12 What is World Youth Day? Spiritual and pastoral content from the USCCB Living as a missionary disciple “Our personal encounter with Christ bathes life in new light, sets us on the right path, and sends us out to be his witnesses.”1 - Saint John Paul II WYD is an opportunity to all young people to encounter Christ. In the sacrament of reconciliation, we encounter Christ the Healer; at the “Rise Up” catechesis, Christ the Teacher; during the Via Crucis, Christ on the Cross; and in the face of other pilgrims, Christ the Son of Mary. Pope Francis invites “all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them.”2 Responding to the personal encounter with Jesus Christ is a route to living as a missionary disciple. In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and the new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love, as shown in Mary’s haste to visit Elizabeth after the Annunciation. Every 1. Saint John Paull II, Message of the Holy Father on the Occasion of the 17th World Youth Day, July 25, 2001. 2. Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, no. 3.
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