VMY PANAMA | EXPERIENCE AT THE INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF YOUNG VINCENTIANS AND WORLD YOUTH DAY 2023

Hello, my name is Darshel Parra and I am writing this note to tell you about my experience in my first International Vincentian Youth Encounter and World Youth Day, without more to say I begin by thanking God for allowing me to live this beautiful experience with other passionate young people, full of faith and grace of our Lord Jesus.

International Meeting of Young Vincentians

For me this meeting was a spectacular experience where I was able to share with many people from different Vincentian branches worldwide and that despite the different languages, cultures, and traditions we followed the same course, young people with a heart willing to help others as St. Vincent de Paul teaches us.  One of the moments that I will never forget of this meeting will be the candlelight procession to the shrine of St. Quiteria, for me it was one of the most beautiful moments because I could feel in the presence of the Lord. Also, amidst tears, the songs and the praying of the holy rosary in different languages, without a doubt, are memories that I will treasure forever in my heart.

My favorite theme was Vincentian Family Together and Together and Together dictated by the VMY International President, Patricia Roppa, who taught us to be united as a Vincentian Family, one of the advice she gave us was to help each other to be able to move forward and to be able to help our neighbor being a team. I really enjoyed observing and participating in the different traditions of the countries, the most fun was to be one of the countries invited to a show that the municipality of Felgueiras had, because ours was one of the best presentations.

World Youth Day

This was my first WYD experience and I lived this moment like never before and the best thing was to see the Pope, we waited almost 2 hours under the sun, because they gave us the exact time when he was going to enter the monastery of Los Jeronimos.  Seeing him up close was the best and above all with such a contagious smile. Every single moment of World Youth Day was special. The moment I will always treasure will be the vigil with the Pope in which he gave us such unforgettable phrases as “In the church no one is superfluous. No one is superfluous. There is room for everyone. Just as we are. The only way in which it is legitimate to look at a person from the top down is to help him or her to get up”. Direct messages that reached the heart of each one of the young people, in which he sends us to welcome with open arms anyone who comes to our church and above all to give them the hand to get up, to give them that support and that love that only the peace of our Lord gives us. Jesus is the living example of this phrase, he did not look for perfect people to walk with him, but he looked for people in need of the Word to nurture them and send them to announce his wonders. Other wonderful moments were the awakening with Father DJ, the Way of the Cross, our visit to Fatima and the Farewell Mass which was very beautiful. It was beautiful to see that there are still young people who continue to walk with Jesus and Mary.

I end this note with this phrase: “Friend, if God calls you by name, it means that for God none of us is a number. He is a face and a heart”.

Darshel Parra 

VMY Panama