Firmes en la fe: Firm in the faith

As eluded to in about a half dozen posts, Kelby and I journeyed to Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day 2011 a few weeks ago. 

This was the largest gathering at World Youth Day since it's start in 1985. There were 2 million extra people in a city of almost 3 million already. Every where we went hoards of young people from literally all over the world were singing and chanting songs of praise or patriotic songs from their countries. The loudest were the Italians. It didn't matter if we were in an open park or plaza or if we were in the cramped metro, they would sing their songs at high volume and with gusto. Us poor Americans were only rallied by an annoying and repetitive chant of  "U-S-A! U-S-A!" 

The theme for this year's WYD was "Planted and built up in Jesus Christ; Firm in the Faith" (Col 2:7). I think it was a call to remembering where we came from. To remember our roots that are deep in the faith and to stand strong in a world that wants us to suppress and forget the God who loves us. To read more about the connection between Spain and the motto go to this article.

This is the theme song for our pilgrimage.

It was hard for Kelby and I to take ourselves away from home but we grew in many ways. Being together at this international gathering of young people moved our hearts to understand sacrifice and other cultures in general. 

We stayed at a school for most of our trip. The bathrooms were horror movie worthy and the showers were hooked up outside to a garden hose that spewed freeeezing water on both guys and girls... not awkward at all. The $75 floor mats that we were tricked into buying didn't feel much different than the tile floor an inch below but after an exhausting day of navigating through a huge hot city you didn't care much about all that. 

Madrid is full of beautiful old buildings and lots of little parks here and there where you can drop your things and nap in the grass. I was amazed at how hot and dry it was there. We hardly even had much of a temperature drop or breeze at night which meant that showering at night didn't guarantee you a clean body in the morning. 

A few days in, we learned of an "English-speaking pilgrims' home" which was really a giant arena. The important thing is that it was air conditioned, on time, and organized. Along with all those wonderful things, we heard from 3 archbishops from 3 different countries: Australia, Canada, & the "U-S-A!" I don't think it has anything to do with being ethnocentric but I think Archbishop Dolan was the best. You can hear his speech here and you have to go to about 1 hour and 37 min in before you hear him. He is sooo good! But I'm rambling. Go hear him and stop reading this if you want to be blown away. 

So the big question is, "Did you get to see the pope?"

Yes we did. We got to see him for about 30 seconds total. And.It.Was.Great. He exudes holiness and Christ. I mean that quite physically. His skin glows and his countenance communicates nothing but joy and hope. 

It was hard not to push and shove people who were trying to get in front of us because everyone wants a picture and everyone wants to see him. More times than one, I would close my eyes and think of how badly I wanted to get close and then I would think of how much the person next to me wanted to too and that Jesus loved them just as much. Now that sounds like a first grade thought but it got to be cut throat out there. Remember 2 million PLUS people were hoping to get that great spot. 

The most memorable and trying time was our night "under the stars." To most people that might sound almost romantic but don't be fooled. The tradition is to go the day before to the site where the pope will say Mass and camp out. So at noon we went to a big empty airport where hundreds of thousands were already set up for the night. We were completely unprepared for the hot day ahead of us. While most people had tarps and umbrellas we had 2 sheets and our expensive floor mats. I was the genius who wore capris too. I won't say what the Italians were doing to keep cool, but as for me, I got straight to work Castaway style

trying to shield us from the deadly sun. And when I say deadly, I mean it. There were ambulances going back and forth taking fainting people to the EMS tents. I also ripped the capris into shorts because that was just not going to work. This was the result:

It was beyond rudimentary but Kelby was able to nap in it. I used the scraps from my pants to hold the fort together. I think I could be a good engineer. 

Slowly we made friends with some generous tarp-owning Italians who happened to have extras thanks be to God! And a lucky thing that was because when that night of stars arrived, so did the thunder, rain, and lightning that had been absent for the past week. The pope came for a prayer vigil that night and spoke to us through the wind even when his little hat was blown right off his head. We closed the night with adoration and benediction.

Even though we'd been drinking liters and liters of water I had managed not to use the sparse bathroom facilities provided (a few hundred toilets for millions of people). In the morning, Kelby came back from them asking if I needed to go. I thought it might be time. Then he told me that people were waiting for hours and that the sewage was starting to leak out. I chose to follow the 'mind over matter' philosophy and lessened my liquid intake. 

Mass began and 2 million people joined in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti responding at times in many languages and at other times in one Latin voice. You really were able to visualize the "one and catholic (universal)" aspects of the Church. It felt good to be Catholic.

After Mass, the first thing we did was find a restaurant with fresh food and a clean bathroom. I felt like a homeless person washing my face, arms, and legs in this public restroom but that didn't stop me from doing it. We bought tapas and beers from them to show our appreciation.

The food and drinks were hard to describe. On one end, breakfast, we were completely underwhelmed. The school gave us a sugar filled pastry each morning with a sweet fruit juice box and chocolate energy drink. After 2 days like that I learned to go without. They are all about carbs over there. I think I'll be ok never eating a baguette again. However, sangria and tapas were delicious! The tapas are little bread pieces with whatever you can imagine topped on them. They could be sweet or savory.

And now you know MUCH more than you ever wanted to know about our experience in Madrid. The travel was pretty easy thanks to my hubby's wonderful idea of carrying on our luggage. We never had a flight delay or a fast rush to a gate. Customs and security were fine and it just felt darn good to be home.