Journey Back...

Ok, we have just successfully returned from the vigil and the Final Mass with the Holy Father. What an amazing time. God is certainly sending us a message. This is our 4th (Katie A, Carrie and I) World Youth Day and for some reason there is miserable weather ONLY on the night of the Vigil. You may have seen in the news that it rained pretty hard around dusk. The winds were also high. Some of us complained, some were silent, and some laughed hysterically, and some even rejoiced. On a side note, there were several people at WYD that we certainly dressed inappropriately, and some of us were thinking that the rain and the wind was God's "put some clothes on" message. :-) Nevertheless, I had talked to the group before we left about "there is no resurrection without the cross and death". Well, there was certainly a cross last night (some were even not felling well, sniffles and coughing). But we trekked through it, and we are now rejoicing in our hearts. Thank you again for all of your prayers. Several of the pilgrims are looking forward to the journey home now.

We leave Spain tomorrow, and head to London for Monday night. Not sure if there is WIFI, and we really don't have much time in London (other than to sleep), so this might be my last update. If you hadn't made arrangements to pick up your pilgrim before we departed, you might want to plan a bit. Our flight to Detroit is Continental CO2396, and we arrive at 7:35pm on Tuesday evening.

Thanks again and God Bless!!!

~BW

Last day of the Festival

Today was the last day of the festival. Another great day. We spent much time in Adoration, Mass, Confession, and Theology of the Body talks (which were excellent, by the way). Nothing much new from the previous 2 days. However, since I have a minute, I'll talk about the comparison of previous World Youth Days.
Carry Your Cross: It seems that no matter who you bring, how well you discern, or what you prepare for, there will be crosses. This WYD is no different. Granted, this WYD experiance has been for the most part "problem free". However, there are daily crosses that we are all called to take up, and if any one decides not to, then it becomes a cross for the group (e.g. 'my legs are sore', 'I'm hungry', 'I don't want to go to that...', etc.). However, in our planning, we had talked about how you can't have the resurrection without the passion and death. This pilgrimage, even through we expected 'smooth sailing', there are undoubtedly challenges for all of us. Thank you for your prayers for helping us get through...
Food: I admit, I was skeptical about the food situation. However, it has impressed me. In past WYD's, you were all (and I mean all 1Million of ya) given the same WYD slop, and we all ate it. It was either eat it or starve. This year, however, Spain had set up an arrangement will almost ALL of the local resturants to accept vouchers for food. So, if you wanted Burger King, you could get Burger King, if you wanted a sandwich and a salad, you could get a sandwich and a salad, and so on. I assumed that the lines for resturants would be extremely long. I was wrong. They have actually been quite small. The unforseen challenge has been now, just the shear option of choice. 1 group of 25 people might all want 3, 4, or 5 different selections. Considering the seas of people, and the strict meeting times, this is a somewhat a new challenge.

That is all for now. Tomorrow is the vigil, so I won't have an update until Monday. Thanks for the prayers, and I hope to see you on TV!!! ;-)

~BW

Yesterday and Today

I will start out by talking about the news media that may have reached you by now. There was a 'supposed' riot at a plaza during WYD yesterday. It was actually at a plaza very near to our hostel (100 yards away). However, none of our group was there at the time. The information that I know about this group, is that (1) their priority is economical (Spanish), and (2) there were joined by other groups that have stances contrary to Catholic. The police were aware of this demonstration, and cleared it out quite quickly. There are about 1.5 million Catholic here, and it sounds like there were about 300 demonstrators. They, quite honestly, are just looking to stir up anger and paint WYD in a bad light in the media outlets, and then use that as a platform for their social cause(s). I heard about 20 people were cared for (bruises and scrapes), but all in all, it was a lousy attempt at pushing a cause. Anyway, as a safety precaution we are sticking to much larger groups (instead of 2-4, more like 10-15), and making sure that a cell phone is with all group at all times. This is not hindering our World Youth Day experience at all, we are just pilgrimaging smarter. No need to worry. ;-)

I digress...
Yesterday, in the morning, as with every WYD, we went to Catechesis. Our Catechesis site is a large stadium (about Joe Louis size; 18-20,000), and the music and reverence is incredible. I have videos, and I'm sure people have pics too (when I get home). Following Catechesis yesterday, we visited a couple of the large Churches in Madrid. Both were beautiful, but it is tough to compare to the Churches of Rome too. From there, we trekked over to Detroit Diocese Mass (@Mikey: Ironically only a few blocks from the Michael Voris event, but no he wasn't there). The Mass was nice. As always, it was nice to see some familiar faces, and to meet our new Bishops. From there, most of us went to the MarianFest, an incrediable gathering of talks and music, just to honor Mary.

