Running the Race

     As time forms the exciting experiences of World Youth Day into fond memories, I can't  help longing to be back in Brazil again with my fellow pilgrims. However, myself and the other three million WYD attendees must not linger in our longings, but go and pass on our encounter with Christ and the Church to others.
     When I am asked about what I took away from the pilgrimage experience, I think back to the moment I first saw Pope Francis with my own eyes. For several hours I stood waiting near the barricades lining the avenue along Copacabana Beach; then later as the popemobile started its way up the street, I was pushed even closer in by the swelling crowds. I was a mere twenty feet away from our Holy Father when he passed by amidst camera flashes and chants of "Papa Francisco" and "Esta es la juventud del Papa". In that moment, I thought "this is what I've been planning and waiting for over the past year". I was surrounded by millions of Catholics from all parts of the world gathered in Rio for one thing: to encounter Christ through His Church entrusted to the successor of St. Peter, Pope Francis, and to all of us. I was so joyous to be there and to see the Pope, that I sprinted up the beach to get as close as possible to the altar to see and hear Papa Francisco address us for the first time.
     Each of us must continue to run towards the altar everyday, to where Christ brings Heaven and Earth together. We are on a race in which Heaven is our finish line, and we are to invite whomever we meet to run beside us. Pope Francis imparted many words of wisdom upon us but the ones that impacted me most are from the closing Mass: "Jesus is speaking to each one of us, saying: 'It was wonderful to take part in World Youth Day, to live the faith together with young people from the four corners of the earth, but now you must go, now you must pass on this experience to others.' Jesus is calling you to be a disciple with a mission!" So as I settle back into my community, I am aware that because I was given many blessings and graces during the pilgrimage, much is expected of me in order to help carry out Christ's mission! If each of the three million WYD attendees joins in this mission to be a disciple, we can change our parishes, our communities, and our world by inviting others to run the race with us!



Myself and Holly after our run towards the altar



Papa Francisco



at the closing Mass

Here is Pope Francis' homily from the closing Mass. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130728_celebrazione-xxviii-gmg_en.html
    

The Pope's Words from August 4th's Angelus in Rome

I can't think of a better way of putting my thanks and hope for those I met and led at World Youth Day. These are the words from our Holy Father this morning:

I also want to emphasize my gratitude, my deep gratitude, to the Brazilian people. A great people, the people of Brazil, a people of great heart. I won’t forget their warm welcome, their greeting, their affectionate gaze, so much joy! They are a generous people. I ask the Lord to bless them greatly.
I want to ask you to pray with me, that the young people that participated in World Youth Day will be able to translate this experience into their daily journey, in their everyday conduct; and that they will be able to translate it in the most important choices of their life, responding to the personal call of the Lord. Today in the liturgy the provocative words of Qoheleth resonate: “Vanity of vanities . . . all things are vanity” (Ecc. 1, 2). Young people are particularly sensitive to the emptiness of meaning and values that surrounds them. And they, unfortunately, pay the consequences. On the other hand, the encounter with the living Jesus, in the great family that is the Church, fills the heart with joy, because it fills it with true life, a profound goodness that does not pass away or decay: we have seen this in the faces of the youths in Rio. But this experience must face the daily vanity, the poison of emptiness that insinuates itself into our society based on profit and having [things], that deludes young people with consumerism. The Gospel of this Sunday reminds us of the absurdity of basing their happiness on ‘having’. “The rich man says to himself: ‘My soul, you have many good things stored up . . . rest, eat, drink, be merry!’ But God says to him: ‘You fool, this very night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’” (cf. Lk 12, 19-20). Dear brothers and sisters, true wealth is the love of God, shared with the brothers. That love that comes from God and makes us share among ourselves, and makes us help one another. He who experiences this does not fear death, and receives peace of heart. Let us entrust this intention, the intention of receiving the love of God and sharing it with our brothers, to the Virgin Mary.

The Holy Spirit: Best Actor in Our Life

The more I read the homilies and talks from Pope Francis, the more I am aware of how much he relies on the Holy Spirit. Just today in his weekly Wednesday Audience, he told the crowd at St. Peter's Basilica: 

"The Holy Spirit, in the variety of his gifts, unites us and enables us to contribute to the building up of the Church in holiness."


Many times I find it hard to define holiness. And most of the time I think there is a misunderstanding of the term. Holiness does not mean outward compliance with laws, or commandments. It is not just an outward display of perfection. That might be gracefulness. But holiness is first and last an inner disposition, a fidelity to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. In the end, holiness is not so much what I do, but what God does in me. 

Throughout the day, the Holy Spirit is giving me inspirations and graces. The more I can acknowledge, accept, respond (git r done) and thank God for these inspirations, the more he will send me. And by committing myself to these impulses, and less of my own, I hope the Holy Spirit will be seen as the main actor in my life's story. I let go of my leading role and cast him. Perhaps He will be awarded Best Actor, Best Director in my life's movie. After all, it's his movie anyway. I'll let him have it all. 

¡Pon tu confianza en Dios y te sorprenderá!

