MADRID, Spain, JULY 28, 2011 (Zenit.org).- With World Youth Day only 18 days away, the Sisters of Life are preparing young people for the experience of the pilgrimage through a blog updated from Madrid.
The Sisters of Life and the Knights of Columbus are cosponsoring the “Love and Life” pilgrim center in Madrid.
Meanwhile, the sisters’ blog has a “spiritual prep topic” for each day leading up to the Pope’s meeting with youth.
Wednesday’s topic (No. 15), for example, considered Mary.
“She had what many might consider a rough life,” the blog reflects. It adds: “Ask any woman who has conceived a child and she will tell you, once a mother, always a mother. No matter how long the child lives — maternity is forever. … When Jesus was scourged and beaten, Mary was there, suffering with Him in her heart. So too, when we feel the sting and effects of sin in our lives — our own, or those that fall against us — she is with us, holding us in her heart of prayer and compassion.”
Each blog entry concludes with “some spiritual exercises”: concrete steps to respond to the reflection. There are also a series of links directing pilgrims to a variety of media for further reflection and learning.
“Love and Life: A Home for English-Speaking Pilgrims” will be a center for pilgrims in Spain. Activities at the center, scheduled around the WYD program of events, will include Masses and devotions, catechesis sessions, concerts, speakers, testimonies, prayer and movie screenings.
The air-conditioned facility seats 15,000 in its main event hall and its exhibition areas will have a chapel especially constructed for WYD, as well as informational displays, an art show and support for the young visitors to Madrid. It will also offer them a place to rest from Spain’s summer heat.
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On the Net:
Love and Life blog: http://loveandlifewydmadrid.blogspot.com/
