Sean Glennon, Class 2011
Through Terenure College the Order of the
Carmelites has guided thousands of young people through their values of
Community, Prayer and Service. The Carmelites educated me for 10 years in
Terenure College, and then in August 2011, after finishing my Leaving
Certificate, I had the privilege of joining them, as part of the Carmelite
Youth Ministry’s pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Madrid.
World Youth Day is an amazing event. It’s a
gathering of young Catholics from all across the world in a massive celebration
of faith. In 2011 it was held in Madrid with an estimated two million young
people travelling to the city to take part. 35 of these pilgrims made up the
Irish Carmelite group.
We arrived Saturday evening and spent the next
two days preparing for the coming week and reflecting on what the following
days would mean to us and our faith, as well as exploring the beautiful city of
Madrid and getting to know each other over a few pints. It was an amazing
experience to walk around the city, as it filled with young people, and being
stopped constantly for photos or just a chat all because we were Irish. It’s
nice to know as a Nation we are still universally loved by the world. It was
not until Tuesday evening that we gathered in the city-centre for the opening
mass proceeded over by the Archbishop of Madrid. The streets were packed with
over a million people as we sat amongst dozens of other nationalities.
The following day was one of the most important
as we gathered in a school in suburban Madrid with fellow Carmelites who had
also made the journey to Madrid for World Youth Day (it also happened to be the
day that myself and two of my classmates Cathal Kerins and Pierce Kehoe all got
our Leaving Cert results!). This day allowed us reflect on the Carmelite
Charism of Community, Prayer and Service. As someone of had spent 10 years
around members of the Carmelite Order these values have come to mean a lot to
me. Any student of Terenure College will be aware that the Carmelites live
together as a Community, students also feel that by attending Terenure College
they too are part of this Carmelite family as they join the Order in
celebrating, practicing and developing their faith. As a group in Madrid prayer
was a central part of our week. Every morning we would come together in prayer
before we carried on with the day, this for me made travelling with Carmelites
by far the best way to experience World Youth Day. Finally, Service as part of
the Carmelite Charism is a fundamental part of our Christian faith. We see it
best in Ireland through the education they give in Terenure but also in
community work done in Whitefriar Street and by Carmelite communities across
Ireland.
Thursday was the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI.
Once again we gathered in the city centre with our fellow Catholics to hear his
welcoming and message to young people who had come to Madrid. Most memorable
was the time we spent waiting for him to arrive as we joined in the street
party that had erupted with dancing and music provided by an Angolan group of
pilgrims. Though the Pope’s words were moving and inspired greatly the crowd of
young followers of Christ, the following morning was one of the most enjoyable
for me as we assembled in a stadium with thousands of other English speakers
for Catechesis sessions and to celebrate Mass by Archbishop of New York, Tim
Dolan. He gave an amazing (and also very humorous at times) homily that I’m
sure no one there will soon forget.
The Saturday saw us leave our wonderful
apartment to travel to the Aerodrome for the nightlong Vigil with the Pope. In
a very biblical scene the Pope gave his message to 2 million young adults as
the night sky was lit up by thunder and we sheltered from the rain under our
tricolours (this was after we had a week of nothing but blue skies and 40
degree temperatures). Though the next morning unfortunately we all decided to
leave before the Pope’s closing Mass, we all attended Mass in the city together
and then gathered back at our apartment to look back on our experiences during
the week. It had been an amazing and powerful experience for us all. We had all
come to Madrid at different levels of our faith, though left with a common
experience.
The Carmelite Youth Ministry is now preparing
for our Recife relief mission and pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2013 in Rio, it
will be not only a celebration of faith but also two weeks of giving back and
service to our fellow human beings. Finally, I’d like to thank Marie Ward for
organising the trip, Fr. Dermot Kelly, Br. James Eivers, Br. Dave Twohig and
all the other Carmelites who travelled with us and also the Carmelite community
in Terenure College for all their support.
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