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Bem-vindos! Five Days Away!

 We are FIVE days away from setting off to Portugal! 

World Youth Day is a world wide encounter with the Pope celebrated about every three years in a different country. This event is an opportunity for young adults to personally experience the universality of the Catholic Church, and to share with the whole world the hope of many young people who are committing their lives to Christ. World Youth Day was started by Pope, St. John Paul II and was first held in Rome in 1986.


26 Pilgrims are embarking on this pilgrimage from All Saints University parish. This consists of two priests (Fr. Tom Orlando and Fr. Cesar Martinez), three seminarians (Josue, Patrick, and Saul) and 21 young adults from our community. 


It may seem like our pilgrimage begins next Tuesday, but as we’ve been telling our pilgrims, it began when we first said “yes” to God’s invitation to encounter him in this radical way. From accepting our Father’s invitation, we then invited all of you to partake in this pilgrimage with us through our different fundraisers. A pilgrimage is not a vacation, but as Pope Benedict XVI explained,


“To go on pilgrimage is not simply to visit a place to admire its treasures of nature, art or history. To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself, where his grace has shone with particular splendor and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe.”


We will be gone from July 25-August 8th and will take nothing more than a backpack on our backs. Yes, this means we will only be taking a few pairs of clothes, toiletries, and other small essential items.


In the midst of the chaos and confusion of this world today, it is so easy for young people to get caught up in sin that the world has and is still trying so hard to normalize. Our culture has moved away from Christendom and young people are thirsting to know Jesus Christ more than ever. That is why we are so grateful as young adults to have this opportunity to step outside of ourselves and encounter God in an extraordinary way. 


Our goal to raise over $100,000 was accomplished through fundraisers, donations, and individual pilgrim contributions! Some of our fundraisers consisted of a summer car wash, after Mass bake sales, cookie dough/pie/snack sales, a Paint and Sip Night, A Walk through Portugal Art Show, and Bingo nights. At first, this was a little intimidating but we held onto hope that we serve a faithful God who ALWAYS provides for us. And sure enough, He did- big time. Looking back at this year, we are so overwhelmed with gratitude for the generous prayers and donations we received from everyone who joined our pilgrimage journey and supported us along the way. 


From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU. Please continue to pray for us as we will be praying for all of you. Each day, one of our pilgrims will write a blog updating all of you with what we have been up to for that day. Please read them! We would love for you to continue journeying with us in this way.



May God’s Grace Abound, 

All Saints WYD Pilgrims

Comments

  1. Klarich FamilyJuly 25, 2023 at 9:03 PM

    We are living vicariously through you and are very excited. We said are Rosary for you tonight.

    ReplyDelete

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