Una de las pasiones que está en mi lista de acontecimientos personales a futuro es viajar.  El simple hecho de pensar en conocer culturas diferentes, conocer gente, tradiciones, lugares, bueno la lista puede ser interminable,  hasta con la idea de sentirme la “rara”, en cualquier lugar remoto, me emociona.  Pero, a veces la “cruel realidad”, lo hace difícil o casi imposible.   La falta de dinero, el trabajo, no tener tiempo disponible, los pagos al fin de mes, hacen que ese deseo lo pongamos al final de nuestra lista de prioridades aunque sea algo que deseamos con toda nuestras fuerzas. 

Dios es grande e infinitamente misericordioso, y él lo único que quiere es que nosotros seamos felices.  A veces, nos sumergimos tanto en nuestras preocupaciones, las cosas que ocurren en nuestro alrededor que acabamos gritando ¡cuando no es una cosa, es otra! 

A lo que voy es a lo siguiente…  Si han seguido este blog, se habrán dado cuenta que mi sacerdote,  mis compañeros y yo tendremos la oportunidad de viajar a Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.  Vamos a vivir una experiencia única  de esas que marca la vida por siempre, asistiremos a la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud. En esta ocasión, hablare de mi lado personal, yo sinceramente  me siento tan afortunada de poder vivir esta experiencia que aun estoy en shock, ¡No lo puedo creer!  Voy a poder cumplir uno de mis sueños (viajar) y todo porque tome la decisión de confiar en ÉL.  Si, en mi caso así fue.  Dios siempre nos demuestra con detalles cuanto nos ama, pero a veces nos segamos a ver las cosas hermosas que están en nuestro alrededor.  Hay una cita hermosa que me encanta de Albert Einstein que dice lo siguiente, “Hay dos maneras de vivir una vida: La primera es pensar que nada es un milagro. La segunda es pensar que todo es un milagro. De lo que estoy seguro  es que Dios existe.” Esta cita explica exactamente lo anterior.  Dios me mostro con este gesto cuanto me quiere y que ¡soy su consentida!

Es difícil la edad de la juventud, especialmente cuando llegas a un punto en tu vida en el que se te acabaron las opciones en la vida y te preguntas, ¿Y ahora a donde le doy?   Allí es donde Dios nos está hablando, donde nos invita a tener fe de lo que te tiene preparado para ti.  Seguir el camino aunque se vea incierto y aunque parezca que vamos con los ojos cerrados, porque sinceramente, quien mejor que Él para confiarle nuestra vida.  Eso me demostró con este viaje.  Si, el sabia de mis gustos y pasiones, y miren me puse en sus manos y que tan grande oportunidad me puso en mi camino, asistir a JMJ.   Voy a ser honesta, al principio fui muy pesimista cuando recibí la invitación para asistir a JMJ.  Lo veía tan lejano, fuera de mis posibilidades, pero Dios ya tenía ese “regalazo“ planeado para mí.  Aun viendo las dificultades que se me presentaban tome la decisión de aceptar la invitación y dije, “¡Que Dios me agarre confesada!”  No quiero mentirles, el proceso fue difícil, incierto, y en ocasiones tuve miedo.   Pero no permití que esos pensamientos invadieran mi confianza, aunque fue difícil continúe.    Hoy en día puedo gritar, ¡Voy a estar en JMJ en BRASIL y tengo la certeza que en este viaje fui guiada por ÉL!

Si nos ponemos a pensar, nos damos cuenta de que Dios y todo en su entorno es bello.  Qué gran dicha  de cumplir mi gran anhelo (viajar) y a su misma vez asistir a la congregación católica más grande de jóvenes como es JMJ. Dios mediante conoceré al Papa Francisco y podre decir que yo estuve allí.  En si la moraleja de mi historia es que Dios te quiere dar todo lo que tú anhelas, solo tienes que confiar en Él con tus sueños y deseos.  Deja de preocuparte y ponlo todo en sus manos,  el te guiara a donde debes estar.  Dile todo lo que quieres, pero recuerda: Él te dará lo que es para ti y lo que necesitas, no lo que tú crees que sea necesario para ti.  ¡Confía en el! Mira mi experiencia, Yo viajare a un lugar de ensueño y a su misma vez estaré allí por Él. 

Habemus Papam Francescum!

The Pope's first Urbi et Orbi 


Brothers and sisters, good evening!
You know that it was the duty of the Conclave to give Rome a Bishop. It seems that my brother Cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth to get one... but here we are... I thank you for your welcome. The diocesan community of Rome now has its Bishop. Thank you! And first of all, I would like to offer a prayer for our Bishop Emeritus, Benedict XVI. Let us pray together for him, that the Lord may bless him and that Our Lady may keep him.
[Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be... ]
And now, we take up this journey: Bishop and People. This journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches. A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity. It is my hope for you that this journey of the Church, which we start today, and in which my Cardinal Vicar, here present, will assist me, will be fruitful for the evangelization of this most beautiful city.
And now I would like to give the blessing, but first - first I ask a favour of you: before the Bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me: the prayer of the people asking the blessing for their Bishop. Let us make, in silence, this prayer: your prayer over me.
[...]
Now I will give the Blessing to you and to the whole world, to all men and women of good will. [Blessing]
Brothers and sisters, I leave you now. Thank you for your welcome. Pray for me and until we meet again. We will see each other soon. Tomorrow I wish to go and pray to Our Lady, that she may watch over all of Rome. Good night and sleep well!

(From vatican.va. Translated from the Italian)