Month: July 2016

I apologize for the delay in posting. Our time here in Kraków has been amazing, and has flown by. Tonight we are back on the gym floor after the open air camp out in Campus Miseracordiae, field of mercy, where about 2 million pilgrims met for a night vigil and Mass with Pope Francis. The magnitude of that alone should give a glimpse into the busyness of our schedule.

I’ll share one story now,but I hope to give a few further reflectionso when I have some more travel time. Yesterday we got to the Campus around 4 or 5pm. We staked out our spor with tarps and sent a delegation to pick up food from the supply stop. Long story short, they ran out of food since no more trucks could get in till later. We turned back, disappointed, and a little daunted that we hadn’t had lunch and now had no dinner or breakfast. Thankfully, our neighborsite showed us some mercy and a pile of donations formed in our tarp camp. We had enough to be satisfied fir dinner and even a bit left over. Laterms that night we sent anorge delegation to try again. This time they made it back with food bags, though it took them 3 hours. This is just one example of the generosity of pilgrims and volunteers as well as the magnitude of world youth day. I would be remiss if I failed to mention the tireless and joyful service of the military and volunteers who worked to supply us with food, water, and safety by working long hours of constant service.

Tomorrow, Monday, we head to Warsaw to visit Our Lady of Częstochowa before flying home on Wednesday.

God Bless! And know of our prayers despite the infrequent blog posts.

I have been thinking about this post since our stay in Compostela but I haven’t found the words to express myself. I still don’t have the words, but it has been long enough, and I’ll give it a try.

The few days leading up to Santiago de Compostela were pretty tiresome. Although it was great to run into old friends, I was also tired and struggling with the increase of new pilgrims as we got closer. I found my patience becoming shorter, accompanied by generally being worn out. I found it difficult to pray as I wanted or to think/mediate well. There were some questions to which I just couldn’t find the answers. In the midst of this, I felt God’s presence. In every Church which I visited I found pictures or statues of the Sacred Hearts. It was like I was being followed, and I kept hearing the message to trust in God and to remember his love. It was a great consolation to simply know that I am loved despite my errors, failures, and difficulties.

At the cathedral in Santiago, there is a holy door to cememorate the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Walking through the Holy door is attatched the graces to be further detached from sin (of course you must desire and work towards this detachment!). Luke and I had the opportunity not only to pray at the tomb if St. James each day, but also to walk through the Holy door, to receive God’s mercy and also to offer the graces for others. But you don’t have to go on a pilgrimage to Compestela or Rome to find a holy door. Each diocese throughout the world has several Church doors declared as holy doors for pilgrimage. So take a look on your diocesan website or ask your parish priest about making a personal pilgrimage to one of these sites. You don’t even have to walk across Europe!

The cathedral was also lined with confessionals. Priests were reconciling penitents to God in many of the world languages. It was a beautiful site to see. And it was even cooler in Fatima, where a whole chapel is dedicated to confessions, and it looks similar to a hospital! By the way, going to confession is one of the requirements to receive the indulgence from the Holy door pilgrimage. One must also, recieved holy communion, pray for the popes intentions, and strive to be free from the attachment to sin. An indulgence isn’t magic, but it is an outreach from God to us from the Church to heal the damage that sin does to us. Confession forgives the sin and an indulgence (and especially the process of “getting” one) helps to free us from attachmentioned to sin.

Fatima also offered a great message if prayer, sacrifice, and penance for peace and conversion of sinners, including ourselves! But there is a bit too much about Fatima to unravel now.

We will arrive in Kraków on Tuesday morning. In fact, right now, I’m on a night train to Krakow, after finishing up our time in the diocese of Gdańsk where already we’ve heard more about God’s mercy and visited some other holy doors. This whole trip has been a long journey along the way of mercy. In some ways, it is coming to its conclusion in Kraków, with the Holy Father.

