A Page Turner…

By Carolyn Sharkey

I have so much to do. Pack for school, pack for Madrid, write letters to my professors explaining why I will be gone, and arrange for my friends to move me in to my dorm. My sister kept urging me to write a blog — to me it was just another thing to do.  Though I may not like saying that my sister was right, she’s right. I haven’t had many moments to really sit down and think about my faith.

I only opted in to going to Madrid in mid-summer; I always thought of WYD as something my sister was into. Though I have gone to Catholic schools all of my life, I haven’t really been the most active Catholic, I have had an amazing education based on my religion, but the Catholic Church has always seemed a bit archaic to me. The fact that so many young people are getting together to celebrate their faith has started to make me think differently about it — maybe there is something there that I am not seeing. I pray that WYD turns a new page for me on my faith; that I can start to connect with my church and my God and take a few days to forget about all of the things I have to do back home. I have got my faith to worry about!

Count Down

Then and Now….

By Taylor Mitchell

World Youth Day was something that I decided to go to, to help me decide my faith in Jesus Christ. My first WYD was in 2008, Sydney, AUS.  I wasn’t Catholic so I was unsure how I would process this sort of experience. Just in our group alone you could see the many different levels of faith. You then combine us with over 100′s of thousands of people just like us, you are able to see the light of Jesus Christ. We all there for the same reason which sends these chills through me because me and 500 thousand people share this one thing. I’ve never felt so united, so…. connected with people I’ve never even met before.

This year, I know this experience is going to be different than my first WYD. I am now a baptized Catholic Christian so now I am able to feel more connected with my group and with the people of the world. My only hope is that I go in this with an open heart and mind. I know I will get so much out of this experience and I hope that my group will too.

 

 

“Don’t worry, I’m Here…”

By Ellie Sharkey

It’s funny the way God works in our lives. He seems to give us what we need at the times when we need it, it’s like He’s tapping on our shoulder or whispering in our ear saying, “don’t worry, I’m here.”

Well World Youth Day came at a time when I needed it most. I have been really making an effort to find God and seek a relationship with him. Watching my friends get ready to go to WYD in Madrid I was bummed I couldn’t join them. I had traveled to WYD Koln in 2005 and had amazing experiences. I really felt like WYD was something I needed. Well God tapped on my shoulder in mid-June with a phone call from our leader, Kelly. Saying the group had a last minute spot to fill, and I was in luck! Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for this opportunity. I feel excited and blessed to be taking a journey that will lead me deeper into my relationship with Him!

I want to leave you with a video. Everyone who knows me will laugh when they see this. I watch this almost every single day. It really gets me fired up about going! So here is 26 years of World Youth Day, hope you get goose bumps like I do every time I watch it!