The Catholic Weekly 10 May 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 13 10, May, 2020 FEATURE French voice told pilgrims to stop eating to observe the one hour fast before Mass. It was hot, and pilgrims slapped on sunscreen and hats and dozed in the sun. Mass was broadcast on large monitors while cars on the freeway zoomed past like tiny dots on the horizon be- hind the actual altar. It was very ... World Youth Day-ish. An announcement in French forbade filming or photography. Stops were infrequent and short. Food was only dis- pensed at camp sites in the evening; a mysterious (pre- sumably tomato) soup and many, many baguettes. There were no showers; only troughs with tinkling wa- ter taps where people brushed their teeth and tried to clean themselves as much as they could within the bounds of public decency. Pilgrims were awoken by a pre-recorded angelic choir and a deep man’s voice that boomed benevolent sounding French phrases at five minute intervals. A giggling pilgrim trans- lated it, explaining to me that the voice was trying to “gen- tly” wake the pilgrims with increasing urgency every few minutes, asking why they hadn’t left their tents yet, and eventually ordering them to get out of the camp site. At breakfast, hot choco- late, black coffee and more baguettes were dispensed, along with small takeaway jam packets. Since I wasn’t well pre- pared, I stuffed my backpack with these provisions and lived largely on baguette and jam for three days. For me, the conversations with other pilgrims were a highlight. Random stragglers who found themselves walking with strangers like myself were on the fringes of their own chapters in some way and their insights were fasci- nating. One Singaporean student studying in Europe described his struggle to find a local par- ish with a traditional liturgy which welcomed new people. In the end he’d settled for a Greek Orthodox parish. A French teen asked me if I thought people would go to hell for not attending the traditional Latin Mass and opened up to me about her own doubts which she was working through with a new spiritual director. I was very open about be- ing a regular attendee of my local Anglican Ordinariate parish although it led to many confused conversations that went somewhere along the lines of: “Anglican?!” “Well, Anglican Ordinar- iate. It’s Catholic, under the Pope and the Catholic Church and everything.” Cue brief explanation of the history of the ordinariate and the elements it shares in com- mon with the traditional Latin rite mass. “Oh.” I was very kindly told by several teenage girls that per- haps in God’s time I would come to appreciate and em- brace the traditional Latin Mass, as though I needed to be converted to Catholicism. They were shocked – per- haps scandalised – to discover I had never sung the rosary in Latin. On the second evening pil- grims arriving at the camp site were surprised and delighted- ly to be personally welcomed by Cardinal Robert Sarah. I didn’t recognise him at first, too exhausted to believe such a significant figure in the Vatican over several pon- tificates would be standing around smiling and shaking hands with dirty sweaty pil- grims in the middle of no- where. I followed the other pil- grims who dropped to their knees and kissed the ring on his finger. Hardly knowing where I was or who was before me I did the same, and when I stood he held my hand for several moments as he turned to greet more pilgrims. He ex- uded a comforting, fatherly presence. It wasn’t the last time I’d get close to him. In broken French I begged my way into the final Mass at Chartres Cathedral, and knelt on the stone floor for a spectacular and completely unintelligible Rowers pass Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2010. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/BENOIT TESSIER, REUTERS Pilgrims headed for Chartres pass by the iconic Eiffel Tower. PHOTO: DAVID JOYCE, CC BY-SA 2.0 Mass in Latin and French. All around me, exhausted pilgrims and children curled up sleeping in confessionals and any crevices they could find while dignitaries filled the front pews. Several dedicated pilgrims continued to carry banners and statues in their arms and on their shoulders during the three hour extravaganza. After Mass an opportunity to venerate a relic of the heart of St Pio of Pietrelcina arose. I waited for the crowds to dis- perse and watched as excited young children kissed it while the Franciscans holding it beamed with joy. I found out later that Cardi- nal Sarah’s wide ranging hom- ily addressed many issues from priesthood to parenting, and he criticised the develop- ment of Western society as “a drunken boat in the night.” It was an interesting image that summed up the last three days for me – disorientating. As a veteran of two World Youth Days – Rome in 2000, and Sydney in 2008 – it was an unexpected surprise to have the memories of so many World Youth Day experiences re-awakened. Immersed in a new culture and landscape for three days, tested physically, mentally and spiritually, even my dai- ly prayer routine capsized in favour of an unfamiliar lan- guage and liturgy and a new set of social mores to follow. Like any good pilgrimage, it was a challenging and ulti- mately rewarding experience, as new and fascinating as a winding path across a seem- ingly unending French coun- tryside. Watch the inspiring trail- er for the Paris-Chartres pil- grimage. Pilgrimage website: https://nd-chretiente.com/ index-eng.php Bridget Curran is a producer at Interior Castle Films Confession advice: keep it simple LIKE CHILDREN who usually speak without sugar-coating their words, Christians must be simple yet concrete when acknowledging their sins, Pope Francis said. In his homily during his morning Mass on 29 April, the pope said that Jesus’ prayer of thanksgiving to God for re- vealing himself “to the child- like” reminded him of the concreteness of children, es- pecially during confession. “I always remember a boy who came to me one time and told me he was sad because he argued with his aunt,” he recalled. “‘What did you do?’ I asked him. ‘I was at home. I wanted to go play soccer, but my aunt – because my mother wasn’t there – told me, “No, you can’t go out. You have to do your homework first.” Words were said, and in the end, I told her to go to you-know-where,’” the pope recounted. “And that little boy had such a good grasp of geogra- phy, he even told me where it was that he told her to go!” the pope added jokingly. “That’s how they are: simple, con- crete. We must also be simple and concrete,” he added. At the start of the Mass, the pope commemorated the feast of St Catherine of Siena, patroness of Italy and of Eu- rope, and prayed “for the uni- ty of Europe, for the European Union so that together we may go forward as brothers and sisters,” confronting the coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath. The pope began his homily by reflecting on the day’s first reading from the First Letter of St John, in which the apos- tle calls on Christians to live in truth and acknowledge their sins. “If we say, ‘We are without sin,’ we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will for- give our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing,” the reading stated. The pope said St John’s words are a reminder that “truth is concrete,” not like people who use the phrase “we are all sinners” in a gener- al way while not acknowledg- ing their own sins. “Truth is always concrete; lies are ethereal, they are like air, you can’t take hold of it,” he said. “You can’t go and confess your sins in an ab- stract way.” “We too, with the Lord, must have the freedom to say things as they are,” the pope said. “Let us ask the Lord for the grace of simplicity andmay he give us this grace that he gives to simple people, to children, to young people who say what they feel, who do not hide what they feel. Even if it is a wrong thing, they say it,” Pope Francis said. - CNS ¾ ¾ Junno Arocho Esteves Tired participants walk towards the sunset. Many friendships are forged along the way. PHOTO: DAVID JOYCE, CC BY-SA 2.0