so much to say, so little time...

hello friends & family! i am going to try to be brief as the doors to the monastery shut for the night in just 15 minutes...

quick recap--i made it to spain on tuesday after a short layover in charlotte, nc, usa and landed in madrid´s barajas airport... landing in madrid actually looked really similar to el paso, tx--dry & mountainous. it was beautiful, too...

immediately i could sense the excitement in the air, almost like an electricity that you could cut with a knife! in the airport alone we met germans, japanese, peruvians, africans... literally, the world Church is coming together to celebrate this joyous occasion!

we took a quick trip to check in to the monastery where we met the other participants of the FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) international conference. austrians, italians, brits, americans, germans, french and of course, an american contingent... all of us youth in age yet maturing in our faith. such a beautiful sight to see the Church in action...

we have been blessed by the staff of FOCUS to have developed this wonderful schedule for the week. we have morning lauds (morning prayer) with the benedictine monks, then an hour of silent prayer, followed by a morning talk, followed by tea time, two more afternoon session-like workshops, then a lunch with siesta (woohoo!), followed by another talk with small group discussion and daily Mass. i seriously could not have chosen a better retreat experience... i almost feel guilty because we have 2 priests here with us to hear confessions any time and to celebrate daily Mass! im'reminded that in many parts of the world, people wait for weeks and months for a traveling priest to visit and bring them the Sacraments... pray for an increase in discernment of vocations!

thatś another thing: iḿ understanding more and more that to discern oneś vocation doesnt necesarily mean that that person will become a priest, nun or religious. part of undertstanding our vocation (calling from God) is figuring out how we can love others the best. for some, it may be the priesthood or religious life. for others, it may be marriage of life as a single person. but, to figure that out we have to spend time getting to know God so that we can hear His voice, guiding us and directing us where to go. i asked friends and family back home for prayer intentions to take with me to world youth day and so many of you asked me to pray for the youth, for increased discernment by our young people and for an increase of vocations... trust me, my friends and i are praying for these intentions daily!

i have been humbled by your willingness to send me your prayer intentions! truly, i know we are called into relationship with one another so that we can better live out our faith--what better example of perfect relationship do we have than the Holy Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, right?--and i am beyond moved that you would take the time to ask me to pray for you and your intentions. the whole Church joins me here in madrid in lifting up you and your loved ones and covering you in Godś grace!

one final thought, especially for the young people back home in the states: i know it is difficult to live a life of virtue, to take the harder road, the one less traveled. i know itś hard to go into our schools, workplaces, and circles of friends and profess our faith. i know itś not popular to have moral certitude based on our belief in Christ. the big, huge, monumental thing i have learned is that WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS STRUGGLE! our brothers and sisters all over the world pray the sign of the cross, genuflect before Christ present in the Eucharist and participate in the Sacraments, too. they struggle to turn the tide of culture in their countries, too. but they are keeping up the good fight and so should we! let us be built up in our faith and resolve to be imitators of Christ especially when itś not popular. we are not alone. =)

we leave tomorrow for a side-trip to walk part of the camino de santiago where weĺl be on silent hours for the day. your prayer intentions will be with me on my journey... please keep me in your prayers, i would so much appreciate it!

iĺl do my best to check-in again once we return to madrid to be with our host families sometime on sunday or monday. til then, please pray for the pilgrims from around the world who are descending on madrid... spanish tv reports estimate that there will be nearly 4 million youth present for this celebration of the faith! pray for safety, pray for conversion and pray for unity.

pax et bonum,
crystal