Now today, Catechesis was again very nice. After Catechesis, about 1/2 of the group left to get a spot to see the Pope, the other 1/2 stayed with me for a series of talks on Theology of the Body. The talks were mostly headed by Jason Evert (who I am COMPLETELY impressed with), but he was joined by several experts from around the world. I only wish it could've lasted longer. For the Pope-chasers, it sounds like they had some trouble finding the right spot for his motorcade, but finally found a place where the Pope would pass twice!!! Also, Carrie compared (and was completely impressed by) the energy and 'pushing' that was experienced in Toronto when JPII processed. They also experienced a minor miracle... Apparently, we have some semi-claustrophobic people in our group, and naturally that doesn't mix with 'pushing' crowds. I guess Bryan was REALLY getting frustrated. An old priest in the area noticed, and placed the sign of the cross on his forehead and shoulders, and immediately a bubble of space formed around him, until they got through the crowds. GOD BLESS GOD!!!

As always, thanks for the prayers, and support. We are truly experiencing a once in a lifetime experience, and God is working his miracles (like me sneaking in a nap)!!!

God Bless!!!

Whooped

Sorry, I'm zonked tonight. Everyone had a great day!!! We went to Marian Fest, and the Detroit Diocese event. If I get time to post more in the morning, I will, but until then... nighty-night.

~BW

What a Wonderful Day!!!

Today was the Opening Ceremony for WYD (I hope there was some sort of broadcast there at home). Anyway, the international pilgrims are in full-force. The day started out with a Mass in Spanish (a bit difficult to follow, but just as holy, nonetheless). Also, thank God for some of the Spanish speaking pilgrims on our tour, they have been priceless in meeting and getting around.
After Mass, we headed to a 'conference center' (similar to Joe Louis Arena) where we experienced a prayer service with pretty much all of Australia. Following that, in the same arena, there was a concert with an AMAZING family band (http://langelus.info/). Then a presentation by Fr. Robert Barron (http://www.wordonfire.org/). He is a priest that is doing incredible work for the Church, and documenting it all on DVD (we hope to get the DVD's when we get home). After that, a bunch of Friars put on an Amazing Holy Hour. After that, all of our pilgrims certainly opened their hearts more. A handful bee-lined for the Confessional right after.
After that there was the Opening Ceremony, which only a couple of us attended (not me), cause of the crowd(s). The rest of us, watch on tv for a while, then went back to the arena and watched Steve Angrisano, and l'Angelus perform again. That pretty much wrapped up the night. Every one is exhilerated, and I'm really looking forward what the coming days bring. Tomorrow is the Detroit Diocese get-together day, and that's always fun. :-D

Thank you or your prayers, and God Bless!!!

PS: Nicki is 1000 times better. She looks great, and pilgrimed all day long. Thank you for your prayers!!!!

How Could I forget

First of all, thank you for the Anniversary wishes on Facebook. But on that note, Fr. Ben had us renew our vows (actually Katie A. has us renew them. Fr. Ben was just the person who made it happen.). Anyway, we went to St. Peter's square, and renewed them right there in the square, followed by a group rosary, and final Blessing for Carrie and I. It was beautiful. However, they Holy Spirit was quite present, in a very physical way. At the very end of the vows, all of the pidgeons who were perched on the Bascilica took off, flew right over our heads, around the obelisk, and returned to thier same spot. Of course, we were all floored. We were like, "COOL!!!!", or "WOW!!! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES!!!!". The timing was perfect. But it didn't end there. Right after the Rosary, Fr. Ben had us kneel before him, as he gave us a blessing, again, right as he was finishing, the Church Bells of St. Peter started chiming away. It was an out of body experience. Make sure to ask your pilgrims about this when they get home.

Don't forget to check out Toby's pictures:
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/8507094/1/WYD2011?h=448a99

***That's Jared walking Carrie down the aisle at the end of the 8-12 album. :-D

Yea Spain!!!

