Are We There Yet?...

I barely have any words to describe our adventure from Rome to Madrid to Cintruenigo (our Days in the Diocese town). Challenging doesn't begin to illustrate the emotional, physical, spiritual and social stress everyone experienced in the 22 hours it took us to complete.

The day began with our group of 96 departing on two flights from Rome to Madrid. The first group left at 6am and the 2nd group (my group) left at 11am. Both groups made it to the airport with luggages in tow unhitched, except with a minor 1hour delay in flights. Easy. I know that from my previous WYD experience, a 1hour delay is nothing to fret about.

When we have delays in flights, most of our schedule gets pushed further back in our destination spot. In Madrid, we were scheduled to arrive at 5 and meet the other group, and then have Mass nearby for 6pm, then take a 3.5h bus ride into our Days in the Diocese host town of Cintruenigo where our parish families prepared a welcoming fiesta for us. Arrival was expected at 11pm.

Unfortunately the airports were a mess that day and a few of our pilgrims had missing luggages. The pilgrims were hungry, and we advised them to bring a lot of snacks on the bus, but they wanted a real meal. We had to get to Cintruenigo, and we had to go to mass. We were still welcomed at St. Paulo Apostole parish in Madrid near the airport and we attended an authentic Spanish mass with Bishop McGrattan as the main celebrant (in spanish!!) and Fr. Edwin Galea provided a really beautiful and concise message in his homily about St. Laurence and what it means to die to onesself during pilgrimage in order to bear many fruits of the spirit.

Needless to say, many pilgrims were uncomfortable, most of them not realizing that their social outings the night before had a huge detriment to their physical exhaustion of the day and were not their usual selves. All of us were approaching our limits and needed to acquire that extra grace from God to get through it. Arriving at Cintruenigo after 2am, it was approx 2:30am.... we were uncertain as to whether the festivities were still going to happen. BBM messaging between the town coordinators and us ensured us that we would not go without homes. The families had the option of letting us sleep on the gym floor for tonight, but they insisted that they patiently keep vigil until we arrived. What a blessing!! Most of these families had to work this morning, and we were so grateful for their patience and generosity.

We arrived in Cintruenigo with the entire town waiting for us... a police escort to lead our busses in, a welcoming party when we unloaded our bags and the rest of the families waiting in the church square with tonnes of food, our WYD backpacks and open arms. It was a beautiful night under the stars, much joy and fiesta and yet, it was after 3am! All I can say is that the Lord God can move mountains and he certainly did after yesterday´s travels. My heart felt like a ballooon that was filling with air too quickly, like it was bursting with tears, and many other pilgrims felt the same way. Lots of rejoicing, hugs, celebration until we finally collapsed into our beds around 5am.

I am so grateful for the town of Cintruenigo... it is surreal to finally have arrived here, and I am certain things can only get better..... we have arrived at Days in the Diocese and Praise Be to God that we are all safe and healthy. I pray that the pilgrims take something away from yesterday´s struggles and cling to the joy we experienced so early this morning.

I am offering up all my struggles and joy for all who read this travel blog, and in Jesus´ name we will be reunited in a few weeks time. May the Lord Bless You and Keep You.