Seeing Jesus
We had been going super fast touring throughout Toledo and I hadn’t received or even seen Jesus in the Eucharist in a few days, which seemed crazy to me because we were here for World Youth Day, we were here to grow closer to Jesus.
We went into one of the huge Cathedrals in Toledo, and out of all the 24 or 30 chapels, we couldn’t find a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament in it, and even if we could, we wouldn’t even have time to pray. Then out of the corner of my eye I see the red light, and I start tearing up! I was so happy to see Jesus, he was the only thing that I really wanted to see! Me and Courtney said a quick hello and had to rush on to the next part of the tour. The situation opened my eyes, that out of all the beautiful art, exquisite architecture and beautiful sights that we had been seeing the whole day, there was none more beautiful than Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament! Jesus romanced my heart in that moment and just seeing him was enough to get me through the rest of the hectic day of rushing around. In reflection, it reminds me of how the world is, we are rushing around like crazy putting the things of the world on a pedestal, anything aesthetically pleasing, or desirable to make our life more full with stuff, but we don’t take time to slow down and take a good look at the one who created it all!
Teresa of Jesus
Although we had been rushing around Avila at the same crazy speed as we did through Toledo, seeing the birth place, convent, and relics of St. Teresa of Avila was a very blessed and moving experience. When we visited the Convent of The Incarnation, where St. Teresa had lived for many years before founding the Reformed Carmelites, I was blown away that we were able to see where she had her visions, and where lived and worked. I could feel the spirit of St. Teresa present there, and I was beginning to become disappointed that we couldn’t spend more time there and soak it all in! “At least I will get to see her relics later” I thought, only to be told by the tour guide minutes later that all relics of St. Teresa had been removed from Avila due to strange happenings (even though I had read that there were some in Avila). I was just about heartbroken, and trying not to show it, God revealed to me that I was becoming too attached to human things, even with the good intention of seeking a blessing. So I gave it up to Him, and said that I would try to be as happy as I would have been if I got to see the relics. We moved on from the convent and got to walk by the church where Teresa was baptised (special for me because I was baptised on her feast day) and went into the church built over where she was born!
The Chapel dedicated to her was breathtaking, and the tour guide told the story of her vision of a little boy to whom she introduced herself “Hello, I am Teresa of Jesus” and he responded “I am Jesus of Teresa”...this story touched my heart, and I was able to stay behind for a few minutes and pray in the chapel. I prayed for the intercession of St. Teresa for my vocation, that my life would be in conformity with the will of God. This was an important prayer for me, and I know that with St. Teresa praying for me, that whatever path God calls me to, I will be in good hands. We moved on to a souvenir shop, and all of a sudden Noreen rushed over to me and called me in, saying that there were relics of St. Teresa in the back room! Praise God, by abandoning my plans to him, he rewarded me in the end! We got to see her ring finger with her ring, her walking staff, and the sole of her sandal, her hand writing, and also some bones of St. John of the Cross. The moment moved me to tears, and I prayed the same prayer that I prayed in her Chapel. What great blessings God showed me that day!
We had been going super fast touring throughout Toledo and I hadn’t received or even seen Jesus in the Eucharist in a few days, which seemed crazy to me because we were here for World Youth Day, we were here to grow closer to Jesus.
We went into one of the huge Cathedrals in Toledo, and out of all the 24 or 30 chapels, we couldn’t find a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament in it, and even if we could, we wouldn’t even have time to pray. Then out of the corner of my eye I see the red light, and I start tearing up! I was so happy to see Jesus, he was the only thing that I really wanted to see! Me and Courtney said a quick hello and had to rush on to the next part of the tour. The situation opened my eyes, that out of all the beautiful art, exquisite architecture and beautiful sights that we had been seeing the whole day, there was none more beautiful than Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament! Jesus romanced my heart in that moment and just seeing him was enough to get me through the rest of the hectic day of rushing around. In reflection, it reminds me of how the world is, we are rushing around like crazy putting the things of the world on a pedestal, anything aesthetically pleasing, or desirable to make our life more full with stuff, but we don’t take time to slow down and take a good look at the one who created it all!
