Red Deer area youth proud to go to Toronto

51 area youth preparing for World Youth Day

By RENATO GANDIA
WCR Staff Writer
Red Deer

"In Canada! . . . That's all I heard," Natalie Tuchscherer, 27, told the WCR.

"When you are in another country and you know that the next event will be in your country, you take it personally. I take it personally that the (youth of the world) are coming into my home country. We will welcome them."

Rachel Acheson, 20, said, "Being a Canadian, there is no better pride that I can think of than having the world come to your country."

"Rome was amazing. The fact that there were two million people, who couldn't stop cheering when this little old man showed up, was just amazing. And it's going to happen in Toronto."

Together with 49 other participants from Red Deer, Innisfail, Rimbey and Rocky Mountain House, Tuchscherer and Acheson are preparing for WYD in Toronto.

For both of them, the event will be a huge expression of deep and profound faith. Thus, being prepared is a must.

When Tuchscherer was in Rome, she saw many types of faith expression.

"They were so exuberant. In Canada, it seems that we don't have a lot of joy in our faith. I pray that the youth of Canada will really have that kind of energy-joy, some kind of a gut joy that hopefully will last and grow," this music teacher said.

For her, Toronto will not just be another vacation. It is a pilgrimage that requires spiritual and mental preparation.

"Pilgrimage is a preparation for life. In life you go through a whole bunch of trials, and you should be prepared for that. It's the same with a pilgrimage. The whole experience has to be taken to a faith level."

"It's has become a unified group instead of a bunch of individuals." - Dwight Acheson

She is convinced with the primacy of paying attention to how the Holy Spirit is teaching the people to live their lives.

The theme, Salt of the Earth, Light of the World, is fitting, said Tuchscherer.

In one of their sessions where they had to exchange candles, she appreciated the value of sharing better.

"I realized that if I have within myself, the light of Christ, and if I don't give it to other people, it will be a possession and not faith."

"So the more I share my light with other people, share my faith with other people, give it to other people, the more it won't be mine. It will be everyone's instead of a possession of one single person."

"That's the biggest thing about WYD. You realize you're not by yourself, holding your own little candle. You share it with every single person around you."

Acheson, an education student at the University of Lethbridge, thinks the book Salt and Light is a fabulous tool because it gives testimonies of youth from previous WYDs, appropriate quotes from the Bible, from the pope and some stories on the lives of the saints.

"You can't get much better than that," Acheson said.

Attending high school in Red Deer was not a celebration of faith for her. She wanted to experience something faith-filled that she can cherish for life. That's why she became involved with this world event.

"I thought that I can go to a place where there would be other people like me; people my age who are interested with their faith, that wanted to grow and learn about this faith and live it."

Bruce Cybulski, 48, is going to Toronto with his daughter Janelle. Going through some changes in his personal life he did a lot of reading and searching.

"WYD, being a major once in a lifetime event, especially if it's in your own country and being able to do it with your daughter is really special," Bruce told the WCR.

Bruce believes that although WYD is dubbed as a youth event "it is not limited to the youth."

For their group in Red Deer, the event has become a father-daughter, mother-son, brother-sister event and not just for single individuals.

"It's a family thing as well as a youth event. It's not an individual thing and that made it become more encouraging to attend because it fosters how unity of the family plays in our Church."

With her preparation Janelle finds the book Salt and Light helpful.

"The testimonies, the personal moments that you have to go through, the parts that the pope talks and the WYD prayers are all inspiring for me."

She is not looking for an instant life-changing kind of thing when she attends her first WYD.

"I'm just going to be with the other people excited about their faith," she said.

Dwight Acheson, organizer in the Red Deer region, said, "Over the time that we've been going through the Salt and Light book, the spirit has been growing in people."

He saw the people became closer together. "It's has become a unified group instead of a bunch of individuals." When they started meeting the group was individuals coming together. "It was a bunch of people sitting around."

Now, he considers the group a community of individuals, who are very like-minded and close knit.

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter