After around 29 hours of traveling including two flights, three car trips I arrived home ready to share this experience and bring what I learned to life!! All in all it was incredible so hard to put into any other words. I would be more than happy to share more details about anything you might […]

We came back early and returned to the same spot where some of our other friends spent the night on the beach. The Gospel reading was the one that inspired the theme of the event; when Jesus asked his followers to go and be disciples. The Pope told us to be careful not to see […]

Unfortunately the plans got changed due to the rain and flooding at Campus Fidei so the hike and campout were cancelled. All the events were to take place at Copacabana. I was disappointed because it was what I was most looking forward to, but I embraced it like a Pilgrim. The pope was to arrive […]

We returned to Vivo Rio again to enjoy catechesis with Cardinal O’Malley from Boston. He talked about the Mission of WYD. New evangelization is about living the faith at home. It’s harder to grow in faith for us than for those hearing the gospel for the first time. So in our homes, our schools, our […]

We left early in the morning to go Vivo Rio for Catechesis. When we walked in they were already playing music and having a great time. Music was led by Curtis Stephen and Sarah Kroger two people I had heard of before which was very exciting. The catechesis was led by the Archbishop of Brisbane, […]

We got up and got onboard a bus to go visit Corcovado…the Christ the Redeemer Statue. It was absolutely beautiful. Probably the most amazing man made thing I have seen since being in Rome. We took tons of pictures from the train ride up, to the incredible views of Bota Fogo, Copacabana, and Ipanema, to […]

We woke up early to begin our day. Every morning we received a boxed breakfast containing milk, juice, toast, cheese, a muffin, and nutella. As we all gathered we played card games and just enjoyed being together. After lunch we headed into Copacabana. We joined up with other people we had met earlier in the […]

We arrived where we were staying at the Immaculate Conception Church in Bota Fogo. Well the guys did. The girls all stayed with host families. We slept in a classroom building with our sleeping bags on the tile floor. Much more of what I was expecting!! That afternoon I exchanged my money $70–>$150. It was […]

We had a great morning prayer. We sang a bunch of different Brazilian songs. The singer even sang one song in English so our group was standing up singing along with her. During catechism we talked about charity in action. Charity=Love. It was led by this lady who was one of the international presidents of […]