Teresa of Jesus
Although we had been rushing around Avila at the same crazy speed as we did through Toledo, seeing the birth place, convent, and relics of St. Teresa of Avila was a very blessed and moving experience. When we visited the Convent of The Incarnation, where St. Teresa had lived for many years before founding the Reformed Carmelites, I was blown away that we were able to see where she had her visions, and where lived and worked. I could feel the spirit of St. Teresa present there, and I was beginning to become disappointed that we couldn’t spend more time there and soak it all in! “At least I will get to see her relics later” I thought, only to be told by the tour guide minutes later that all relics of St. Teresa had been removed from Avila due to strange happenings (even though I had read that there were some in Avila). I was just about heartbroken, and trying not to show it, God revealed to me that I was becoming too attached to human things, even with the good intention of seeking a blessing. So I gave it up to Him, and said that I would try to be as happy as I would have been if I got to see the relics. We moved on from the convent and got to walk by the church where Teresa was baptised (special for me because I was baptised on her feast day) and went into the church built over where she was born!
The Chapel dedicated to her was breathtaking, and the tour guide told the story of her vision of a little boy to whom she introduced herself “Hello, I am Teresa of Jesus” and he responded “I am Jesus of Teresa”...this story touched my heart, and I was able to stay behind for a few minutes and pray in the chapel. I prayed for the intercession of St. Teresa for my vocation, that my life would be in conformity with the will of God. This was an important prayer for me, and I know that with St. Teresa praying for me, that whatever path God calls me to, I will be in good hands. We moved on to a souvenir shop, and all of a sudden Noreen rushed over to me and called me in, saying that there were relics of St. Teresa in the back room! Praise God, by abandoning my plans to him, he rewarded me in the end! We got to see her ring finger with her ring, her walking staff, and the sole of her sandal, her hand writing, and also some bones of St. John of the Cross. The moment moved me to tears, and I prayed the same prayer that I prayed in her Chapel. What great blessings God showed me that day!The Seniors Home
We went to a Seniors Home in Burgos run by an order of nuns. The nuns take care of elderly people who are too poor to afford care, or who have no family to care for them. We got the opportunity to visit some of the residence, and sing for them. They were so happy that we came to visit and it brought them so much joy that we sang for them! One lady even sang a song for us to thank us, and it was so beautiful, you could tell she was singing from the heart. As we visited some more people in the Library, Noreen went over to a lady and introduced herself and said “Mucho Gusto” which means “Nice to meet you!” The woman was so grateful that Noreen had said that to her, that simple phrase just made her day, and in turn Noreen was blessed by her reaction. This whole experience really put into perspective what the pilgrimage, and what life is really all about, sharing the joy and love of Christ with our neighbour, especially the poor and suffering. Everyone commented that it was definitely the best day thus far, and I know it’s because Christ’s heart was revealed in the humble yet joyful residence of the Seniors Home. Any loss of focus we may have experienced up to that point was refocused through service.
The Camino
We were very blessed to have gotten the chance to walk a portion of the Camino de Santiago. It was truly a reminder of how we are on an earthly pilgrimage to our heavenly homeland. With our group at the front of the procession, we walked with faith and determination, praying the Rosary and singing praise and worship songs all along the way, encouraging each other to keep on going. It gave me a model of how we as Christians should live throughout this pilgrimage on earth. The priest of our parish in Burgos even called us into a parking lot to give us a secret snack, how kind!
The Mass in Burgos
The Mass in the square outside the Cathedral in Burgos is something I don’t think I will ever forget. It brought tears to my eyes to see people from all over the world worshipping together, the feeling was indescribable. To see all the flags waving as we sang “Jesus Christ, You are my Life” really made me feel like I was part of something much bigger than myself. At that
point there was only about 5000 people, and I just think about the 1.5-2 million people who were at the vigil, together as one church. And to think that even though we all speak different languages and have different cultures, we are united in one person, Jesus Christ! So powerful! Another amazing point of the Mass was during the preparation of the gifts, when all of a sudden we see red, orange and yellow ribbon being passed up from the back. As each row of people held the ribbon up, we were told they represented any distractions, fears, worries, doubts or burdens that we were carrying at the moment, and to let go of them during this Mass and to give them all to Jesus. Symbolically, we put all of our worries and burdens on the alter as we passed the ribbons forward. Beautiful way of surrendering everything to Jesus.
