Twenty years after the 1993 World Youth Day was held in Denver, the
archdiocese has been abundantly blessed with much spiritual fruit, said
Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila.
“It's just a tremendous grace, and one can only lift up one's heart in
gratitude for the graces that the Lord has poured forth upon the
archdiocese since the visit of John Paul II here,” Archbishop Aquila
told CNA at an Aug. 15 celebration of the 20th anniversary of the event.
Some 1,800 people gathered at the John Paul II Center for the New
Evangelization – home to St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and the
archdiocesan chancery – for a Mass commemorating the visit of the Pope
and over 750,000 pilgrims for 1993's World Youth Day in Denver.
“I have seen tremendous growth here,” said the archbishop, who in 1993
was a priest of the archdiocese, and became its bishop in 2012.
“Since World Youth Day, the fruit that we have seen born are the two new
seminaries, Redemptoris Mater and St. John Vianney … we've seen the
blessing of ecclesial movements moving here: the Neo-Catechumenal Way,
the Christian Life Movement, Communion and Liberation, and so many
others.”
He also mentioned the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, the
Augustine Institute, ENDOW, Christ in the City homeless ministry and
Centro San Juan Diego Hispanic family and pastoral care center as among
the “incredible” fruits of Blessed John Paul II's 1993 visit.
“They continue to increase, they continue to grow. We see more and more
of our faithful and our young people having a real desire to come to
know and encounter Jesus Christ.”
While saying Mass at the gathering, Archbishop Aquila delivered a homily
reflecting that “in our humility, we can only lift up our hearts and
recognize the blessings that the Lord has bestowed so generously upon
us.”
Noting the day's feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, he said
that by her 'yes' to the will of God the Father, Mary “trusted and
surrendered herself completely” to him.
“We too are called to the same faith, to put our trust and confidence in
all of the promises that have been given to us by our God,” Archbishop
Aquila taught.
“My beloved brothers and sisters, my sons and daughters, the greatest
hunger of Blessed John Paul II, the greatest hunger of Pope Emeritus
Benedict, and the greatest hunger of Pope Francis, is the greatest
hunger of Mary: that our hearts, aflame with the fire of love,
constantly long for the Father and for union with the Father.”
Archbishop Aquila instructed those attending Mass to pray that they
encounter Christ “ever more intimately;” that they receive a heart like
Mary's, “more receptive” to God; and for an increase in love.
“Let us also lift up our hearts in gratitude to the Father for the gift
of World Youth Day 1993 and all the fruit it has borne in the New
Evangelization,” he added.
The archbishop closed by citing the words of Blessed John Paul II at
Denver's World Youth Day, which he said are especially relevant as the
cultures of life and of death encounter each other in the U.S. “whether
it be for the unborn, the poor, the elderly, or the immigrant, whether
it be for the true understanding of marriage and the family, or whether
it be for religious freedom and the freedom of conscience.”
“This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel,” he said, quoting the
former Pope. “(D)o not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine
modes of living, in order to take up the challenge of making Christ
known in the modern 'metropolis'.”