Celebrating WYD on Palm Sunday

WYD_madrid2011

It has now been 25 years since Pope John Paul II called the youth of the world to come together and celebrate the first official “World Youth Day” in 1986. While international WYDs are celebrated every 2-3 years, most people aren’t aware that in the years in between, we still celebrate World Youth Day every Palm Sunday in local dioceses. This year, Palm Sunday falls on 28 March and we invite you to use this time to celebrate with the rest of your local parish. You can also start asking young people if they have thought about going to the next WYD in Spain!  

Here are some ways you can encourage your Parish/School to mark this day:

  • Every year the Pope writes a special message to the young people of the world. Provide young people and other parishioners with a copy of this year's World Youth Day Message (available from the Vatican website in the week leading up to Palm Sunday). Hear what he is saying to you! The letters from the past 25 years are available on the Vatican Website: www.vatican.va/gmg/documents
  • Get young people involved in the liturgy e.g. doing readings, organising the music etc. Get in touch with your Parish Priest early, as often the Easter liturgies are prepared at the beginning of Lent.
  • Ask your Parish Priest if he can give a special blessing to all young people during the Mass (e.g. after Communion). He could ask all young people to stand and use the following blessing or make up his own. WYD blessing
  • Get the young people to host a morning tea/supper after the Parish Mass for all the parishioners. This could be as simple as organising tea/coffee and asking the young people in your Parish to bring a cake/biscuits etc. and getting to know other young people in your parish.
  • Put up a display in the Church foyer showing all the things young people are involved in at your Parish or photos from your group’s pilgrimage to WYD in Sydney.
  • Organise a youth event after your Parish Mass. This could be just your normal youth gathering with a particular focus on celebrating WYD or maybe a reunion for all the parishioners who went to the last WYD08 in Sydney. You can also invite new members to join you.
  • Organise a time for the young people to prepare for Holy Week together. For instance you can do a reflection on the Stations of the Cross by watching the DVD of the Stations of the Cross from Sydney WYD08 (available at Central Catholic Bookstore), or Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ or Jesus of Nazareth.
  • Start planning fundraising for your parish to go to the next World Youth Day… in Madrid! Below is a tip to get you started while the summer sun is still out. Stay tuned for more fundraising ideas next month!

WYD PROVEN IDEA #1:

BUNNINGS SAUSAGE SIZZLES
Every weekend of the year, Bunnings allows local community groups to sell sausages outside their stores and you get to keep all the funds! They are very popular and can raise quite a bit of money. Just call the Bunnings stores in your area and ask them when they are free – they get booked out quickly, so call soon! Your local butcher/bakery may consider donating their products to help too.