Madrid August 17, 2011

Today we were to go to catechesis near our hotel. The church was packed, so our group was not allowed in due to space limitations. It was too late to go to another venue, so we went to a nearby park to have our own catechesis. We were joined by a group from Gary, Indiana and a group from Bari in Italy. We took turns singing and teaching the songs to the others. When we finished, we split into groups and some shopped. Later we met up with the group from the Diocese of Sacramento for evening prayer with the bishop. We then went to Palacio de Deportes for Theology on Tap (without the tap). Bishop Sartain from the Archdiocese of Seattle.
We went for dinner near the Palacio and had delicious burgers or a combination plate (1 fried egg, bacon, ham and fries). We then split into 2 groups and part went to the concert at the Palacio. We decided to go shopping in Plaza Mayor. At our stop a few blocks from the Plaza, we were told there were protesters and we shouldn't go up the steps. We checked it out with a security guard so that our charges could see protesters against the Catholic church in action. We took a look and decided to skip the shopping for the night. In our travels on the subway, we entertained many pilgrims and the general subway population of Madrid. It was a lot of fun even without the shopping. It was wonderful to see the young church out in force.

Singing in the Metro again.


Eating outdoors after a long day, good burgers!


Swapping songs with Indiana and Italy after the
catechesis filled up.


Inside Theology on Tap (without the tap). Archbishop
Peter Sartain from the Archdiocese of Seattle is
speaking.




More exchange of songs and cheers.

Prayer with Bishop Soto with pilgrims from diocese of sac

Madrid, August 18, 2011

The Pope has arrived! We are watching his arrival in Madrid on TV. We later traveled down near where the opening mass was held. Huge crowds, very hot and humid weather. Some of us sat until we were forced to get up by the pressing crowds. Incredible and inspiring to watch thousands upon thousands of pilgrims waiting for our German shepherd. This is something most of us have never experienced. Bill and I and our 2 older daughters saw JPII in San Francisco in 1986. That too was AMAZING. We did later make our way back to the hotel, dinner and young adults out on the town. Please enjoy the photos.

Our group waiting for the pope to pass by after

his arrival in Madrid. Notice the lime green

shirts with Bento 16 (Benedict 16). These are some

of the 12,000 pilgrims from Portugal. Debbie scored

me one of these shirts in a shrewd trade. She may have

a future trading commodities or something.

Singing in the Metro.

Waving our flags.

Sweet anticipation waiting for the pope to pass by.

Opening mass for WYD August 16, 2011

Half of our group left our hotel today at 3 pm to secure a spot for the opening mass today at 8 pm. There are already thousands of people with flags and banners. The atmosphere here is like a huge street party. Blocks and blocks and blocks of the city are cordoned off for the next several days for the festivities. As of this writing (430 pm Madrid time) the temperature is about 96 degrees or so with at least 50% humidity. Did I mention that the other half decided to walk?
Our group was reunited about 40 minutes later. We have a pretty decent spot on the main drag. We are on the curb in front of Banco de Espana on the street against the rail between the two Metro stations. It's now 720 pm and our group is in the sun. It's later in the day so we should be OK. We are sitting and using our banners and umbrellas for shade. We are drinking plenty of water and there are many water stations available.
The shade came back and mass started. The pilgrims were provided with a "pilgrim pack ". Inside was a youth catechism or "YouCat", it's like the regular catechism, but designed for youth to understand. Also, a special edition of the "Magnificat" and several other items with information on the places for pilgrims to eat, places for catechism, maps, etc.
Mass started and about a million pilgrims settled down. The logistics were mind boggling. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any English translation of the mass. Also, with a million plus people there, it was hard to concentrate on mass with people talking, etc. Mass was about 1 hr 45 min and it took quite sometime to get back to our home base. Today should be a cooler day (more inside activity).

Father Ben wrapped in the flag.


Group photo holding our banner.


Patiently waiting.


These were hung on the lightposts in various parts
of the city.


First public transportation in Madrid!


