You don’t have to buy a ticket to Spain to be able to be a part of next month’s upcoming World Youth Day in Madrid. You can pray for the pilgrims making their way from all over the world to convene at this, the “mother of all Catholic young adult events.” You can donate to a group or a young person working to buy a ticket. Or you can decide to be just a stitch away from the action.

“Just a Stitch Away” is a campaign that was set in motion by the World Youth Day organizers. With a steady hand and plenty spools of thread, thousands of people have volunteered their time and talent to sew sacred linens and liturgical vestments for the great convocation.

A group of cloistered nuns in Brooklyn have ample talent – and gave a year and a half of their time – to stitch together the purple stoles priests wear during confession. The Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara Sisters saw the task as a labor of love for the youth of the Catholic Church.