My Grace Filled Life

I just wanted to share with you my experience at World Youth Day in Madrid Spain this year. I was raised Catholic, but like most people, I never understood my faith. We went to Mass most Sundays, and of course on Easter and Christmas but faith never had any meaning to me outside of the obligatory church attendance. In my early 20s, my friend got me involved with the young adult group in our parish. They were preparing to travel to Spain for World Youth Day. I had never heard about the event before, but it was an affordable way to go to Spain for two weeks, so I jumped right in! From the start, this was all it was for me. A trip to Spain. When we arrived, the first thing we did was attend the opening Mass in Cibeles Square. After that it was as if the flood gates of grace opened up. It was non-stop after that, we meet up with people from all over the world, people my age who were excited to be in Spain because of their faith. The discussions that we had were amazing and for the first time, I am beginning to grasp the beauty and excitement of our faith that everyone here seems to have. I know I still have a lot to learn, but now I know there is so much more to our faith than just showing up for Church twice a year! Thank God for this wonderful event and for all the people who work so hard on it!