Jumbotron

Madrid August 15, 2011

Today was the feast of the Assumption of Mary. Our group went to mass right across the street from our hotel. The mass was all in Spanish, but still very nice. We walked around the town and explored a bit, especially Plaza Mayor. My group of people decided on McDonalds for a late lunch. After that, we did a bit of shopping, but not much because this is not only a holy day in Spain, but also a holiday and most shops and services are closed as well. We then went in search of the Cathedral in Madrid. The cathedral wasn't too far from Plaza Mayor. We took a look inside and then asked where the bathroom was. The information person told us to go out and down the alley. We did, and there was a big banner over the door welcoming pilgrims. It was quite nice inside. They had snacks and bottled water for sale. When we got to the WC, there was a very nice attendant who charged us .20 euro to go in. My guess for the charge is so that the cathedral won't go broke with providing all that TP. They did have free wifi also. We needed to meet up with the rest of the group to go back to the hotel, so I was unable to take advantage. After meeting back up at the hotel, we all went out again, then split into 2 groups. The larger group with the guitars wanted to go serenade Madrid, the rest of us went for a nice low key dinner in a place that had free wifi. It's a hot commodity and saves us a lot of money when we want to use our phones to post. Later more experience with the Locutorio for those who needed to call home. Below are photos of the Plaza, the cathedral, the wall in the hospitality room where we could write something (Amanda called it "shameless promotion ") and the new lyrics to the Katy Perry song "California Gurls " written by Amanda, Stephanie, Margaret and Claudia called "Roman Catholic Girls ". I'm sure Mary will post more on the evening activities with her group later.

The military cathedral in Madrid.


Checking out the cathedral.


A banner on the front-Blessed John Paul II, pray
for us!


Cooling off in Plaza Mayor.


Plaza Mayor


Plaza Mayor


Original composition by Amanda, Stephanie, Margaret
and Claudia-Roman Catholic Girls (to the tune of
California Gurls by Katy Perry).


A wall we could write on in the basement of the
military basilica-Amanda said it was "shameless
promotion".


Plaza Mayor


Inside the military basilica.

The youth...the hope

So, we were leaving the internet cafe and we came across a cute older man...we said, "Hola," which we say to nearly everyone we pass by. The man asked us where we are from, so we told him. He went on to say that in this world filled with corruption, the youth is the hope of the world. What a beautiful thing to hear!
This was a beautiful reminder for our small group of mostly teens to hear. It echoes the idea that I hold close to my heart...the youth aren't the future of the church, we are the church right now...we are living, breathing, learning our faith right now and spreading His love and truth! We are all the hope because we are one body of Christ and He is present in all of us. Amen!

----Kira

Finding an internet cafe- Locutorio

So Hannah, Alayna, and Maggie and I headed out to find el Locutorio. Along the way a cute little old woman stopped me to ask me about my cross. See the pic...its a gift from our pilgrim backpacks. Initially when we werent communicating so well she touched it and turned it over to see where it was from. In a beautiful exchange of a mix of English and Spanish she told us how pretty it was. She asked us where we were from and was just so sweet. Definitely the highlight of our day so far.

just fyi, my phone won´t let me order or turn around pictures. i know that´s annoying. so far the computer won´t let me either so...sorry about that!

And it would be super fun if you would sign your comments so we know who you are! =)

Last night in Lourdes - at the Grotto

So to continue our night we decided to go to the Grotto really late. We wanted to pray and sing with Our Lady but if you don't go late at night you get "shushed" as Fr Uriel says. So 2am we headed out. We arrived to a mostly empty grotto. So peaceful. We filled up our bottles at the fountains and purchased candles from the little kiosks. We were able to go right up inside the grotto and just be. So powerful to be there with Our Mother. We sang and voiced all the intentions you have sent with us. It was truly beautiful. So holy. So peaceful.

Last night in Lourdes

So much to tell you!
our last night in Lourdes was probably my favorite evening so far. 
Father Uriel invited everyone out on the town after dinner. Unsure of what to expect...pretty much all the young people and some of us adults headed out after him.

As we crossed over the Gave river into the "las Vegas like" tourist shopping area we started to sing and raise joy around us. Some stopped here and there to shop so we gathered at an intersection and Father and Weston broke out into LaBamba. Immediately a huge crowd circled around us. People came out of the shops and everyone was dancing and singing in the streets. It was so amazing!!!!!   These little old ladies and groups of young people from Chile and all over the world.  We went on to sing "every move I make" and all sorts of christian songs. It was so much fun!

Of course we were dripping sweat so we set off as the crowd died down in search of ice cream. As we were done with our treats a young man saw the guitar and told us we should "sing for the old people going back to the hospital."  See there was a show...a play being performed in front of the basilica and it was just letting out. In Lourdes there is a red strip of sidewalk along the streets where the patients are pulled to and from the hospital there in Lourdes. We had seen volunteers helping people all day. So we did just that and formed a gauntlet and sang just about everything we knew like 3 times each. Probably 400(?) Or so patients. It was so beautiful as they clapped and smiled as we greeted them with song and beautiful loving energy!!

