Esta es la juventud del Papa!

I woke up to a sunrise on the sand of Copacabana Beach. Some of us ran to the street where Pope Francis was about to drive through to get to the main stage. The excitement among all of us standing there was amazingly great! We jumped up and down and started chanting, "Esta es la juventud del Papa!" as Pope Francis got closer to us. There I stood waving my hand as if I was waving to a long-time friend. I felt as if he looked at me. As soon as I saw him so close, I thought of how great our God is. He sent his only Son as a humble man to die for our Sins, what a merciful God! And now, God himself leads this church through the Holy Spirit that illuminates Pope Francis.

He Loves Us First

Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley gave Catechesis today and it was amazing. The way people can tell we are disciples is if we demonstrate it through our actions. If we love one another the way that God loves us, we can show the world that special love we have, fellowship, and paternity among each other. The special love we have is the love from God, whom loves us first. Cardinal O'Malley shared a story of a man who lived in a beautiful house on a mountain. One day, he stood outside his house looking down at the beach where people played on the sand. He saw a huge and dangerous wave coming that would surely wipe all his neighbors off the beach. He waved his arms and screamed in attempts to rescue his neighbors, but he was too far. So he set his house on fire. Everyone on the beach saw the beautiful house on fire, but not everyone cared. Some of the neighbors hesitated to run up the mountain and help and others didn't bother at all. The few neighbors that ran up the mountain to help, were the ones saved from the huge wave. When the Vincentians in Los Angeles help the homeless on the streets, we aren't only helping them, we are helping ourselves. We are sharing this special love with them, and trying to make disciples. 

Book suggestion from Cardinal O'Malley: "How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice"

Rise Up and Dance!

As we made our way on the sand of Copacabana Beach, music that filled our spirits played loudly. The beach was crowded with youth groups from all over the world, everyone was dancing. The band's name playing was Rex Band. They are a Catholic group all the way from India. How amazing to know that our Catholic brothers and sisters are everywhere, even in a country where 1 billion people claim Hinduism. God is glorious and he has given us this opportunity through Pope John Paul II to gather on World Youth Day and witness His amazing inspirations among all of us. 

Shine on me

All the Vincentians boarded about twenty busses that transported us from Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro. As the busses drove behind one another deeper into the city, more and more Vincentians got off the bus. Then there was us, Sister Christian's group. Our hostel is walking distance from the beach. When I entered my new room, I couldn't help but feel so privileged. La Ciudad de Los Ninos in Belo Horizonte is so humble, and my room there was nothing like the one I'm in now. The Vincentians have done great things in Belo Horizonte, but our love for God is infinite, so our service for the poor is infinite too.

We went to mass in the evening, and I gotta tell you, this city is full of the spirit. There are people from all over the world that have come to celebrate with Pope Francis, who arrived earlier today. Random people on the streets see us walking in our Vincentian gear, waving our World Youth Day and USA flag and they shout out "papa!" They know we've traveled thousands of miles to join Pope Francis, they can see our excited faces, they can feel the same grace of God that we feel in our hearts. It's amazing.

mass in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil