STORY - "WYD a Punctuation Mark"

Admitting that signs telling how many days remain until World Youth Day cause World Youth Day Co-ordinators to break into a sweat, Ms Jenni Winters generously shared her varied WYD experiences as guest speaker at the annual Tenison Woods Education Centre Dinner in May.

Jenni had attended WYDs in Rome and Toronto, and was involved in preparations for Cologne. Since 2006, she has been Formation and Program Director for MAGiS08, the Ignatian program that runs alongside WYD08. MAGiS08 is an initiative of the Ignatian congregations: Loreto, Sacre Coeur, Faithful Companions of Jesus, Sisters of Charity and Jesuits.

While acknowledging eloquently the enormous impact of previous WYDs and the hope that it may promote a new vision of leadership and service, Jenni also addressed such issues as the burgeoning costs of WYD08 and the difficulty of characterising WYD accurately to the wider community.

However, Jenni focused on her pilgrim experience and its enduring impact, and the culture in which our young people live.

“From Ipods, to Facebook, to chat rooms, to sms, to email - young people live in a world where they are bombarded with information and messages. The question remains who is sending the message and if we have a message to send, how are we communicating it?

“Companies spend millions of dollars getting to know young people. They research their likes, their dislikes, their culture, in an attempt to successfully convey their product or message. Is it any wonder with all that effort, energy and expense that multinational companies seem to be faring a little better than the church in the formation of young people? Is it absurd to suggest that perhaps the hype of world Youth Day meets young people where they are at in a way that is familiar to them with a message that is unfamiliar to them?”

Jenni shared the experience of visiting the Holy Land en route to WYD in Rome, and finding that there was – literally – no room in the Bethlehem Inn! The group was eventually accommodated in the Bethlehem Hotel. In conclusion, she encouraged “your 150,000 Catholics and 45 parishes [to] respond generously and with the hospitality of the Bethlehem Hotel rather than the Bethlehem Inn.

“I challenge you to get involved in whatever you can offer. Be open to the opportunity to allow this to transform. World Youth Day does present us with the opportunity for a punctuation mark in the history of our church and country. How can we help to ensure the punctuation mark accentuates Jesus?”

Jenni’s words were well received and led to further questions and discussion. Centre Co-ordinator Sr Colleen Carney said, “The dinner was a great diocesan gathering, supporting the work of TWEC and bringing together people who have high hopes for WYD. My lasting impression of Jenni’s talk is of her passionate desire that WYD will provide young people with experiences that enable them to find meaning in their lives and to deepen their relationship with Jesus.”

Tracey Edstein

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