Our “Family” in Burgos
So God must have known that we were worried about being in host families, about them not speaking any English whatsoever, and so he gave us an alternate situation. Instead of staying with host families, we stayed in the parish rooms of the Church that was hosting us, Parroquia de San Juan de Ortega. This turned out to be the best possible situation for us
because not only were our worries calmed, we got to stay with our whole group and have a bonding experience like no other (17 people sharing 2 bathrooms, wooo) but also didn’t have to miss out on a “host family” per say. We had our own little “family” consisting of our priest Javier ("Habee"), Martha, and Las Chicas (the group of young girls from the parish). Their generosity was overwhelming and they went out of their way to make us feel welcome and comfortable. They gave up so much of their time to be with us, show us around Burgos and plan fun things for us (kareoke and potluck), it was truly Christ working through them. They were wonderfully kind people and I will dearly miss them.
Marian Devotion and Maria
We went to the square in Burgos for an evening of Marian Devotion/ traditional music and dance from different regions. Maria had been taken to the hospital not too long before because her sugars were really high and they needed to be regulated. At one point during the Marian Devotion, the people leading it were praying 3 hail mary’s in each language (French, Spanish, English and German) and in between we would all sing the “Ave Maria” chorus from Immaculate Mary. At this point me and Julia were really worried about Maria and hoped that she would be out of the hospital soon, so we offered up the Hail Marys and Ave Marias for Maria’s health. Noreen was at the hospital with Maria, and she told us later on that at one point she felt like she should pray the rosary and started praying while she was waiting, and we put together that it was around the same time that we were praying the hail marys.
This amazed me, and was a great testament to the power of Mary’s intercession, because not too long after, Noreen came back and told us that Maria would be getting out of the hospital by the end of the night, that her sugars were almost under control, and that she would be fine! Praise God!
That night was a great night of celebration of our faith among the different cultures. Everyone was so joyful and alive, you couldn’t help but smile. A few different times we joined in a line with complete strangers and swayed back and forth to the music. The symbolism was beautiful, there were no boundaries and everyone was connected and united as one!
Sisters of Life, Young Priests,
and my vocation
One inspiring thing about being at World Youth Day is seeing so many young, holy priests. Their witness shows that The Catholic Church will not give in, we are here to stay and we have young holy priests to prove it! One young priest lead music ministry at the welcome for Canadian pilgrims, and he was so cool that he even played “Dynamite.” But not only was he cool, he was passionate about his vocation! He said something about discernment that really spoke to me: “You just have to jump!” I have been feeling like this for a while, that I am on the edge of a diving board about to jump into something greater, but I haven’t gotten up the courage to jump yet. Then he told a story about how baby eagles learn to fly: the mother throws the baby off a cliff and lets them fall until the very last minute before they hit the ground, and then she will swoop down and catch the baby...and she will continue to do this until the baby learns to fly. This is so much like trying to find
God’s will for your life, and you just have to trust that God is there and He won’t lead you down the wrong path, He is just teaching you how to trust Him and how to be all that you were made to be! I was also inspired by the Sisters of Life who hosted everything at the Love and Life Center, the place we went for English Catechesis. I just about fell in love with them, they were so beautiful, filled with life and joy. Their habits were so beautiful; it made me want to join the order just to wear one (of course that wouldn’t be the only reason lol). And what they do is amazing, upholding the most sacred gift of life. I went to the Vocations Fair in the park hoping that I would find an order that might appeal to me, that I could discern about, and I said if I didn’t find anything I would just go talk to one of the Sisters of Life about my vocation. Well pretty much all the orders were Spanish so I figured I would go to the Sisters of Life, but when I went to talk to one of them, I put it off and said I would do it later. Little did I know that I wouldn’t get a chance later. Part of me I think was afraid to take that jump, to just let go and trust that God would catch me. I’m still working on the whole trust thing, but one thing I do trust in is that God will lead me to where he wants me; I have no doubt about that.
