Talking about World Youth Day 2011 in Burlington, Ontario

Friar Eric de la Pena (far left) excites people about their faith

On a foggy Friday evening this November, around a dozen young people met in a room below St. Raphael’s Parish in Burlington, Ontario. They were there to get together with Friar Eric de la Pena – a Conventual Franciscan friar from Syracuse, New York who is also vocation director for the friars’ Immaculate Conception Province.

St. Raphael's Parish, Burlington, Ontario

Besides helping men discern their vocation to the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, Friar Eric is coordinating his Order’s pilgrimage for young people to World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain next year. During the Friday evening meeting in Burlington, he spoke about World Youth Day and how the young people present could be part of the experience. The below is a short official video on what sort of city pilgrims will find when they arrive in Madrid for World Youth Day 2011.

A World Youth Day 2011 video about Madrid

The meeting with Friar Eric however was more than just an information session. Whenever he has the opportunity, Friar Eric reenergizes and excites people of all ages about their faith. He certainly did this at the meeting in Burlington. Getting ready for World Youth Day in Madrid is exciting, Friar Eric pointed out, but we must maintain our faith strong and grounded during all other times too.

(Sources of all related images on webpage and homepage: CLS by Dhong Mallar,www.madrid11.com, uknown, and www.wikipedia.org.)