By the time you read this, Fr. Mark Wagner (pastor of Sacred Heart, Turlock) and I will be in Rome with 65 young people from our two parishes. On Thursday we will go to Barcelona, and then to Madrid, for World Youth Day (“JMJ” in Spanish). Your generous prayers, work, and financial gifts have made this trip possible for these young people, many of whom would never have been able to see Catholic Europe without you. They will also meet one million youth from every nation on earth, together with 15,000 priests, 800 bishops, and of course, the Vicar of Christ on Earth, Pope Benedict XVI. Thank you all, and please pray for us while we journey through World Youth Day 2011.

This will be my seventh World Youth Day, and perhaps my last. Three years ago our beautiful parish sent about 40 young people to Sydney, and in 2005 we sent them to Cologne, and in 2002 to Toronto, and 2000 to Rome. What a dynamic parish we have!

   This weekend we welcome Fr. Chris Musyoka, from Kenya, who will preach at all of our Masses and receive a second offering for his mission in Africa. We first met Fr. Chris at World Youth Day in Rome, in August 2000. He has been one of our enduring “WYD Friends,” coming to visit Modesto almost every summer. Who knows what friends, and what faith, awaits our 65 young people in Spain this coming week?