Hi Everyone,
My name is Marla and I am from the Cathedral Parish.
World Youth Day 2011 was my first pilgrimage and it was an incredible experience.
Everything from the people and the places to the food and the culture was amazing.
Each place we visited held different things to be discovered – sometimes about myself or my faith and sometimes about other people in the group.
Some of the highlights for me were the Scavi Excavations, which were just mind-blowing, the awesome atmosphere of the Australian Gathering in Madrid, spending time in the peacefulness of Assisi, climbing up and over and on things to get a glimpse of the Pope from Retiro Park and the many, many laughs and special moments that were had with the fantastic people in our group.
I have been lucky enough to be a tourist many times but being a pilgrim is definitely a different experience altogether. I don’t think I fully appreciated what the difference was before we left, but being a pilgrim has had a very strong impact on me in ways which a tourist experience could never achieve.
Before we left Rachelle taught us Matt Maher’s song ‘Alive Again’ and the words really moved me the first time we listened to it but they have even more meaning now. It was one of the songs we sang on the bus (some times far too early in the morning!) and I would often catch myself thinking of the lyrics as we went along. The chorus says ‘You called and You shouted, broke through my deafness, now I’m breathing in and breathing out, I’m alive again’. I think those words really sum up my feelings around our pilgrimage – I’m alive again.
I feel very blessed to have had such a wonderful, inspiring experience and to have been able to share it which such fabulous people.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers – they were certainly answered!
Marla
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