Next trip for Blue Eagle Ministries: World Youth Day
“In one sense, I don’t care about World Youth Day,” said Father Joe Goldsmith. “I care about what happens after World Youth Day.”
Beginning July 26, Father Goldsmith – pastor of the Catholic parish cluster which includes Sacred Heart, Prince George; St. John Nepomucene, Dinwiddie; and St. James the Greater, Hopewell – will lead a two-week journey with 20 young adults to a worldwide encounter with Pope Francis in Lisbon, Portugal. Held every three years, World Youth Day is a pilgrimage and an opportunity for young Catholics to experience the universal Church.
Father Goldsmith and his team hope that spending two weeks in Portugal, meeting thousands of other young Catholics from around the world and hearing from Pope Francis will transform the group in attendance.
The journey to World Youth Day will be undertaken by Blue Eagle Ministries, an outreach program providing immersive travel experiences to young adults, especially young Hispanic Catholics.
The name is a reference to lifting youth “on eagle’s wings” (Isaiah 40:30-31), and to Father Goldsmith’s favorite color. It was established after a mission trip to Panama four years ago, which he attended with three fellow pilgrims: Cristy Barton, of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Newport News; Carmen O’Brien, coordinator of music ministry and OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) at Sacred Heart, Richmond; and Carmen Gonzalez, parishioner at St. Augustine, North Chesterfield.
“I’m inviting you, and I’m going to put you in touch with other young adults, and we’re going to drop into somebody else’s reality,” said Father Goldsmith.
“To do it once a year, to put together a great team of people and go, with the idea that they’re going to come back and work harder, and be motivated in parishes, and make Cristy’s life easier, and make Carmen’s life easier, and make the priests’ lives easier – to me, that feels like I’m really doing something to benefit the diocese,” he added.
Mission begins
The trip that led to the formation of Blue Eagle Ministries consisted of 40 people, young and old, who spent two weeks visiting a Catholic parish in Panama. That’s where Father Goldsmith lived when learning Spanish for his seminary immersion.
The accommodations were simple – a parish hall and a house owned by the parish – and the itinerary was flexible. They celebrated daily Mass, shared meals with their hosts, played games with the parish youth group and visited a nursing home.
“We watched the young people open up and blossom and take advantage of the experience,” said Father Goldsmith.
During a visit to an orphanage, they met some children with disabilities, cared for in what Barton described as a village of small homes. As she translated for those who didn’t speak Spanish, she realized that the caretakers were preparing these children for their first Communion, the same thing she was doing in her home parish where she served as the director of faith formation.
“I’m trying to go back and translate, and I just can’t,” Barton recalled. “My voice is cracking because I just want to cry.”
O’Brien led the group in song at times and enjoyed being with the young people. “I forget if I’m cold, if I’m hot, if I’m thirsty, if I’m hungry,” she said. “Everything was wonderful because I was open with that grace of God.”
After the trip, Father Goldsmith says that he saw the fruits of international pilgrimage firsthand. One of the youngest members of the group went on to oversee youth activities at her diocese in Puerto Rico.
Besides his experience in Panama, Father Goldsmith draws inspiration from the work of the Missioners of Christ, a Catholic lay group founded in Virginia Beach that has been arranging mission trips to Honduras for 20 years.
Deacon Bob Young, of St. Joseph, Petersburg, has been an active member of the group and has seen how traveling outside the country with other Catholics has transformed people. His youngest son, a high school sophomore at the time, went to World Youth Day in Rome in 2000.
“The experience of the holiness around everything and being able to visit the various sites in Rome was what struck him,” said Deacon Bob, noting that it helped strengthen his son’s faith. “He is the one child I have that brings his family to church every Sunday.”
Eagles’ next landing
Aside from the pope’s appearance and the other main events in Lisbon, participants plan to visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima. They’ll have time to meet some 450,000 young Catholics from around the world, and Father Goldsmith said they plan to tour some local churches and go on a walk through the town.
“We’ll stop at every place we go into, and we’ll just bring the love of Jesus and smile at them and sing to them,” he says. “Let’s go learn about our Catholic faith on the road – together.”