Heat Exhaustion
It was just before the Opening Mass for World Youth Day and we were making our way through the crowded street to see if we could get closer to the stage where the Pope would be. This was not the best idea for me because I am prone to heat exhaustion. As we went further, the crowd started getting denser, the hot sun beating down on us. Being short with tall people crowded all around me, I felt like I was suffocating; I started to get very overheated and weak. So I yelled out “Noreen, I need to get over to the side” and so we ploughed our way over. All I could do was pray “Jesus help me, Mary protect me” because I didn’t know if I would make it out of there without fainting. I had to hop over a barricade, and I am convinced that my Guardian Angel lifted me over because I was so weak, I don’t know how I managed it! Once we got over, the group made a circle around me so no one would press up against me, they got me cold water to drink and to put on the back of my neck, and fanned me like there was no tomorrow. The way they all came together to help me and protect me was amazing, I was so grateful! My lips and my hands were tingle at this point and a nun noticed me and gave me some candy to get my sugars up. We moved down a bit further, and of all things, we found an Irish pub.....IN SPAIN!!! God was so good and gave us a little taste of home in our time of burden. It was air conditioned which was good, so I lay on the floor on my back and put my feet up and everyone continued fanning me and got ice for my head. There were these two girls from Ireland who rushed to my aid, and they kept talking to me so I wouldn’t faint. Then they took the ice, wrapped it in the Irish flag, and put it on my forehead. I didn’t know this at the time, but when I found out I was so touched by the compassion and solidarity, it was such a gift. Throughout my sufferings, God gave me the grace and strength to rejoice amidst the chaos and offer up my weakness for the conversion of the youth at World Youth Day, and for another lady who came into the pub and fainted on the floor (she was pale as a ghost, and way worse than I had been). I was inspired by incredible way that my friends and fellow Catholics came together to help me, and I found myself thanking God for allowing me to be a victim, something I had never been able to do before. When I finally started feeling better we sat and had dinner, watched the Mass on tv, and at the sign of peace, everyone in the pub got up went around the pub giving the sign of peace to everyone else, it was SO COOL! Nowhere else would that happen but at World Youth Day!
This whole situation was very important for me to experience. It gave me a chance to take up an embrace my cross, something that I knew God would teach me how to do better on this trip. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all situations, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus our Lord" - 1Thesselonians 5:16-18
The Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross were beautiful and so powerful. They were huge life sized, incredible detailed statues from all over Spain, sculpted by the best artists in Spain. What moved me the most about the the Stations was how a different group of youth carried the World Youth Day Cross between each station; one was a group of youth affected by aids, one a group of unemployed youth, a group of youth from Haiti and Japan, a group of
marginalized youth, and a group of disabled youth. Each station related in some way to the group who was carrying the cross to that station. It hit me that not only were these youth carrying a physical cross in their hands, they were also at the same time carrying their own crosses that they face in everyday life, which moved me to tears. These youth are so brave to face each day and accept the cross that God wants them to bear for his kingdom.
We went to a Seniors Home in Burgos run by an order of nuns. The nuns take care of elderly people who are too poor to afford care, or who have no family to care for them. We got the opportunity to visit some of the residence, and sing for them. They were so happy that we came to visit and it brought them so much joy that we sang for them! One lady even sang a song for us to thank us, and it was so beautiful, you could tell she was singing from the heart. As we visited some more people in the Library, Noreen went over to a lady and introduced herself and said “Mucho Gusto” which means “Nice to meet you!” The woman was so grateful that Noreen had said that to her, that simple phrase just made her day, and in turn Noreen was blessed by her reaction. This whole experience really put into perspective what the pilgrimage, and what life is really all about, sharing the joy and love of Christ with our neighbour, especially the poor and suffering. Everyone commented that it was definitely the best day thus far, and I know it’s because Christ’s heart was revealed in the humble yet joyful residence of the Seniors Home. Any loss of focus we may have experienced up to that point was refocused through service.The Camino
We were very blessed to have gotten the chance to walk a portion of the Camino de Santiago. It was truly a reminder of how we are on an earthly pilgrimage to our heavenly homeland. With our group at the front of the procession, we walked with faith and determination, praying the Rosary and singing praise and worship songs all along the way, encouraging each other to keep on going. It gave me a model of how we as Christians should live throughout this pilgrimage on earth. The priest of our parish in Burgos even called us into a parking lot to give us a secret snack, how kind!
The Mass in the square outside the Cathedral in Burgos is something I don’t think I will ever forget. It brought tears to my eyes to see people from all over the world worshipping together, the feeling was indescribable. To see all the flags waving as we sang “Jesus Christ, You are my Life” really made me feel like I was part of something much bigger than myself. At that
point there was only about 5000 people, and I just think about the 1.5-2 million people who were at the vigil, together as one church. And to think that even though we all speak different languages and have different cultures, we are united in one person, Jesus Christ! So powerful! Another amazing point of the Mass was during the preparation of the gifts, when all of a sudden we see red, orange and yellow ribbon being passed up from the back. As each row of people held the ribbon up, we were told they represented any distractions, fears, worries, doubts or burdens that we were carrying at the moment, and to let go of them during this Mass and to give them all to Jesus. Symbolically, we put all of our worries and burdens on the alter as we passed the ribbons forward. Beautiful way of surrendering everything to Jesus.
