This article was contributed by Christine LaPorte, (@MsLaPorteCCHS) a math teacher at Cathedral Catholic High School (@cchsdons) in San Diego, CA. She attended World Youth Day with Mission San Luis Rey Parish (@MSLRP_youthgroup) in Oceanside and attends St. Patrick Catholic Church (@StPats_youth) in Carlsbad.
“You are not made to vegetate! Don’t be a couch potato! The last thing the world needs is more people who are asleep at the wheel.” “Okay Pope Francis, we hear you!!” In his address to over 2,000,000 youth spanning 6 continents and speaking 180 languages, we promised our Holy Father that we would #BeTheSpark upon leaving World Youth Day in Kraków, Poland. His messages of mercy throughout the week left us feeling joyful, full of hope, and ready to hit the ground running, setting the world on fire with an outpouring of God’s love.
Three people I’m happy I got to know better on this pilgrimage? Saint John Paul II, Saint Faustina and Saint Maximillan Kolbe. So much of this week was centered on learning about how they lived their lives for God and how we are all truly called to be Saints. But this isn’t new for us as Catholic educators, is it? I bet we’ve all said it to our students before. “You are called to holiness! You are called to be Saints!” True, for sure, but let’s give our kids some context.
All of these Polish Saints suffered greatly. Suffering is when God does His deepest, most life-changing work. It is when we suffer that we get a glimpse of the suffering Jesus experienced on the cross. My mind was blown during a talk by a nun from Saint Faustina’s order, the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She said, “We can imitate Jesus by living and dying for others in our daily lives. Find the strength to give strength to others. Always focus on others. He, she, they…not us, we, me. This is the area we can make the most impact.” WOW. This is so counter-cultural. And so important for us as Catholic educators. Unlike other professions, and no matter our subject areas, we interact with young people every day who are so desperately seeking to be understood and to be happy. No one knows us better or can make us happier than Jesus Christ. Our greatest role models and best friends should be the Saints because each one is a unique victory of God and for man.
Sister continued, “Start with the little things. This is where we practice, so that one day we may heroically live.” She taught us that the natural conclusion of Jesus’s life was dying on the cross for us, because every action of love and mercy He did up until that moment led Him there. Her invitation to us was to be brave enough to choose mercy towards others at all costs. The cross is a contradiction to everything we want in life. Living the way of the cross is heavy, ugly and painful. But heroes are born out of the Truth. And the cross is the ultimate truth! Put a cross in your hands right now. Go ahead, I’ll wait. … Ok, got it? Now, look at Jesus, His familiar, beautiful, gentle and loving face experiencing such pain and self-sacrifice for you, for me, for us. Take your cross and flip it over. See that? The back side of the cross is blank! It is for you; it is for me. So what is the natural conclusion of your life? To what extent are you living for God and not yourself? This is how we truly become Saints. This is how we live for Christ. Our ultimate reward is helping others grow in holiness and the invitation remains on the back of the cross. It is empty because Jesus calls us to take up His cross with Him.
As a Catholic, making the pilgrimage to World Youth Day was the best decision of my life. (Seriously!) At times it was extremely uncomfortable: being packed like sardines on the tram and in line for security, waiting in extremely long lines for meals and bathrooms, walking over 10 miles in a day multiple times, traveling 30 plus hours without showering, sleeping outside, and typically getting only 5 hours of sleep each night. Funny thing about the Holy Spirit though, I’ve never felt more rested or alive! This is because the closer we are to God, the more energy He gives us to do His work. Several times during the past week I’ve been moved to tears during moments when I realized just how great God’s love is for us. Praise, worship and Eucharistic Adoration with 20,000 English-speaking pilgrims, seeing Papa Francisco up close as he drove past our hostel, going to confession with a priest from Boston who had so much insight to share, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Rosary with Sisters from the Missionaries of Mercy…these are just a few examples of why it is so fun and beautiful to be Catholic!
