Denver Days

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By Meghan Mitchell:

What better way to kick off our pilgrimage to WYD in Poland than a pilgrimage to Denver! On June 23rd, our Service Team of 10 pilgrims arrived in Denver. We were graciously welcomed by the Community of the Beatitudes and adopted their schedule of morningprayer, daily Mass, vespers and evening prayer along with one hour of Adoration per day. When not immersed in prayer, the Service Team prepared for their unique responsibilities in maintaining supply inventories for our 80+ pilgrims, mini language lessons in French and leadership training sessions with Fr. Anthony. In preparation for the arrival of Core Team and rest of the pilgrims, the Service Team also spent time at the Jesus Our Hope retreat center as a way to be spiritually fed before becoming servant leaders to assist in meeting the needs of the rest of the pilgrims. During this time, Service Team attended an Eastern Byzantine Divine Liturgy, a celebration of the Mass in Eastern tradition, and visited Denver’s JPII Center for the New Evangelization, a seminary built to fulfill the needs of the many aspiring priests after the pope’s visit in 1993.

A particular highlight for the Service Team was learning Israeli dancing, which actually happens to be celebrated in the Community of the Beatitudes as a way to honor the cultural and religious heritage we as Christians inherited from Judaism. The Service team was very much in awe of the talented dance moves belonging to Fr. Anthony and sisters Magdalit and Emmanuelle.

Although mostly strangers from all over the United States, the service team quickly bonded during this week packed with activities. We laughed at the various accents unique to particular states, we spent late nights in Adoration, and became near masters of Israeli dancing ourselves. The first week in Denver flew by, and we became fast friends ready to serve the rest of the pilgrims for WYD.

By Jasmine Stockhert:

Words can hardly express the experiences we have had over the time spent in Denver. Entering into the spirituality of the community was quite different at first, praying morning and evening prayer with song and charisma. But I have now seen how it will keep us open to the beauty of what pilgri,ages are all about, letting go, and letting God.

The team started the week visiting spots where St John Paul II spent time during World Youth Day 1993. Such places as St. Vincent's orphanage, Regis University, and the spectacular church on the rock, St. Malo's, gave us glimpses of the journey our beloved saint took to encourage young people. We also had the chance to attempt hiking the Twin Sisters and pray lectio divina on the mountain. Other ways in which we opened our hearts to the Holy Spirit were pilgri,aging through downtown Denver, where we learned the traditional Jewish dances of the community, attended mass at the cathedral, and were witnesses of God's love to all the strangers we encountered. Many of us also experienced our first Byzantine Divine Liturgy; The time spent in prayer, teachings, and sharing over these days has helped us to trust in the Lord as we encounter Him in many unique ways through this journey.

By Brittany Ullman:

The Community of the Beatitudes houses are located worldwide – some of which host beautiful mountain views off in the distance, waiting to be climbed and explored.

This pilgrimage will be a lot like that – climbing a mountain. It takes time to ascend to the top. Struggles and beautiful viewpoints will meet us along the way. We aren’t going straight to the top – World Youth Day – right away, though. Rather we are going to take our time, making various stops in France and Poland along the way. Each person’s climb will be different, especially since the 85 of us will be split into 3 itineraries. However, we will all meet at the top, in Krakow, and cherish the experience together. Obviously, preparations needed to be made before we started up our “ascent.” I’m sure I can speak for the majority when I say that packing was not our favorite part, including labeling all of our clothesfor communal laundry. Besides that, there were a lot of group preparations accomplished. Who is arriving in France when? Do we have the first aid kits ready? Is the food all figured out? How will we make sure no one is left behind along the trip? And what about the music and Israeli dancing?! These were answered through the work of the Community and Service and Core teams. The Service team arrived in Denver early, working hard behind the scenes. Core team, who serves as small group leaders and more, joined a few days later. Together, we spent the week absorbing the Community of the Beatitudes charism while walking in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II’s 1993 World Youth Day visit. From the mountains to the Cathedral to Cherry Creek, it was absolutely beautiful. JPII is certainly guiding us.

Now with the whole group gathered, safe, and prepared in Nay, France, we are ready to start our ascent onwards to World Youth Day! Allons-y… Let’s go!