Holiness in a parking lot

World Youth Day has officially begun and we are joined by Mike, Amina, Zulma, Jessica and Ana! Yesterday was the Opening Mass with Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, and 150,000 of our fellow pilgrims. Today was the first of our catechetical sessions and Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ (the first Jesuit Archbishop) spoke about our call to follow the Holy Spirit. When asked how we can try to be more holy in our daily lives--meaning after the WYD high fades and we return to "real life"--he said that we should strive for "sanctification in the midst of our world." This is very much the Ignatian idea of "finding God in all things" and looking for God in our daily lives, regardless of what we are doing at the time.

As I was thinking about this, I couldn't help but think back to yesterday's opening Mass. There we were--standing in what was, as far as I can tell, a giant parking lot surrounded by fences, people talking, laughing and singing, and a half dozen jumbo-trons--smack dab in the middle of a Mass with what seemed like a thousand priests, bishops and cardinals. On the one hand it seemed so ordinary and so secular (I was standing next to a big trash can). On the other hand it was amazing to see so many young people gathered together by a common faith and for the common purpose of worshiping God. It seemed like the perfect example of what Archbishop Prendergast was talking about when he said we should strive for holiness no matter where we are or what we are doing.

With all that has been going on so far, we can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!
-Lauren G

Jay's Pontotoc Perspective

Monday, July 14

Service. It is a word that connotes giving, yet somehow I receive so much more than I feel I give each time I undertake it. Today, twelve eager young Chicagoans set out into the Mississippi heat to understand how “service” works in the world of construction. We quickly learned that our respective job/leadership skills take a back seat to the superior knowledge of some gifted and dedicated “Pontotocans”, who demonstrated the virtues of perseverance, patience and understanding from sun up to sun down. They un-bent nails, sawed off edges, and gave countless instructions to us. The work was intense to be sure. But the dominant feelings in our muscles this evening is not fatigue (though present too), but instead one of accomplishment, community, and joy.

We turned an open cement plank into four complete walls, part of a roof, and several painted cabinets. But more importantly we laughed, we helped, we built, we encouraged, we listened, we prayed, and we loved. Some call this giving, but as I sit here tonight, I feel like a just opened a great big present. Thank You God for a wonderful day.

Jay M.

Day of Gathering

Sunday, July 13

Good to hear from our friends in Sydney; what a powerful experience. As to the heat - it's only been in the lower 90s here. We'd gladly trade you for a chilly evening!

Sunday broke bright and early for us as we headed off to St. Christopher Church for 8:00am Mass. The 200 parishioners had heard we would be arriving this week - our brand new friend Carolyn even volunteered to take us all out to breakfast after Mass! So we had food for the soul and food for the journey from our friends at St. Christopher.

Fr. Tim Muphy helped us put our upcoming week into perspective. Today's Gospel shares the parable of the sower and seeds - but rather than focusing entirely on how the seed of the Word falls on different types of people, Fr. Tim shared with us that "not everything small is beautiful, but everything beautiful is small." That particulary resonated with us today as we talked about painting cabinets and putting up walls at our Habitat House; even though what we are doing is small, it is beautiful, and part of a larger beauty.

After breakfast, we headed of to Ole Miss to check out the campus, stadium and the home of William Faulkner. Later, our site manager Keith, his wife Linda, granddaughter Katie, and Barbara and Wayne hosted us for a fantastic home-cooked meal - complete with the best sweet tea. All of us are excited to get to the site tomorrow and put in our contribution to the beauty that is this project.

A side note to all you Pontotoc Veterans out there - the newest street in the subdivision has been named after Brother Joe!

More authors will share soon!

Lauren B.

Longest Commute Ever

Saturday, July 12

Neither rain, nor wind, nor heat nor state troopers could keep us from our destination! All 12 of us (finally) made it down to Pontotoc in 12 hours - which we think is the record for Longest Trip Ever.

