are around one million suicides a year in the world. These figures only reiterate that youth today are at the cross roads.

Inspite of being the beneficiaries of the most advanced modern technologies the youth today seem not be content with themselves. They are engaged in a deep search and longing which the pleasures of the materialistic world cannot provide. Pope Francis’ words, “World Youth Day aims at bringing the youth from all over the world for prayer, worship, to build and strengthen the bonds of faith, friendship and hope, symbolizing the union between people of different cultures and countries and it invites the youth to take up the call to the mission, and to be witnesses of the Risen Christ,” assures an assistance in their search for meaning.

St. Joseph’s College is an institution that educates and transforms many a youth for a better tomorrow. Let this World Youth Day celebration enable each of its students to be a messenger of peace, love, and hope in the society that is increasingly being divided.