Journal of My Experiences
Pilgrimage to Sherpenheuval
On this day, we had to take down Camp. It was quite an operation. I cannot imagine the work that the Belgians had in putting the camp down. We had to take down all our tents, put away the stage, chairs and tables. It was a huge job, but everyone pitched in and things developed relatively quickly.
We then began a pilgrimage to Sherpenheuval, a famous pilgrimage site in Belgium. The story is that a servant found a statue of our Lady on a hill and became affixed to the place where he found it. His Master then built a chapel on the spot, as he saw the event as a sign that our Lady wanted a chapel built there. Later the chapel and statue were destroyed, but later the Archduke of the region built a basilica in the same spot, with a copy of the original wooden statue. Mieke spoke of how her parents tried to make a pilgrimage to Sherpenheuval before their wedding. It was the only way they were allowed to be together at the time, due to strict courting customs and the watchful eye of their parents. I don�t remember the story exactly, but they never actually made it to Sherpenheuval.
We took the busses for about three hours. Mieke was trying to make people give testimonies about their experiences in WYD 2002 and to sing songs. Many of the people were not listening and trying to sleep, so I didn�t bother to share. Nobody was really interested. We were left about an hour from the Basilica and were left to walk the rest of the way through the village. It was a humorous walk, because at least two times, we were all told �WAIT! STOP, turn around, we are going the wrong way. Some people got quite impatient. How often can you get in the wrong direction? It wasn�t easy navigating over 200 people through the small and windy streets of the village.
We stopped to leave our stuff in a sports gym, where we were to sleep through the night. There had to be well over 1000 youth present, all those staying Belgium at the time. We met some Americans from Minnesota � their priests wore clerics and habits � I love the Americans! I met a Holy Cross Father and some youth. I began to have a great affection for the Americans. There was something so endearing about them. The Gym was broken off into Male and Female sections, along with a Co-ed section for Families with children. Nevertheless, the Belgians were not shy; a hall way ran between the two sections, meaning there was little privacy. At least one woman slept in the male side and was not bashful in changing before everyone else. The doors to the Bathrooms throughout Belgium were propped open giving full view of the urinals, and when the Women�s bathrooms were full, they had no shame walking right into the Men�s room without knocking.
Mass with Cardinal Daneels
We had Mass with Cardinal Danneels of Belgium at the site. Before Mass, a Chilean Man played the guitar. He was amazing. I also met a young girl from Chile. I gave them medals and they were so, so, appreciative. Other youth shared their experience of days in the diocese. I had the honor of reciting one verse of the Psalm in English. Annelies translated the Cardinal�s Homily for us. It was quite good. He spoke of how the Wise men were searching and following the star � we too are searching and looking for Christ. (As a funny aside � almost everywhere we went, we heard the same Gospel and a very similar homily about the search for God. Although all quite decent preachers, it became a little drearisome after a while). A unique part of the Homily was as follows: �The wise men knelt down before the child and worshiped him. Some people thing that kneeling is unbefitting of men, to get down low is to lessen man�s dignity. Instead, it puts us on eye-level with God. God humbled himself to become a little baby and if we wish to meet him we must go DOWN, not upwards. � I was happy I enjoyed the service so much. I had been a little concerned because the Cardinal�s reputation preceded him. More than one Belgian was bragging about his liberal reputation and fights with Rome. I do not know how much truth there is behind any of it, but he presented himself as a pious man and spoke a straight message to us.
The Belgians did appear somewhat more Liberal than our own people. Many of the Belgian youth were confused by my Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club shirt. �Is it sarcastic?� It was very hard to explain to them. They did not know what �Smackdown� was either. I had to say �It is serious in that I love our Holy Father, but no, I do not want to beat up on heretics.�
Visit to the Basilica
After Mass, we were all offered free french fries and hamburgers. Mieke invited me to visit the shrine first, and to see if the line-ups would subside after a while. On our way, she introduced me to the diocesan media correspondent and other people she knew (she had connections!). After a while I gave on all the Dutch conversations and hobnobbing and went to the Basilica Myself. It was quite beautiful, but also quite small. The main part would hardly hold 100 people. There were all kinds of side chapels with huge Renaissance style paintings.
I had been looking all over Belgium for a statue or altar to St. Dymphma, since she was my patron on my pilgrimage to Belgium. I could not find one at all. I asked Mieke about it and she said there was a shrine in Geel and some world famous methods of dealing with the mentally ill. (In the city, patients are billeted out into homes). However, there was no place dedicated to her on the trip. I brought my petitions to her and to our Lady in the chapel, spending a little bit of extra time for prayer before the miraculous statue, and exploring the various side chapels and alcoves. During my stay an elderly lady who only spoke Dutch gave me a small prayer card from the site. She asked me to pray for her. It was especially touching since I had already scoffed about 30 of the exact same prayer cards for souvenirs to give away. Anyway, this one became special. This was a very special site, and I feel a strong attachment to our Lady of Sherpenheuval. I wrote a short poem expressing the experience.
Festival
I got back, and began to wait in line for Food. Even by this time, the line-up took about an hour and a half to get food. Many of my Canadian comrades gave up while waiting in line. I spent much of the time speaking with some Italian Belgians (originally from Italy, living in Belgium). They were very interested in the way our Government worked, political parties and culture. It was a very nice conversation and we had plenty of time for it. Afterwards I also got a drink. Each pilgrim was given 4 tickets for drinks, including beer. Due to the lateness in which I was able to get in line, I only used one ticket. Some tipsy pilgrims were begging for extra tickets, but I thought they would be better off without.
I had another long conversation with a Belgian pilgrim about the differences in culture etc. There was a concern on, but it wasn�t to my liking. They played mostly outdated North American Rock music, some which was rather scandalous for a religious gathering. I hope our Lady was covering her ears.
We made the long windy trip back to our sleeping quarters. I was amazed at how well I slept on the gym floor.
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