I have plenty to write about, so here it goes.
Rome: Rome was amazing. The gems of the city, in the Cathedral's and Basilica's, are just absolutely breath-taking. It's almost disappointing that just about all artwork and architecture that has been created in the last century or so, it seems like the artist/architect skimped to get the job done. You would think that as technology has increased and artwork has progressed, you would expect that 'Modern Churches' and modern art to be even more moving and more symbolic, but yet, after seeing the history of Rome, it seems that the past several 100 years has failed us, in the art world. I guess my point is, is that we have all been absolutely moved and inspired of all of the places that we've been. While the Sistine Chapel is very impressive, I think our group is in concurrence that it doesn't compare to the many, many, many other painting, statues, and Churches in the area. Personally, I was VERY moved by the Scavi tour, where we actually saw the bones of St. Peter, lying directly under the Altar of St. Peter's basilica. Not to be too direct, but I can't imagine ANY Non-Catholic taking that tour and not being convinced of the historical and theological truth ONLY found in the Catholic Church. As a HUGE Pope fan, (Successor of St. Peter) I was completely blown away.
I could list all of the 'things' that we saw, and how significant they were to us, however, each 'Religious Thing (relic, statue, painting, etc) all speaks to us differently. I can say though, that our group has been very impressive. EVERY SINGLE CHURCH that we enter into, our pilgrims seek out the Blessed Sacrament, and almost bee-line there, for time of meditation and prayer. I think it has been inspiring to Fr. Ben, and others. In fact, when we arrived in Spain, the tour company's film crew said that we (The Michigan Group) was THE group to follow. I'm getting a little ahead of myself... Anyway, on the last night in Rome, we traveled to Castel Gondolfo (The Pope's Summer Residence), where his gives his Angelicus address every Sunday. It was amazing. It was easily the closest we've ever come to the Pope, not including Pope-mobile drive-by's My guess is that we were about 75 ft. from him (1/2 of a basketball court???). It was very moving, and it was the first taste of the the World Youth Day experience. I think that set the excitement for WYD, which was to follow the following day (today).
So we arrived in Spain last night at about 1am (in bed around 3am, like the blog stated). I think that we are already to dive into the WYD experiance. However, today was an Rest and Relaxation day. I think it really came in handy. Traveling could certainly be stressful, not to mention basically living close quarters (hostels are definitely hotels, think "Annie". Ok, not THAT bad, but definitely not a hotel), and just not getting enough sleep. Fr. Ben gave an excellent homily today about preparing ourselves, and not getting distracted. By the way, we passed out the letter's today, and they seemed to be at the right time. :-)
We said goodbye to Cecelia today (was it was kinda yesterday too). She was only scheduled to be our guide in Rome, but since her responsibility is minimal in Spain, she'll probably be sneeking into our group over the next couple day, and believe me, she's MORE than welcome. We trying to talk her into coming to Detroit for some time. Fr. Ben already promised to cook for her, and she promised to babysit for Carrie and I for a 'date night' YEA!!! I actually get the feeling that she come visit soon, so you'll get to meet her too...hopefully. Anyway, our new tour guide's name is Lissette, and she is also full of energy and life. We haven't seen her a whole lot today, cause some of the travel arrangements with her other group kinda got messed up, I think. However, we'll be spending a lot of time with her tomorrow, and I'm look forward to what she has in store for us.
A couple side notes:
1) Nicole has been spending some time in the hotel, for not feeling well. Michael is taking great care of her. Just please pray for her comfort, so she can make the most of her pilgrim experience.
2) We did have a couple missing pilgrim experiences (no need for concern). Fr. Ben and Bryan (not me, the other one) we lost during the Scavi tour (in the morning), and didn't reconnect with until dinner time. So, Bryan got a private tour of Rome hosted by Fr. Ben. No complaints from him. Also, on the way to dinner a couple nights ago, Elyse and Katie L., weren't down the stairs before the group left for dinner (not their fault), so they were upset for 10-15 minutes, but Super-Cecelia ran back and grabbed them.
Honestly, this has been a wonderful pilgrimage. I couldn't ask for a better group. As I hinted at earlier, Some of our pilgrims were interview for TV (maybe internet tv; I'll give more details, once I get them). Thank you so much for your prayers. I can tell you we are praying like crazy over here.

If you have any specific questions, again feel free to e-mail or facebook me.

~Brian

Viva Espania!!!

We do have Wifi here in Spain. However, it is 3am now and we just checked in. Tomorrow (Monday) is a 'free day' for most of us, so I will be able to give a lengthy update. :-)

1st day in Rome

Unfortunely, we do not have internet access in our new hotel. I will do my best to keep you updated. However, they will probably be short and sweet.

Today was wonderful. Saw the nails of christ, the pillar of scourging, shroud of turin, and more.

Hopefully more later...

