We come home from WYD with a greater cultural awareness

This past Tuesday our Palm Beach group of pilgrims returned home, weary and some a little ill from the change in weather the little storm at Cuatro Vientros brought about, but still wanting more of Spain. We were 48. Three priests, one sister and 3 adults and 41 young people ranging from 16 to 26 years old, one of the young adults a seminarian. The priests one was a Carmelite, one a Scalabrinian and one diocesan. Our little group formed a tightly bound community as we journeyed Asisi, Rome and Madrid in 12 days.
We had profound faith experiences that the youth lived with intensity, mass at the tomb of St. Francis with Bishop Noonan and the Orlando group, Mass at the tomb of Peter, on August 15th where I had the joy of renewing my vows, we found a wonderful church close to our Hotel in Plaza Mayor, San Gines, that became our parish away from home. The prayer services and the liturgies helped make the journey a true pilgrimage for all of us.
I loved seeing the kids faces as they encountered hundreds of years of history and catholicism in each of the churches we visited. The WOWs... OHHHHs.... AHHHHs when they came face to face with saints, popes, and historical events they had only heard of in catechism books was priceless.
One of my favorite parts was the Mass at Cuatro Vientros, we were supposed to be close enough to see the altar in section E3...We arrived realtively early, yet our section was packed full of people and we had to walk back to an empty, unmarked, spot close to the restrooms, we could see the portable potties close by, we could barely see the TV screen was telecasting the event, we could not see the altar section at all! Yet as the mass began, the kids, to my surprise got up and followed it through with devotion, standing up, kneeling, sitting at the right times whether they could see or not, as the storm that hit the night before made it impossible to receive communion, when they asked that people received spiritual communion, all our kids devoutedly kneeled down and the silence was impressive. So was it when the Pope exposed the Blessed Sacrament the night before, in a split of a second a million and and a half young people fell silent. It was truly a miracle.
I thank God for the opportunity to participate in this WYD event, and more so, for the group of youth that came from our Diocese- St. Rita, St. Joan of Arc, Our Lady Queen of Peace and St. Juliana- they have been a model for me of how deeply they look at their faith and how seriously they take it.
May God bless all the youth who participated and may this event be a life changing experience in their journey.