O’Brien hopes pilgrims will “decide to go out from their comfort zone, out to encounter God, but at the same time enjoy this moment, enjoy this opportunity, enjoy the sacrifice of the parents to pay part of the trip. It’s going to make them strong – strong to say, ‘I’m Catholic,’ strong to see all the other Catholics, to see that they can make a noise, make a difference in the world.”
In Lisbon, Father Goldsmith hopes to meet up with some of the young people he met in Panama four years ago. When they return from Portugal, he and other members of the Blue Eagle Ministries team will begin preparing for a mission trip to Mexico in 2024, the next opportunity for young adults to go on the road together and celebrate their Catholic faith.
Local Catholics prepare to go to Portugal
On July 26, young adults from the Diocese of Richmond will travel to Lisbon, Portugal, to join in WorldYouth Day (WYD), Aug 1-6, a global gathering of young people with Pope Francis. It is the fourth time Pope Francis has presided at the international event focused on young Catholics, with more than 400,000 already registered to attend.
To tell the stories of how this journey impacts our youth, the Office of Communications will immerse with 16 young adults from our diocese who are traveling with Blue Eagle Ministries (BEM), led by spiritual director and group coordinator, Father Joe Goldsmith.
BEM will be joined by young adults from missionary and evangelizing teams – St. Paul’s Outreach (SPO), based out of Minneapolis, NET Ministries, and CEMPOC – Catholic Evangelical Missionary, based in Chester, which is dedicated to supporting minorities in their work of evangelization in the Roman Catholic Church.
In this issue, The Catholic Virginian introduces readers to eight of the 16 local pilgrims, having asked the young adults and parish leaders to share their thoughts about how they are preparing spiritually for WYD. The July 10 issue will feature the remaining eight pilgrims.
Omar Portillo, Sacred Heart, Richmond
Omar is looking forward to learning more about God on the trip. To get ready, he is preparing to be more focused with his mind set on God.
Carmen Milagros Chumpitazi O’Brien, Sacred Heart, Richmond
Carmen is continuing the call to missionary life that God has given her. To prepare for the trip, she is praying, attending Mass and participating in a prayer chain. She is also walking to prepare for the physical demands and learning more about the event.
Cristy Barton, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Newport News/Mission Group: Blue Eagle Ministries
For Cristy, this trip means giving back to the Lord and bringing other people to his service. It is her way of giving back to her Church and supporting a wonderful priest with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To prepare, she is spending more intentional time with the Lord and praying, especially for a successful trip and successful stories of how the Lord works through Blue Eagle.
Beatriz Munoz Munoz, St. Gerard, Roanoke
For Beatriz, this trip calls to mind Mk 16:15: “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” To prepare spiritually, she is praying and reading the Word of God in Scripture. She is keeping God in mind by keeping the needy people of Portugal in mind, as Jesus said in Mt 25:40: “‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Ximena Carreon, St. Gerard, Roanoke
Ximena sees this trip as a time to learn and grow in her Catholic faith. It’s an opportunity to learn about Jesus, meet other young Catholics and help others. She loves to write and journal her thoughts. She has been praying for safety, guidance and wisdom, as well as for the other people in attendance. For Ximena, writing her thoughts and prayers allows her to reflect on what the opportunity means.
Nathalia Carreon, St. Gerard, Roanoke
Nathalia is excited to share this experience with other Catholics who have the same faith and mission that she does. She looks forward to being the hands and feet of God on the trip. To prepare, she has been praying, meditating and learning new things about Our Lady of Fatima, since they will be visiting the site where Our Lady appeared. She prays the rosary as much as she can.
Velsy Garcia-Jimenez, Sacred Heart, Richmond
For Velsy, this trip is a way to make her faith and connection to God stronger. It is an opportunity to see that Catholicism is not only local, but international. To prepare, she is reading reflections being sent in the group chat, reading psalms, and reflecting daily about how she can better prepare herself for the trip.
Elizabeth Correa, Blessed Sacrament, Harrisonburg
When Elizabeth started practicing her faith again during college, World Youth Day was one of the main experiences people talked about. When she learned that it was for young people coming together to share and celebrate the power of God, she knew she wanted to participate. To prepare, she has been praying and trying not to have expectations, allowing her to be free to receive whatever the Lord has planned.