~BW

Day 3 (Assisi)

Our last day in Assisi was yesterday, and it was fascinating. St. Clare and St. Francis (of course) are the Saints of the area. It's such an blessing to have the opportunity to walk through the town, pray and the Churches, and try to experience the day-to-day lives that they both had. As a Christian, we are called to imitate Christ, right? But obviously, walking on water, healing the sick, scourging, and crucification sometimes just isn't something that we can relate to. A great way to become more Christ-like is to study the Saints, and it's awesome to have the opportunity to walk the steps of the saints, and try to imagine how real and difficult their lives were, and how their eyes were always focused on Christ.
Again, we had a great day. Lot of walking (and 'yes' I whined) :-). We did have one mix-up. It's a long story, but basically 3 of our rooms (Jared/Bryan/Patrick, Carrie/Me, and April/Elyse/KatieL) were asked to switch to a different part of the hotel, for the sake of another group that really wanted to keep their group closer together. being the super pilgrims we are, of course we said 'yes'. The hotel agreed to move our luggage while we were out. Well, when we got back last night, there was luggage in our new rooms, just not ours! Of course this was concerned, and after about an hour or so of room searching, and totting different luggage around, we all found our own stuff, and all is well.
We also had quite a bit of freetime. So, many of our pilgrim spent time searching through Churches, buying souveniours, and eating gilattos (Italian ice cream). I haven't heard many stories about their adventures yet, but maybe I'll do some asking around today.
Today (Day 4) we leave our hotel at 8am (our time) and head to Rome. Yea!!! It's about a 3 hours ride, and I'm not sure exactly what we have in store for us, but I'm REALLY excited (and Fr. Ben is too), actually I'm sure we all are. Please continue your prayers for us, and they really do help. Again, I do know that we group is spending A LOT of time our their knees.
One last note, I haven't mentioned much about her yet, but our tour guide, Cecilia (from Virginia) is AWESOME, better than we could of expected. Very Catholic, very nice, and very small (smaller than Katie L. small). ;-) It's nice to hear her stories about her family (family of 14) and she loves hearing our stories of faith. Carrie and Fr. Ben has decided that we are going to adopt her (free babysitting!!!), as well as a super nice seminarian, Christopher (from Texas), from another group in our hotel. They both seem ok with the idea too. Yea!!! :-)
That is all for now. I wish there was some more drama or funny stories to share, but honestly, they trip is going flawlessly, and better than expected. Now, since we are moving to Rome today, I have no idea of the internet options. Just trust that I am making my best effort to keep you updated. Thank you and God Bless!!!!

~BW

Pictures

Here are some of the pics that I took (see below).

Toby is also uploading them here.
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/8507094/1/WYD2011?h=448a99
I would start checking this website for photo updates too.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. They are greatly appreciated and felt. Know that we are praying for all of you.

~BW

On a side note, Fr. Ben speaking Italian is both kinda surrealistic, and yet quite helpful...














St. Rita













"Lower" Assisi













Airport, waiting forever for my guitar, cause I was looking in the wrong spot. Oops...













Our rookie and her travel buddy, Amanda. Grace, you'll be happy to know that Jackie has also kinda taken Katie under her wing... :-)

Ah, Viva ITALIA!!!!

We made it!! If you are looking for any bad news, well, there isn't!!! This trip has started off better than one could of expected. The plane ride was great (even our rookie flyer, Katie L, was cool as a cucumber after the initial takeoff). It was kinda bumpy, a few queezy tummy's, but nothing 'substantial'. Everyone ate, slept, and pretty much just 'got though' the plane ride. The only mistake we made was the math. Our first day started as soon as we landed @ 8am (that's 2am your time, grumble, grumble). However, I have seemed to be nominated the 'whiner' of the group, so it can't possibly be 'that' bad. ;-) Believe me, it's rough, actually mostly stinky, but we certainly have a group of troopers.
I must say, I am COMPLETELY moved by the groups demeanor. We are super-Catholic, and proud. WE got compliments on our Mary shirts, even the tour guide, Cecilia (from a family of 14 kids) is impressed with us. We visited St. Rita's Shine, where her incorrupt body is shown. Amazing. Just about everyone took time at the stautes, painting, relics, etc, a time for prayer, reflection, or maybe just a good question.
Tomorrow we head to St. Francis and St. Clare's Basilica's. I am equally excited about the praying that we will be doing there, as we did today.
We also had Mass in a chapel in the hotel. Another smaller group (13 ppl from TX) joined us. That was also very nice. We FINALLY got a good meal in this evening. hopefully, tomorrow's pace will be much more conducive to regular meals and water.
I will try to post some pics after I finish typing this, but on par with most WYD trips, the internet is 'spotty' at best.
I'm not sure if any of you were looking for an update or 'check in' from your pilgrim(s), but everyone is having a GREAT time, and so far there is nothing to worry about. If you send me an e-mail, I can try to get a message to your pilgrim.
I should have another update tomorrow, as we are in this hotel one more night, but in Rome, we'll just have to wait and see. God Bless!!!!
~Brian

Rome Sweet Home

Hello WYD'ers and family/friends. I will be updating this location with journals entries and pics (if possible) during our WYD venturing. So keep this link (http://wyddetroit.blogspot.com/) bookmarked and once we leave, keep checking daily.

Thank you and God Bless!!!

~BW