Our “Family” in Burgos
So God must have known that we were worried about being in host families, about them not speaking any English whatsoever, and so he gave us an alternate situation. Instead of staying with host families, we stayed in the parish rooms of the Church that was hosting us, Parroquia de San Juan de Ortega. This turned out to be the best possible situation for us
because not only were our worries calmed, we got to stay with our whole group and have a bonding experience like no other (17 people sharing 2 bathrooms, wooo) but also didn’t have to miss out on a “host family” per say. We had our own little “family” consisting of our priest Javier ("Habee"), Martha, and Las Chicas (the group of young girls from the parish). Their generosity was overwhelming and they went out of their way to make us feel welcome and comfortable. They gave up so much of their time to be with us, show us around Burgos and plan fun things for us (kareoke and potluck), it was truly Christ working through them. They were wonderfully kind people and I will dearly miss them.Marian Devotion and Maria
We went to the square in Burgos for an evening of Marian Devotion/ traditional music and dance from different regions. Maria had been taken to the hospital not too long before because her sugars were really high and they needed to be regulated. At one point during the Marian Devotion, the people leading it were praying 3 hail mary’s in each language (French, Spanish, English and German) and in between we would all sing the “Ave Maria” chorus from Immaculate Mary. At this point me and Julia were really worried about Maria and hoped that she would be out of the hospital soon, so we offered up the Hail Marys and Ave Marias for Maria’s health. Noreen was at the hospital with Maria, and she told us later on that at one point she felt like she should pray the rosary and started praying while she was waiting, and we put together that it was around the same time that we were praying the hail marys.
This amazed me, and was a great testament to the power of Mary’s intercession, because not too long after, Noreen came back and told us that Maria would be getting out of the hospital by the end of the night, that her sugars were almost under control, and that she would be fine! Praise God!That night was a great night of celebration of our faith among the different cultures. Everyone was so joyful and alive, you couldn’t help but smile. A few different times we joined in a line with complete strangers and swayed back and forth to the music. The symbolism was beautiful, there were no boundaries and everyone was connected and united as one!
Sisters of Life, Young Priests,
and my vocation
One inspiring thing about being at World Youth Day is seeing so many young, holy priests. Their witness shows that The Catholic Church will not give in, we are here to stay and we have young holy priests to prove it! One young priest lead music ministry at the welcome for Canadian pilgrims, and he was so cool that he even played “Dynamite.” But not only was he cool, he was passionate about his vocation! He said something about discernment that really spoke to me: “You just have to jump!” I have been feeling like this for a while, that I am on the edge of a diving board about to jump into something greater, but I haven’t gotten up the courage to jump yet. Then he told a story about how baby eagles learn to fly: the mother throws the baby off a cliff and lets them fall until the very last minute before they hit the ground, and then she will swoop down and catch the baby...and she will continue to do this until the baby learns to fly. This is so much like trying to find
God’s will for your life, and you just have to trust that God is there and He won’t lead you down the wrong path, He is just teaching you how to trust Him and how to be all that you were made to be! I was also inspired by the Sisters of Life who hosted everything at the Love and Life Center, the place we went for English Catechesis. I just about fell in love with them, they were so beautiful, filled with life and joy. Their habits were so beautiful; it made me want to join the order just to wear one (of course that wouldn’t be the only reason lol). And what they do is amazing, upholding the most sacred gift of life. I went to the Vocations Fair in the park hoping that I would find an order that might appeal to me, that I could discern about, and I said if I didn’t find anything I would just go talk to one of the Sisters of Life about my vocation. Well pretty much all the orders were Spanish so I figured I would go to the Sisters of Life, but when I went to talk to one of them, I put it off and said I would do it later. Little did I know that I wouldn’t get a chance later. Part of me I think was afraid to take that jump, to just let go and trust that God would catch me. I’m still working on the whole trust thing, but one thing I do trust in is that God will lead me to where he wants me; I have no doubt about that.Heat Exhaustion
