Day 12 of World Youth Day 8-5-23

Today we set out for the park where the Saturday Vigil and Closing Mass would be. We began our day with a later wake up time: a rare chance to sleep in and gain back some much needed energy. Little did we know how much we would really need that rest!

After this easy start, Fr. Cesar celebrated Mass in an old Carmelite monastery across the street from our hostel. The monastery is currently being used by Dominican Sisters who care for women with vision impairments. We were especially grateful to them for their hospitality to us today. Fr. Tom preached in his homily about the importance of perseverance, especially since today was the day of our “Big Hike”. Emphasizing today’s Gospel about the beheading of John the Baptist for speaking against Herod, Father told us not to worry about anyone else other than the most important thing, “we don’t need to please anyone except Jesus…He is the one we have to keep in mind”. These words gave me hope during our hike to the site of the Vigil, particularly in the more grueling moments of the 10 mile hike. When we arrived in the late afternoon, all of the pilgrims were tired but expectant: Pope Francis was going to arrive soon!

And when he did arrive, the Holy Father reminded us that we can train and prepare ourselves for certain things, but others must be given to us. “Nothing is free except the love of Christ,” he said, “and that love must be missionary; it must go out to all!” After these encouraging words and some time in Eucharistic Adoration with Jesus, though our bodies were tired and sore, our spirits were prepared for the final Mass on Sunday!!

Patrick Germann

Mass in Convent

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Day 11 of World Youth Day 8-4-23

BOM DIA! As I begin my day with four espressos and two cough drops, I find our group flag and make my way to the lobby. It is always noisy and full of so much life; what a beautiful foreshadowing of events. Our group makes its way by subway to the beach. Not the kind you swim in tho, but just as majestic. We learn about their culture and Portugal’s spirit of Adventure. I can’t help be feel like I am right where I am suppose to be. The City of Joy lived up to its name, especially when the THEE PAPA FRANCISCO decided to stop by to listen to some confessions. Never have I wanted to have sin in my life, as an excuse to meet the Pope. On the outskirts of the area is an ocean of confessionals and priest scattered across the field. I pondered on how many volunteers it took to make this whole thing happen, and marveled over the joy of their sacrifices. Adjacent to that was the biggest ministry and vocations fair I’d ever seen. Possibilities in Christ everywhere, and the perfect dr...

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 ...

Day 6 of World Youth Day 7-30-23

Bom Dia! Today we finally got a chance to sleep in for the first time this pilgrimage so far. However I’m not so sure we all took advantage of that because of the festa last night. We began with mass at 10:30 this morning with the local parishioners of Cortes and the mass was mainly said in Portuguese but of course the homily, the Gospel and a few other parts were said in the different languages of the people staying in Cortes. While this isn’t our last day with our host families, we said goodbye to them after mass and were given gifts from them (magnets of world youth day) and at least in my experience, it was quite difficult to say bye. Tomorrow we really do say goodbye as we head to Lisbon for the World Youth Day events. The families here in Cortes have been so grateful and wonderful to all of us, making sure that we all have the best experience possible while also encountering Christ along the way. I realized just how much ...

World Youth Day - Portugal

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