“Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith...” (Col 2:7). Formed in Christ within our communities, we each emulate Him in our own way, in a fashion unique to ourselves and to our environment. It is here that we are founded in faith and nurtured to be as Christ to the world. This transcription of Christ, however, only presents part of a whole. As together we “are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:27) we each possess gifts and knowledge that can only be shared as we share Christ with each other. We can better know Christ through interaction with our fellow members of His body. It is in this endeavour to learn about the whole through its parts that pilgrimages such as World Youth Day are essential. While we learn from each other within our communities, how much more we can learn from those from areas outside of our own, from those of another region of the body. While conversing with the rest of the mouth of Christ we may learn to speak His word, only by discovering His feet can we learn to walk with Him. In sharing our faith experiences with those from different backgrounds, traditions, environments and foundations, we can strengthen our faith and reinforce theirs. This is my most sincere hope for the pilgrimage that we are to embark on tomorrow, to teach from what has been planted within us, to be built up by others of the body of Christ and to become ever more firm in our faith.
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