WYD in Lisbon with the CMOP, 1-6 August 2023

“Do not be afraid, the world needs each of you, you are present and future”; “I would like to look each of you in the eyes and tell them 'don't be afraid', don't be afraid, because the world needs you, you. Jesus knows each of you and tells you not to be afraid!”.

The Pope's words to young people still echo strongly in our hearts! The WYD in Lisbon was an experience of great grace, a true Pentecost, experienced together with young people from all over the world.

The group of young people from the Marian Community Oasis of Peace was already international within itself, according to the style of our Community: the young Italians of the Marian Youth welcomed some French young people from Martinique, with whom they shared the entire experience; furthermore, the journey and various moments were also experienced together with the young people of the diocese of Alessandria. The result was intense experiences of exchange, sharing, mutual enrichment and shared joy.

The itinerary was decidedly evocative, in its Marian intensity, with stops, both one night, in Lourdes and Fatima: in this way, the young people had the opportunity to enter in a particularly intimate way into the depths of God's Love, taken by the hand of Mary.

And then… Lisbon! The words of the Pope, the exquisite welcome received in the parish of Carnaxide, the testimonies, the Via Crucis, the vigil, the walks, the queues, the inconveniences, more queues, the walks, the smiles, the tears and more smiles , the intensity of prayer and the sharing of the heart... And within all this, the living presence of Jesus, who touched the heart, illuminating it, calling it, opening it to life.

A particular note was then the experience of the vocational stand, animated by the Community in the City of Joy, and "flooded" by young people of all nationalities: Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, young people from various Eastern European countries ; Panamanians, Brazilians and Latin Americans of various origins; Koreans... We have proposed a particularly intense and significant meeting space, prepared together with the young people of GMOP in Sardinia, and inspired by the path of Peace that our Community offers. It was moving to witness the openness of hearts of so many young people, their desire to encounter the Love and Peace of Jesus, accompanied by Mary.

And now the journey continues…

We still carry in our hearts, as a special appeal, the words that Pope Francis addressed to young people in the moment of greeting; words that like Gioventù Mariana challenge us in a particularly direct way; words that reached us with a shiver of moved amazement, and which resonate like a call: " Friends, allow me, an elderly person, to share with you young people a dream that I carry inside: it is the dream of Peace, the dream of young people who they pray for Peace, live in Peace and build a future of Peace. Through the Angelus we place the future of humanity in the hands of Mary, Queen of Peace ”.