-Michael

Today was dedicated to spending time with our host families. The whole group met for Sunday Mass at the local parish. After the Mass, we sang some hymns for the parish and in return the children sang us several songs. A few members of the city council had set up a cook out for all the families hosting us. We all enjoyed some great polish food while mingling with the locals.

After the cookout, everyone left to go adventuring with their respective families. We tracked to an old military base which was first built by Napoleon and is still used today as a museum. It is very evident that the Poles have a great respect for their freedom. There are many reminders of the communist era still standing around Sopot.

After touring the base, we went kayaking along some small rivers. The entire experience was very calming and beautiful. After our little adventure, we returned home for another great dinner.

Over the last few nights we have been playing cards with the father of the family. The game of choice is bridge. This has provided us with many great conversations. Sadly, tomorrow we will be departing for Kraków, and departing our wounded full family.

– Luke

Our first few days in Poland have been filled with both beauty and busyness. First of all, the landscape is enchanting, whether it is the forested hills, the sprawling beaches, the quaint modern city or the old city centers. But most of all, the kindheartedness of the people stands out. Our host family is incredibly generous, it seems that they would feed us all day if they could. Amd I would be ok with that. Polish food is great! Tonight, also, we were playing the card game bridge, and one of our hosts, Andrje, joined in. The only difficultly was that he doesnt speak much english and had to use his wife as a translator. It made for a very fun evening.

It has been nice to be among such a large group, where I can move among its members and talk with old friends, acquaintances, and new faces. But with such a large group I’ve also had to surrender some of my freedom. It is odd to be more limited and told where to go after about 50 days of traveling at my leisure, making decisions with Luke and maybe a few others, but always retaining my autonomy. It’s a little hard to even find free time to sit and reflect.

Speaking of autonomy, today we visited the Solidarity Museum. It records the events of the worker strikes against the communist party that started here in Gdansk, about 20 minutes from whete we are staying Sopot, but it is all badicly considered one city. Anyway, it was pretty intense to walk through the exhibit and watch/read the events as they unfolded through the years. I was very touched by the role Pope John Paul II played, giving hope to the Polish people during a time of great despair and attack against human dignity. I knew of this in theory before, but walking through the museum made it a lot more concrete. It is a little hard to understand exactly what the Polish people went through, and I’m happy for this chance to get a little glimpse.

Besides the museum, we walked around the old town and visited the oldest church, now a basilica. Many of us climbed to the top of the tower. The view wasn’t great on such a foggy day but the experience was cool. At one point we were walking on boards on top of the ceiling, and another on a stair case that wrapped around the inside of the massive tower.

Lastly, I’d like to note how nice it has been to attend Mass in english, and the homily too! I know this won’t last very long as we will be joining some international celebrations. Nevertheless, after sitting through many foreign homilies, it is nice to be instructed in  language I can understand, rather than trying to guess what the priest is saying or further meditating on the word of God myself.

I assume that the rest of the trip will only get busier, but there is also much beauty ahead.

-Michael

Yesterday Micahel and I arrived safely in Poland. We met our World Youth Day group shortly after taxing to our host parish. We are all staying with different families for a few days within the town of Sopot.

Being in Europe for over a month has proven helpful as the rest of our group is jet-legged. My host family has been incredibly gracious, and the group as a whole seems to be very excited for the days to come.

The first day was spent mostly relaxing on the beach. We had an early morning Mass followed by coffee and desserts. From the parish we went on a small hike that ended up on the beach. Many members went for a swim and others simply sat back and enjoyed the sun.

I spent most of my time talking with the two religious sisters who have joined our group. Through a weird series of events, two sisters from Nebraska have joined our pilgrimage. When I was talking with them it was evident that they love their vocation and that they are filled with joy. It is a blessing to have them as part of our group.

In the upcoming days we are headed to meet other members from our diocese, and pilgrims from around the world. We will join groups first in the city of Gdansk, before traveling to Krakow for the main events.

– Luke