We headed back to the hotel with broken strings but we were on cloud 9! So full of the Holy Spirit in that beautiful Holy place!!

The night goes on though...
Ok next blog for the rest of the evening...

Lourdes

Lourdes has truly been the highlight of my trip so far...

Coming here, I didn't really think too much of it. I thought it was going to be great and all, but didn't think I'd have such a beautifully emotional experience there. Here's what happened...

As the group of us were walking to mass in the morning, for a full day in Lourdes, we were taking everything in. As we were passing the baths, Mary said something along the lines of, "You could totally just be here, spend time here," and I just said, "Yes, let's do it!" Although I wasn't really thinking about what was said. Then she followed with, "I really think you could take some time off and just come here for like a year...I think you have the heart with it because of all your work at the shelter." I was surprised at my response...flowing tears. Thinking about it makes me tear up still.. I went on to tell her... that I feel like mission work has always been written in my heart and that I've often struggled with what God's plan for me is with that passion He gave me. I've had a hard time with school too, because I don't feel like God is going to ask me how much money I made, or what my degree in college was...but He is going to ask me, "Did you love my people? Did you help them?" I've also been focused more on really wanting to be married and live out that vocation, but it hasn't ever worked out. Mary then went on to say that maybe now is the time that I'm supposed to be donig mission type work because when I'm married, I will be focused on family and kids, etc. I told her that I would hope one day that I would find a man who would want to actually go and do mission work with me...she opened my eyes to let go of what I want and to really be focused on finding out where I'm supposed to be. I kept crying, happy tears because the things I have struggled with for a while about all of this, Mary picked up on, and we talked about it in detail. It was beautiful. This was my first experience in Lourdes and the emotional feeling that I felt during that conversation, the happiness, confusion, relief almost...all of those mixed emotions brought me closer to God...brought me closer to prayer in discerning what He wants me to do. This was the theme of my day in Lourdes, prayer and intense emotions. We learned about St. Bernadette and about the apparitions, we had mass in the Grotto where the apparitions were seen, and so much more! I felt to close to this place...so close...I haven't experienced anything like it. I feel like my heart was just at peace, in love. I'm definitely going to be praying about volunteering there...please pray for me too!
There was A LOT more we did in Lourdes, but I wanted to share a spiritual experience, which is more personal, but I felt it was important to share. After a great day too, a huge group of us ended up singing to those being taken around in wheel chairs from a show that was that evening...we sang in an path/alley thingy and sang for SO many people suffering from disabilities and it MADE their night! I loved every minute of it...it was hard to keep going, our voices were getting strained, we were getting all hot and sweating for dancing and clapping and singing, but we kept going because that's what it is all about...spreading His love! I'm sure you'll hear more about that from others who will post about it from their persective. After a day like I had, it was so reassuring to be so happy and at peace and on fire for this kind of work...I know God has something special in store for me with this. I'm looking forward to it!

Please pray for all of our pilgrims, that they may truly open their hearts to God...truly inviting Him into their lives and hearts to transform them, to ignite a fire within their soul to want to live out a life of faith, that they may let go of all of their insecurities, failures, uncertainties, and baggage, to truly just let Him make them new. AMEN!

We are praying for all of you.

Lourdes to Madrid August 14, 2011

Today we traveled by bus from Lourdes to Madrid, a journey of over 400 miles. We traveled a total of 1241 kilometers or 771 miles by bus. This was our last trip with Jose (our bus driver) and Manuela (our guide). Weston and Kira wrote and sang a song for them in thanks for such a fun trip. We were sorry to part from them, but now we are in Madrid for World Youth Day! We gave them hand knotted rosaries and hand knotted bracelets with a medal from Fatima. Father Uriel blessed the articles and Jose and Manuela.
Our hotel is beautiful and located very close to the town square where we will meet for the opening mass.
Today was a pretty slow blog day. Please enjoy the goofy pics of Father Uriel during our stops today.

Highway sign that says Madrid.


Our guide, Manuela with her rosary.


Would that be stretching during a rest stop,
Father Uriel?!


Father Uriel, Jose our driver, Gary


Nappin' on the bus...


More stretching, I think.


The Husa Princesa, our home away from home
in Madrid.


Weston and Kira sing an original composition
to thank Manuela and Jose.


Still resting.


Jose, our awesome driver.


This was on a neighboring bus at a rest stop.