My Experience at World Youth Day

Our trip to Brazil was so wonderful and it's fun to look back on everything we did. We were blessed to stay with Cristo Jovem parish for the first few days of our trip. The people there welcomed us at the airport with hugs all around and seemed more excited than us if that was possible. Our group had been looking forward to the trip for about a year, and I realized this parish had been doing the same thing. In the time that we spent with them, we went hiking, shopping, zip lining, and cathedral hopping throughout Sao Paulo. Going into the trip, we thought the first part of our trip would consist of mission work, but instead we were served the entire time. When we had to leave them, I was able to see how God's love was working among us. We said our goodbyes and hugged each of the Cristo Jovem parishioners about five times each, and there were tears everywhere. They kept thanking us for everything we did for them, and we really didn't do anything worthy of the thanks they gave us. All we had done was spent time enjoying their company. They were the ones organizing all of the things we did, giving us gifts, and making sure we were safe as we traveled around Sao Paulo. As we said our goodbyes, I realized all of the thanks was due to God's love working in our group and the Cristo Jovem group. I'm so blessed to have met them and am grateful for the beautiful ways they touched my heart.
Upon leaving Sao Paulo, we made our way to Rio de Janeiro. This is where the trip got rough at times, but was more than worth it. Without the people of Cristo Jovem by our side, we had to figure out eating plans and find our way through the city on the bus system. We struggled a bit in the beginning, especially when we spent the majority of a morning lost on the busses without Fr. James. We were trying to find our way to the church we were supposed to go to for catechesis, and eventually we stumbled upon Candelária where English catechesis was being held. Since Candelária was relatively easy to find, we decided to go there for the remaining catechesis sessions. This brings me to my favorite part of the trip. We had catechesis and Mass with Cardinal Napier of South Africa who was such a warm and loving man. This Mass felt so special and I enjoyed it so much. It was at this point in the trip that I realized exactly how amazing the universality of the Church is. I saw two musicians that I had met before in Arkansas and Missouri, and there was a large group of priests and pilgrims from Nebraska. All of my family is from Nebraska, and if you know me, you know that I'm kind of obsessed with the place and get so excited when I hear anything about it. So here I am, in Rio de Janeiro, and of the millions of people participating in World Youth Day, I somehow run into people that I know from America and find a huge group of Nebraskans. It was beautiful how I saw God working through our trip as I enjoyed this Mass. God helped me to realize that everything that had gone wrong during our trip leading up to that moment was meant to happen exactly as it had so that I would be in that exact place at that exact moment. Everything just felt so perfect and I loved it. I felt such a deep communion with God during this Mass.
Next, I'll shift gears to the part of World Youth Day that was absolutely insane. We got so close to Pope Francis not once, but twice. As it turns out we were not the only ones that wanted to see him up close, (I know, shocking right?) so we stood both of those times for about three hours crammed like sardines with all the Catholics from absolutely everywhere. When the Pope is traveling in his popemobile and he's getting close, you know. Suddenly, you have even less personal space if that's even possible, cameras are up in the air, and people are going crazy. The first time he drove past us, he went by so quickly, but I was able to get a better look at him the second time we waited to see him. It was so cool to see his cute little face in front of me from the second row behind the barricade blocking him off from the crowd. After seeing him, it was so wonderful to hear all of the things he was saying to us. He spoke with such simplicity, and everything he said was so important. I especially enjoyed hearing about and seeing his deep love for Mary because I love her so much. He said that once Mary received Jesus, she didn't wait to share Him. Instead, she went in haste to help her cousin Elizabeth. He told us to do the same and spread Jesus without delay after receiving Him. All of Pope Francis' words were wonderful, and I still can't believe I was there to hear them in person.
World Youth Day was an unforgettable experience, and  I was blessed to see God working in my life in the time I spent there. I look forward to continuing to have a deeper communion with God now that I'm home. God has allowed me to experience so many wonderful things so far in my life and has brought the most wonderful people into it. I'm truly blessed.