Day Freaking One

The most fantastic thing about this Not Yet World Youth Day – and really any Catholic event – is the people you meet. On the plane ride over we met a beautiful woman named Katie. She teaches bilingual speech therapy in a public school, situated in a very poor area. Obviously, as a public school teacher, it is illegal for her to share her faith to the children she teaches, to try and help them through their poverty and broken homes. But equally as obvious, as a Catholic she wants to. She came across a booklet entitled The Father Speaks to His Children, and it changed her life, to the point that she had to share with her classes, for she knew they needed it. So she told her students that, technically, it is not illegal to receive the booklet if you receive it outside of school hours. So – and I gave her a link to this site so she can give the full details in the combox – she brought a stack to her class before school, and every child came and got one. And their lives were changed. They were given hope. They, so many of who went without dads, received the words of a Father. Awesome or what?

But there’s a feeling in the air over the Atlantic, and it’s hard to explain. It’s the feeling that the walls of social and political correctness are crumbling in Madrid. The faith is pouring into the city. Our friend Nick Redmond has already collected prayer intentions from bartenders, invited a waitress back to the sacrament of Reconciliation, and had a discussion with a young boy about the existence of God in the airport. And we who are limited by language are planning on praying a rosary in the street tonight, a rather universal statement. In the word’s of Boromir: “This city was once the jewel of our kingdom. A place of light, and beauty, and music. And so it shall be once more! Let the armies of Mordor know this: Never again will the land of my people fall into enemy hands. The city of Osgiliath has been reclaimed. For Gondor!”

That’s what it is. We are reclaiming the city. We are reclaiming the world. They choose the location for the World Cup based mostly on how able a city is to host it. They choose the site for World Youth Day based on how unable the city is to host it, spiritually speaking. Australia has been revived. Spain, which has for so long now been a stronghold of secularization, is next. Look for my next post soon! And hey, let me know, do you want more a travel log type of thing from me, or will the videos do that well enough?