World Youth Day, South Florida style

Photography: Jim Davis

MIRAMAR | They couldn't go to Poland for World Youth Day, so they held one themselves -- as an all-night festival for young Catholics.

About 100 youths from at least 19 parishes -- from St. Martin de Porres in the south to St. Clement in the north -- converged on St. Stephen Church for the 13-hour celebration. Just like their friends who made the pilgrimage to Krakow for the celebration led by Pope Francis, they sang, prayed, worshiped and heard rousing messages.

They even got to join their friends in spirit in Poland, via internet feed.

"I couldn't go to Poland, so I'm glad to be here," said Paola Suarez, who attends St. Brendan Church in Miami. "So many people are here, from different backgrounds, praying. We're all here for the same reason."

Organizers of the July 30-31 event decorated the stage with poster backdrops, including a WYD sign and a Divine Mercy painting, for a shrine in Krakow that many pilgrims visited last week. Even Pope Francis took the stage in Hollywood -- if only through a full-size cardboard cutout image.

A wealth of festive touches marked the local World Youth Day. Popcorn flowed and attendees sported capes made of national flags. A beach ball got batted around the courtyard as the youths sang along to five scheduled groups. Starting with Heart and Soul, a 13-member group from St. Boniface Church, Pembroke Pines, the groups did their own numbers as well as praise and worship standards such as "Our God" and "Open the Eyes."

But the musicians, too, kept their eye on the main goal.

"The music is fine, but at the end of the day, it's all about Jesus," said Gerard Calilung of Heart and Soul. "Our goal is to bring people closer to him."

The South Florida crowd was almost as diverse as the multitude that gathered in Krakow. As Griseli Molina, one of three co-hosts, called for homeland shout-outs, various sections of the audience applauded from at least 10 nations -- Peru, Cuba, Argentina, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere.

'It lasts a lifetime' 

"I love the sharing, the community," said Kiara Salmeron, who came with seven others from Voceros de Cristo, the youth group of St. Agatha Church, Miami. "It feels pretty good."

Some of those present helped infuse the night with their own World Youth Day pilgrimages. Francisco Pino, one of the singers, said he went to WYD in 2008 in Sydney and in 2011 in Madrid.

"Once you’ve experienced one World Youth Day, it lasts a lifetime," Pino, a veteran South Florida Catholic singer, said after performing with newcomer Fercho Olivar. "You want to relive it every World Youth Day. It's like an itching in your body."

The keynote speaker, Julissa Lopez of St. Stephen's, encouraged her young listeners to recognize their spiritual potential.

"You are the image of the invisible God," she said, in a talk alternating between English and Spanish. "You don't know the charisma you have until you put it into practice.

"Fear not, said the Lord. He will give you the words, and you can go and tell everyone."

Lopez led a prayer for the youths to give him their lives and to make the changes he wanted. And it seemed to inspire Angel Calana immediately.

"I need to change," said Calana, of Mother of our Redeemer Church, Hialeah. "I can touch a lot of people with the Word of God. Before, I was afraid. But now I believe I can do it."

The event was a personal project of Yomaria Diaz, an administrative assistant in the archdiocesan Office of Catechesis. She was disappointed that she couldn't attend the 2013 WYD in Rio de Janeiro.

Then she remembered a similar youth gathering in Puerto Rico that year, and she decided to try it in South Florida. For her workforce, she turned to Anchors of the Lord, the young adult group at St. Stephen's. She also got help from Pastoral Juvenil Hispana, part of the Southeast Pastoral Institute.

"I'm blessed to have friends and family and young leaders," Diaz said.

Countering the craziness 

Besides music and preaching, the festival included dance and drama. Members of St. Clement Church in Wilton Manors did a graceful liturgical dance titled "Magnificat." And Anchors of the Lord performed two skits: "Chains" and "You Love Me Anyway."

Karen St. Hilaire of St. Clement said she benefited from the night as she contributed to it. "With all the craziness going on in the world, this is a good time to grow closer to the God," she said. "So we can be positive influences in society."

Nor were more traditional worship forms left out. The event also included a rosary and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, led by Father Diego Florez of St. Boniface. Celebrating Mass was Father Odin Perez, also of St. Boniface.

Yomaira Diaz, the main organizer, noted the timing as Father Florez walked through the audience with the monstrance, bearing the host -- just after people prayed "Jesus, come to me."

"It was awesome," she said. "One friend, who hadn't been to church in four years, cried."

Around 3:15 a.m, the group linked with the Mass in Krakow via the Vatican website. They watched quietly on a projection screen as Pope Francis preached, then announced the next WYD, in 2019 in Panama.

"I was sad that I couldn't go, but the Church is universal -- we're praying the same here as they are on the other side of the world," said Rebecca Garcia of St. Kevin Church, Miami, sporting a T-shirt from the Encuentros Juveniles youth ministry.

Breakfast included bagels, juices and ham-and-cheese sandwiches, donated by St. Louis Church. As the youths left around 6:30 a.m., some picked up tiny gift bags containing Divine Mercy prayer cards and corded wrist rosaries, with knots for the decades.

Diaz said the night was everything she'd wanted: "Seeing how everybody was engulfed in everything. They were so connected with Jesus.

"For that night, we all lived as one family. And we saw the Catholic Church as one."