Utahns experience World Youth Day: Will Howard

Courtesy photo/Will Howard

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SALT LAKE CITY — Will Howard feels incredibly blessed by his experience at World Youth Day and hopes his faith will continue to grow. World Youth Day was held Aug. 16 to 21 in Madrid, Spain.

A member of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish, Howard moved to Utah from California with his family in 2010. He is a junior in college at the University of Utah in a health-related field.

World Youth Day was something he always wanted to experience and Madrid was a place he wanted to visit because he has family there. "My experience was incredible," Howard said. "It was a last-minute decision because I didn’t know if I had the financial means, but once I bought my airline ticket I started counting off the days. I thought the theme was so beautiful, ‘Rooted and built up in Jesus Christ – Firm in the Faith.’"

Howard traveled with his sister, Christy Howard, and a group of her friends from the University of Dallas. "God presented the perfect opportunity for me to experience World Youth Day with my sister and the group they started with Brother Anthony through the Community of Saint John," he said.

At World Youth Day, Howard was given a lot to think about from Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s talk before a Mass for English-speaking people. "His theme was on Pope Benedict’s call for the youth to evangelize," said Howard. "He said we are not to throw our religion in other people’s faces, but to evangelize by living our faith and growing closer to God. ‘If we are truly living our faith we are going to be infected with a peace and joy that others won’t be able to resist.’ He also discussed in depth four points of evangelization: charity, joy, hope and a fervent love of the Church."

Later that day, Howard was among thousands who welcomed Pope Benedict XVI. "We welcomed him and he thanked us for being there and he said we were in his prayers," Howard said. "Pope Benedict said how important it is for us to grow in our faith and not become complacent."

Howard was most moved on Aug. 17 during an open-air service followed by adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with the pope. A storm drenched the Cuatro Vientos airbase near Madrid, where more than a million people were gathered. "We were crammed into designated, fenced-in sleeping areas set up for Mass the next day," Howard said. "Right as the pope arrived we saw dark clouds rolling in after it had been ridiculously hot. The lightning storms were outrageous, the wind kicked up and the rain started coming down in torrents sideways. Everyone was drenched, our belongings were drenched, but we kept chanting to let the pope know we were there. He asked us to pray the rain would stop so it wouldn’t be cancelled. What was so beautiful was in 30 seconds the storm was gone. We all started cheering and the pope asked us to be quiet and immediately there was silence. After adoration, he consecrated all of us to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and that wouldn’t have happened if the rain hadn’t stopped. We were so incredibly blessed. It was a bolstering of my faith."

"Will is honest and very sincere in his search to get a closer relationship with God," said his aunt, Kathleen Blodgett, a member of St. Vincent de Paul Parish. "He loves to go to Mass and pray the rosary, he suffers a lot from physical pain from an injury he received in a car accident but he still keeps a smile on his face and works hard."