WORLD YOUTH DAY IN PANAMA, AICA and editorial team •
“Let it be done to me according to your word,” is the title of the official World Youth Day hymn (WYD) Panama 2019, which was introduced this July 3rd by the Archbishop of Panama, Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, in the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama City.
Abdiel Jiménez, catechist and psalmist of the Cristo Resucitado Parish, in San Miguelito, author of several liturgical pieces, member of different choirs and a graduate of the School of Religious Science from Santa Maria La Antigua Catholic University wrote and composed the hymn.
Music professionals Aníbal Muñoz, Carlos Samaniego and Ricky Ramírez produced the arrangements.
In his introduction, the Archbishop of Panama, José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, said: “We are excited to make it available today to the world’s young people, so that when they sing, they joyfully prepare themselves to be ready to be transformed by God,” he said. (Papal Artifacts)
500,000 youths from all over the world that will gather in Panama from 22-29 January 2019 in the main gathering of the world’s Catholic youth will sing this hymn.
The hymn’s lyrics: “Let it be done to me according to your word”
An official English translation does not yet exist. Here is one first draft translation of the text:
We are pilgrims
Coming here today
from continents and cities
Desiring to be the Lord’s missionaries
Taking your message and your word.
Being like Mary who one day said yes
before the call of your mission
Heaven is happy and joyfully sings
all the earth praises your wonders
Chorus:
Behold the servant of the Lord
Let it be done to me according to your word
I am Your Servant
I am Your Daughter
I am Your Son
Be like Mary
Pilgrim Church
Willing to go out
with love
young witnesses and disciples
with joy, faith and vocation
Chorus
Be not afraid, no
be not afraid
of taking God’s love
yes, be committed like Mary
who knew how to be the Lord’s Servant
Chorus (4 times)
The road is love
The WYD hymns invite young people to reflect on the key points of the Gospel that the Pope wants to stress in the gathering.
1987 in Buenos Aires, John Paul II called 1,000,000 people to actively contribute to building a better society. The Hymn of WYD was “A New Sun” and its lyrics stressed love as the only road to build a new civilization. Alberto Croce and Eugenio Perpetua wrote it. It is still sung today…
This year commemorates 30 years of World Youth Day (WYD) celebrated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the first WYD held outside Rome.
It was also the first and only time that a Pope celebrated Easter Sunday outside of Rome. Before an estimated multitude of one million people, Pope John Paul II – now a saint – presided at the celebration from a raised altar on the Avenida 9 de Julio, and its intersection with Avenida Santa Fe, in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Official Website World Youth Day Panama 2019
Original: Spanish. 9 July 2017. Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA. Edited: Melissa Peña-Janknegt, Elgin, TX USA