It was just before the Opening Mass for World Youth Day and we were making our way through the crowded street to see if we could get closer to the stage where the Pope would be. This was not the best idea for me because I am prone to heat exhaustion. As we went further, the crowd started getting denser, the hot sun beating down on us. Being short with tall people crowded all around me, I felt like I was suffocating; I started to get very overheated and weak. So I yelled out “Noreen, I need to get over to the side” and so we ploughed our way over. All I could do was pray “Jesus help me, Mary protect me” because I didn’t know if I would make it out of there without fainting. I had to hop over a barricade, and I am convinced that my Guardian Angel lifted me over because I was so weak, I don’t know how I managed it! Once we got over, the group made a circle around me so no one would press up against me, they got me cold water to drink and to put on the back of my neck, and fanned me like there was no tomorrow. The way they all came together to help me and protect me was amazing, I was so grateful! My lips and my hands were tingle at this point and a nun noticed me and gave me some candy to get my sugars up. We moved down a bit further, and of all things, we found an Irish pub.....IN SPAIN!!! God was so good and gave us a little taste of home in our time of burden. It was air conditioned which was good, so I lay on the floor on my back and put my feet up and everyone continued fanning me and got ice for my head. There were these two girls from Ireland who rushed to my aid, and they kept talking to me so I wouldn’t faint. Then they took the ice, wrapped it in the Irish flag, and put it on my forehead. I didn’t know this at the time, but when I found out I was so touched by the compassion and solidarity, it was such a gift. Throughout my sufferings, God gave me the grace and strength to rejoice amidst the chaos and offer up my weakness for the conversion of the youth at World Youth Day, and for another lady who came into the pub and fainted on the floor (she was pale as a ghost, and way worse than I had been). I was inspired by incredible way that my friends and fellow Catholics came together to help me, and I found myself thanking God for allowing me to be a victim, something I had never been able to do before. When I finally started feeling better we sat and had dinner, watched the Mass on tv, and at the sign of peace, everyone in the pub got up went around the pub giving the sign of peace to everyone else, it was SO COOL! Nowhere else would that happen but at World Youth Day!
This whole situation was very important for me to experience. It gave me a chance to take up an embrace my cross, something that I knew God would teach me how to do better on this trip. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all situations, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus our Lord" - 1Thesselonians 5:16-18
The Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross were beautiful and so powerful. They were huge life sized, incredible detailed statues from all over Spain, sculpted by the best artists in Spain. What moved me the most about the the Stations was how a different group of youth carried the World Youth Day Cross between each station; one was a group of youth affected by aids, one a group of unemployed youth, a group of youth from Haiti and Japan, a group of
marginalized youth, and a group of disabled youth. Each station related in some way to the group who was carrying the cross to that station. It hit me that not only were these youth carrying a physical cross in their hands, they were also at the same time carrying their own crosses that they face in everyday life, which moved me to tears. These youth are so brave to face each day and accept the cross that God wants them to bear for his kingdom.
El PapaIt was a great privilege to be able to see Pope Benedict XVI, the successor of St. Peter. Originally, the place where we were standing was not on the route that the Pope was taking in his motorcade, but at the last minute they changed the route and we ended up being right at the front of the line where he passed by. Although he went extremely fast (if you blinked you would have missed him) it was still amazing just to know that for a few moments, this great man was only a few feet away, waving and smiling to all the youth who he loves so dearly!
Praying the DMC
As we were making our way in the hot sun to Cuatro Vientros, the crowd started picking up again, I began to get more and more hot and tired. I suggested to Julia that we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the conversion of souls at WYD and for the safety and health of pilgrims. We prayed it once, but as the crowd started picking up even more, and I started getting nervous, so I asked her if she would pray it with me consistently until we reached our site. All of a sudden, as we prayed with fervor, I started getting more energy, became more focused, and became less nervous about the crowd. Anytime that it seemed like trouble might be ahead, I would pray harder, and it would get easier. I’d say we probably prayed at least 5 or 6 times maybe more, but when we reached our site, I realized that if I hadn’t prayed the whole way through, I probably wouldn’t have made it there. This experienced opened up my eyes to the true power of prayer to help us persevere.
