Apostleship of Prayer

One of my favorite experiences was during Holy Hour our last night at Lorelei. The pilgrims became the Wise Men on

their way to meet the Lord as they walked through the campground singing "Laudate Omnes Gentes." While the clouds parted and stars lit a path, it seemed as though God was peering down to watch the procession Himself; He couldn't take His eyes off us.

I was shown that I need to make every day a pilgrimage right where I am. I was shown that THIS is what it means to really live the morning offering prayer and to be devoted to Jesus' Sacred Heart--it's not just mumbling a few words, half asleep, every morning. Rather, it's asking Jesus to give me the strength to live EVERY breath for Him--EVERY day just as if I were back in France or Germany.

I recall the amazing Holy Hours held at Lorelei in which our American Jesuits played a key role. Especially remarkable was the first night in which the number of adorers grew from just a few--mainly members of our group at first--until the entire tent was filled to capacity. I have never felt so intensely the "catholicity" of the Church; it seemed at that moment that the whole world was gathered in among and by our Eucharistic Lord. I also recall the graces of the beautiful Mass that we celebrated in the apparitions chapel at Paray-le-Monial in which we had the opportunity to consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart--to connect our hearts to Christ's in the very location that He revealed this very dimension of His divine life.

I learned the value of community on this pilgrimage. We all have to eat, all 6.5 billion of us here on earth, we all need a place to sleep, we all need to get where we're going, we all need to clean ourselves, and we all need to nourish our souls. As we discovered, even among Catholics, different people nourish their souls in different ways.. He revealed His Sacred Heart, the heart that burns so brightly and loves so deeply a world that turns away. But one million youth from around His world gathered for just one week to say that we know He's there, we know He's in charge and we know that we have a responsibility to carry His message to the world.

While seeing the thousands of people raise shouts of joy for our Holy Father was an experience in itself, I will never forget Adoration at Lorelei, Germany. In a quiet circus

tent, people of all nations gathered to worship the Lord in song. But when the unexpected fireworks began and people's curiosity caused them to leave, a sense of rejection and sorrow overcame me, and I began to cry. I tried to hold back the tears, not knowing why I was crying. Moments later I realized my heart had finally been one with Christ's. I had experienced a small dose of the sadness he feels when people neglect his loving and most Sacred Heart.

Paradoxically, Jesus drew me closer to His Sacred Hearth through the "suffering" I encountered through the lack of daily conveniences, comforts and luxuries of my upper-middle class existence. Surprisingly, I have never felt so free or so full of joy! Released from the materialism, isolation induced by technology, and sense of personal control that pollutes my everyday life allowed me to encounter Christ in a much deeper way. Now that I am back home, I continue to fight against the restlessness my heart pulsates with when I find myself back in the middle of our superficial culture. I carry with me the truth and freedom I experienced on the physical pilgrimage to WYD and try to apply it, each day, to this pilgrimage of earthly existence.

God's greatest gift to me was my time with Him in the adoration tent at Lorelei. During our pilgrimage I experienced many feelings of fear, insecurity and sadness, and my greatest relief was in the hour I spent in front of the Eucharist. I felt God's love more strongly during this time than any other experience, and when I opened my heart and told Him everything I felt and thought, I could tell that He already knew. I felt like God was saying, "Rest, just rest." This hour reassured me that God did in fact love and care for me, and this unconditional love had been there even in difficult times when I could not find it, or had been caught up in my own despair of ever "deserving" it.

Once we had finally settled down, the moments of silence before the Exposed Eucharistic Heart of Jesus provided an oasis of peace amidst an action-packed situation. These moments were amazingly peaceful and intense at the same time. I was so grateful to just be there and breathe in our Lord in the silence. Never before have I been so grateful

for moments of silence with Jesus. Our Lord was telling me: "See how easy I am? Why do you worry about so much?" I sat there and reviewed all that we had seen and experienced in Paris, Paray-le-Monial, and Taize. I began to see those three places offering us unique graces which culminated in that temporary tent on a hill overlooking the 'pilgrim village' at Lorelei. Indeed, God can be met in sacred shrines, but God is also profoundly with us on the road. He is with us in all the events and people we meet along the way; He is with us in beautiful ancient chapels as well as in the temporary 'chapels' where we meet the Eucharistic Christ. He is truly 'food for the journey,' and can be met, consoled, adored, and loved in amphitheaters, subways, streets, school hallways, holy shrines, circus tents, huge basilicas, noisy fields, or airport hallways. Our God is truly an awesome God!

When we were at Paray-le-Monial I could literally feel the peace and grace of Jesus' Sacred Heart, and the message of his abundant mercy definitely came through. The painting there of Jesus appearing to St. Margaret Mary with his heart glowing has been on my mind and provides me with a lot of confidence that He is dying to pour out his mercy and graces on me (and all of us) if I (and we) just trust in it.