Friday, 22 July 2016

This is Me Not Going to World Youth Day

You may be asking, "Do Catholics who prefer the Traditional Latin Mass go to World Youth Day?" In fact, I don't know. I think the angrier ones go with cameras so they can take photos of all the young ladies in bikini tops and shorts and post them on the internet. That sort of vigilante action does not appeal to me, and if it did, I would take photos of the girls in my town who have currently adopted the fashion of skin-tight leggings with waist-length shirts. No need to go to WYD to whip up rage over the clothes of the young.

Personally I object to World Youth Day being called "Catholic Woodstock" as it implies that the Woodstock Music Festival was at all something for Catholics to emulate. But I like the idea of the young Catholics of the world going to one place so they can all meet each other and maybe pick up a bit of catechesis on the way. I am sorry nobody asked me to help out in any way, even if just to give friendly warnings that happy selfies at Auschwitz are a very bad idea.

For, lo, World Youth Day (or Week, or Fortnight) is in Poland this year, and although I have never been to WYD before (first because I couldn't afford it and then because I felt too old), I would have gone this year if anyone had asked me to volunteer--and paid for my flight, naturally. As a matter of fact, a hard-nosed editor wrote to ask if I were going, and after I said no, I wrote back to say I would go, happily, if someone paid my expenses. Alas, there was no reply.

So now I am sulking that nobody asked me to volunteer to help out with WYD despite my M.Div., fluency in English, intermediate grasp of Polish, frequent travel to Poland, proximity to Continental Europe, great familiarity with the map of Krakow, helpful disposition, minor fame and general excellence. Maybe it was something I wrote.

Yes, I am in a snit.  However, I will cheer myself up by thinking that, if it should be very snowy in Poland in November, I will go on a sleigh ride. And if it isn't, for the next few years every time B.A. asks me what I want to do for my birthday (in January), I will say I want to go to Poland and have a sleigh ride. This will drive him around the bend, but I do not care because I am sulking.
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13 comments:

  1. stellamaris22 July 2016 at 16:24

    I feel you.
    My little brother and a lot of our friends are going and right now I am wishing I were. My job is very up and down at the moment and I can tell I am suffering spiritually. WYD might have been a nice spa for the soul.
    On the other hand, I went to WYD in Toronto (only a busride away and therefore cheap). And though I remember it being a real high, I don't think I would enjoy it so much now because of the unrelenting praise and worship music. I have become a lot less tolerant of that kind of thing. It would probably not be so beneficial if I am constantly resenting the lack of Gregorian chant.

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  2. Mrs McLean22 July 2016 at 16:52

    There is both the TLM/EF and Gregorian Chant at Swięty Krzyż (Holy Cross) in Kraków.

    Look how knowledgeable I am about Kraków! Surely someone could have found me useful!

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  3. Truthfinder22 July 2016 at 20:53

    Hasn't Juventutem been sending a contingent for the last couple WYD?

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    1. Mrs McLean22 July 2016 at 22:04

      Nobody loves me since I stopped writing about Single stuff. Boo hoo, poor little me (plays Very Sad Music on electric piano).

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    2. Truthfinder22 July 2016 at 22:52

      I was just thinking "Mrs Mc hasn't done any single posts in a while; I hope she does".
      My fb page has been filled with friends in Poland and I'm a bit of two minds: I've always wanted to go to Poland, but I'm not sure I could deal with WYD as it is right now (or at least how it came across last time).

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    3. Mrs McLean22 July 2016 at 22:57

      Did you go to the Brazil one? I'm curious now! How did it seem? You can always go to Poland and it will probably be less crowded and confused when WYD is over, of course. If you go in the wintertime, it will obviously be very cold but...sleigh ride!

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    4. Truthfinder23 July 2016 at 01:21

      No, I didn't go to Brazil - but certainly saw enough pictures of the Mass on the beach to put me off. It might have been different if Benedict were still Pope.

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  4. Anonymous22 July 2016 at 21:19

    Reporting from WYD right now. We are one of the lucky groups staying in host families in Częsyochowa. There is lots of dancing with foreign youth, which I like. There is also quite a lot of praise and wotship pop, which I don't like as much. My host family like my originally Polish room mate better, so I'm also sulking a little.

    I am a leader of a group of ten younth and I feel so blessed to see the change in them from this experience. I can see that they are becoming spiritually enriched.

    My greatest Polish language discovery was the expression "o jej" or "O jejko". Like " o lala", right?

    /Emilka

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    1. Mrs McLean22 July 2016 at 22:08

      Ojej! is like Oops! Oh, how annoying about the Polish roommate. Well, try to be as Polish as possible. Sing sad songs and make ironic remarks about Russians.

      Keep reporting from WYD because I am dying to know! How are your Polish skills these days? Are you coping linguistically? I am all agog!

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    2. Mrs McLean22 July 2016 at 22:09

      Ojej is also like Oy vey, I've noticed. I am sure they are related. There are lots of crossovers between Polish and Yiddish constructions, I've noticed.

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    3. Anonymous24 July 2016 at 20:03

      Interesting. Polish Boyfriendnd also says "jejsio" (spellning?). I think it's like a sigh.

      My Polish is limited. I can ask simple things and tell about simple events, like where we sent and who was there to my family. I am really really making progress in speaking now. What I need most of all is vocab. Brakuje mi słowa! A very very useful fill out expression is "jak to powiedzieć...". It gives you time to think while speaking.

      We have now been to a home for the disabled and at Jasna Góra. I love the festive spirit and the meeting with Christ in the people at that home. I wish to take back some of their joyful spirit. Also, Jasna Góra was really beautiful and spiritual. The mass held there was in latin, which I loved. My greatest distress is that they keep sending the most attractive Polish priests to us. God bless them!

      /Emilka

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  5. Susanna24 July 2016 at 23:34

    A longtime lurker writing from WYD in Poland. There's enough variety here to find the people, clothing, and music you're looking for. It's entirely possible to go for WYD and avoid praise and worship music altogether. And the impression of WYD you get depends entirely on the biases of the media you happen to prefer.

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  6. Mrs McLean28 July 2016 at 00:59

    I am not reading anything the media has to say about WYD--although I have just accidentally read that he gave the government a hard time about refugees. Given that a Syrian refugee has just killed a Polish mother of four in Germany (and an Eritrean refugee in Germany has just been arrested for raping a very old German lady who was visiting her sister's grave), that was not perhaps in the best of taste.

    I am not particularly interested in Pope Francis, but I am very interested in readers' impressions of Poland and their encounters with Christ or the deepening of their faith during WYD week.

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