The Storm and other blessings
A cloud had been looming overhead the entire day before the vigil, which was wonderful during the day, but we knew it would pour that night. The Pope was in the middle of his speech during the vigil, and all of a sudden the wind picks up like crazy, it starts pouring and lightning filled up the sky. Daniel tried to have a vote to leave, but no one would go for it. I was glad because I would have been heartbroken to leave after everything we went through to get there. The wind was so strong, that we watched it blow over one of the huge tent Chapels that was near our site. We realized that someone could possibly be seriously hurt so we decided to pray a decade of the Rosary for the safety of anyone who may have been harmed or in danger at the moment. We joined hands in a circle and prayed as hard as we could, it was so powerful and amazing to come together as a group and pray amidst the storm! Then we decided to pray another decade for the rain and wind to stop, and so we joined hands again and prayed as hard as we could, and when we finished the wind had noticeably died down. The storm continued to decrease until there was nothing but starry skies. The experience was very significant for me because all through the whole thing, we just kept praising God in the storm. When me and Julia started to sing “Blessed be your name” I started to cry tears of joy, the song was so fitting for the moment and all I wanted to do was praise God in this trying time. I think the experience effected Chris as well, and he became filled with the Holy Spirit. He said nothing would tear him away from this experience, he started quoting his favourite scripture, and started talking about how the whole WYD experience was effecting his life, especially the moment when the Irish Pilgrims put the ice in their flag and put it on my head. I was amazed by his witness and how strongly God was working in his life.The whole experience of the storm reminded me of the scripture passage when the disciples are out in the boat and all of a sudden the wind picks up and there is a violent storm, and all the disciples start freaking out, but then Jesus comes walking on the water, says “Do not be afraid” and calms the storm.
I didn’t know what the Pope said once the storm was over (because it was all in Spanish) but apparently he thanked everyone for their joy and resilience and said that our faith was stronger than the rain! How beautiful!
After the vigil was over, me and Chris decided to see if we could find an Adoration chapel that was still standing. Unfortunately but understandably, all the chapels were closed off due to safety concerns, but we stayed outside it and prayed anyway. I looked over and saw some friends from CCO in a circle singing “Hail Mary” and I was like woaah because I had asked God early if he would help me meet up with some CCO people! I went over to say hi, and they invited us to stay for some praise and worship! It was wonderful to just praise God in the middle of the street with awesome friends! All of a sudden one of the guys says to look up in the sky, and there was the face of Jesus in the clouds (it looked like the image of his face in the Divine Mercy picture), we were all blown away. If that wasn’t enough of God revealing himself, we look up again a few minutes later, and there was an image of a host and a chalice in the clouds! CRAZY! The next day when I told Julia about the face, she was amazed because she had been day dreaming earlier that day that Jesus’ face would appear in the sky, without even knowing that it would actually happen! Praise God! To top off the night, God gave me a shooting star! J
Water
God seems to frequently use water to draw me closer to him.
First, all I wanted to do while since we got to Spain was go swimming. I was so hot everyday, I would constantly wonder why there weren't pools everywhere! One day while we were in Burgos, we were suppose to go to a park for some games, but to our surprise
there was a beach! We didn't have our bathing suits with us so we decided to go in with our clothes on! Me and Julia linked arms and fell backwards baptism style into beautifully cold water. I was so happy, it was just what I needed to keep on going, God knew just what would bring joy to my heart!Another instance was after walking in the hot sun to get to our site at Cuatro Vientros, and the firetruck came out to spray everyone with the hose. As it fell on my face, it was so amazing and refreshing, it felt like a glimpse of what heaven might be like after this long hard pilgrimage on earth. I praised God out loud, thanking Jesus for getting me there, and it was so wonderful that I actually cried tears of joy (surprised?) In reflection, it reminded me of what life is like, we are all so thirsty for something more and we are yearning after the living water, and we appreciate showers of love and mercy the most after we have been burdened and heavy laden, after having travelled down the hot, weary, tiring road of life.
Another time was at the celebration soccer game on the last night. After the very stressful day coming back from Cuatro Vientros, I had been feeling so burdened with guilt and just feeling worn down and very conflicted, as if there was a dark cloud over me (and there literally was, too). Everyone was dancing and having fun, and I just wasn’t feeling it. And then it began to rain. This was a beautiful moment for me (I find most moments that involve me being showered by water are always beautiful and symbolic). I just felt like God was washing away all my fears and doubts, all the struggles I went through, all my guilt. I just let the rain fall on my face, closed my eyes, and thanked and praised God for everthying. I felt all the negativity leave me, and I got up and danced with my friends before the game started!
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