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SAN ANTONIO • Before and during the 12-day pilgrimage of more than 50 young adults of the archdiocese traveling to Cologne, Germany, for World Youth Day, the pilgrims were remembered in liturgies in the Alamo City.
Auxiliary Bishop Patrick J. Zurek, a World Youth Day attendee himself, imparted a special blessing on the archdiocesan pilgrims prior to their departure at the noon liturgy at St. John Berchmans Church on Aug. 7.
“It is a rare privilege to meet the pope,” said Bishop Zurek in his homily. “It is a very unique and special time for all the pilgrims.”
He told the young adults that Pope Benedict XVI would talk to them about two or three things, but most importantly about faith itself. The auxiliary bishop said that the Holy Father would emphasize to them not watering down the faith, but to take it as it has been handed down from Jesus to the present.
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“Pope John Paul II said constantly, ‘Don’t be afraid to live your faith,’” Bishop Zurek explained, adding, “Pope Benedict XVI, at the end of his first homily as pontiff, said, ‘Don’t be afraid.’”
The bishop described the opening Mass of the new pontiff, when Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the young faces he saw at the funeral Mass of Pope John Paul II. That, he replied, gave him the boldness to call us to a deeper faith. “I have great faith in the church because of all the young people at the Mass,” he recounted the bishop of Rome as saying.
“A precious gift has been handed down to us,” stressed the San Antonio prelate. “The church is vibrant and young, and the Holy Spirit continually recreates lives.”
Bishop Zurek also discussed the centrality of the Eucharist in Catholic worship. “God poured out his divinity to take on human flesh. The Eucharist is his body that continues to be his presence to us,” he said. “It is he within us, who walks with us, who continues to give us strength. Faith that is strong and beautiful must be sustained by the Eucharist.”
The auxiliary bishop again quoted the words of Pope Benedict XVI, saying: “The Eucharist is Christ’s continual presence among us.”
In addition, Bishop Zurek lauded the teachings of St. Augustine, who said we will always be restless until God is part of our lives. “In the quiet of our hearts we encounter God in our conscience,” he concluded. “Have fun in Germany, but we must always step back, and in the quiet of our hearts, let God speak to us.”
Two weeks following the St. John Berchmans liturgy, another afternoon Mass for the San Antonio World Youth Day pilgrims was celebrated on Aug. 21 by Archbishop José H. Gomez at San Fernando Cathedral.
“This Sunday Mass is a continuation of the beautiful Mass celebrated earlier by Pope Benedict XVI with 900 bishops, 9,000 priests and one million young people in attendance,” began Archbishop Gomez. “Today in a personal way we’re uniting with the universal church. We share the joy of others, the great joy that cannot be kept to oneself.”
Echoing the World Youth Day theme, “We have come to worship him,” (Matt 2:2), the archbishop urged listeners to make the Eucharist the center of their lives.
Archbishop Gomez referred to the readings from the Mass — taken from Isaiah, Romans and Matthew — as bringing forth two interesting moments in the Gospel. Those times were when Jesus asked the apostles, “Who do you say that I am?” and when Christ highlighted the primacy of Peter among the apostles.
“‘Who do you say that I am?’ defines the life of that person,” the archbishop said during his homily. “You question why you are Catholic, and the answer comes from faith. It is a question that demands a personal answer.”
He continued, “It’s easy to talk about, but what makes a difference is our personal call to Jesus Christ. Ask God for the grace to say ‘Son of the living God.’”
The San Antonio prelate then posed an additional question: “How do we participate in the renewal of the church in our country?”
He replied simply, “Through the Eucharist and by faithfulness to the teachings of the church. Attend Sunday Mass and daily Mass throughout the week. Begin an ongoing process of learning the teachings of the church better. The church is a place of working together on our journey of faith.”
In his closing comments, Archbishop Gomez asked the attendees to unite themselves with the more than one million people at World Youth Day, repeating a phrase made by Pope Benedict XVI in his homily earlier that day, “Let us go forward with Christ and live our lives as true worshippers of God.”
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