Personally, I enjoyed the ride. After all the time put into planning and getting ready to leave (Did I pack the right clothes? Do I have the right directions? Will my cats be OK? Did I have the right keys? Do I have this, that, the other thing?) it was actually quite nice to have the time and space to think about what lies ahead of us for the week.

Immediately upon arrival, our friends Mickey, Patrick, Wayne and Barbara met us at First Baptist and welcomed us back like long lost friends. We were touched at how thankful they were that we had come; but what really struck me at the end of the day was that Mickey said he was thankful for the opportunity to pray with us. To be able to be thankful for the chance to honor God with someone else, whether someone you've known your whole life or met 5 minutes ago, seemed like a wonderful state of mind. As we reflected together in evening, to feel so wanted was a great way to start our time in Pontotoc.

Gratefully,

Lauren B.

A Report from Down Under

At this point, hopefully LB and company are safely Down South in Mississippi. My guess is that they are INFINITELY warmer than we are since the Australians don't believe in heating their buildings in the winter. Despite the very cold nights, we've been having a wonderful time at the Ignatian Gathering here at Riverview reconnecting with our experiment group and with others.

Today was a day for networking and finding out what ministries are going on for people in their 20s and 30s all around the world. I was simultaneously amazed at how much similarity and how much diversity there is in young adult ministry internationally. We shared how important it is to build a community where people feel welcome and empowered to live out their faith. I also learned about the ways that different cultures view the term "young adult" and how that impacts the type of programs they offer. It also amazed me that people from other countries had already heard about Charis and the work that we are doing. We even got a shout out from Fr. Dave of the London Jesuits. I had over a dozen people ask me afterwards if they could talk more about Charis' ministries and how they could adapt them to their country. It was definitely inspirational as we prepare to leave the Ignatian Gathering and join with the rest of the group from the Archdiocese of Chicago tomorrow afternoon.

-Lauren G.

Finding God in Daily Life

Today was the first day of the Ignatian Gathering in Sydney, to celebrate the end of Magis and prepare for the start of World Youth Day on Tuesday. It has been brillant catching up with all of our friends from our Experiment group and seeing what other groups have been up to in other parts of Australia, Cambodia, Phillipines, and Indonesia.

This afternoon, the World Youth Day cross and icon arrived at St. Ignatius Riverview College, where we are staying. At first I wasn't sure what to expect, but this gorgeous piece of wood with its simple stain was very beautiful and powerful, especially during tonight's vigil. We had an opportunity to venerate the cross prior to dinner and the skits representing our Magis group's experience. After the evening of praise & worship music and the various exciting and entertaining presentations, all the pilgrims were invited to participate in a simple vigil service with the cross.

It was one of the first experiences on this trip to sit in silent meditation and be present to the Lord, and I found it very peaceful and healing. It is amazing, as others have shared this week and tonight, how easy it is to be distracted in our daily lives and to miss the glaringly obvious graces of God and signs of his love and mercy. We get focused on the logistics, the details, the plans - we get caught up in our own desires and our own needs and our own wants and our own ideas of how things are supposed to be and where our attention is supposed to be focused. But here it was, right in front of our face, and even in the early part of tonight it was difficult to focus on it. It was difficult to make God the center of our life and attention, even for a short period of time. I think for many of us, that will be the challenge we continue to pray on throughout the week and beyond World Youth Day.

I know this was a bit heavy for a blog, but the spirit of the moment called and asked me to write it down. Don't worry, we still had a variety of random laughter and singing once the rest of our group arrived today, including stories involving fast food, dreams with singing, and more.

Slainte,
Briana

Down Under vs Down South (LG vs LB)

Who needs a whole 'nother continent to have a good time? Sure, Lauren G, Briana & Crew are jetsetting around Australia as part of the Pope's peeps. But even better than that - Lauren B, Dave & Company are off on a good ol' fashioned ROAD TRIP. You guessed it, it's time for Charis' Annual Service Trip!

Dave and I are excited to hit the road with Paul, Blair, Karen, Clete, Chris, Dania, Lindsey, Jay, Tim and Brian. Dave is a seasoned veteran of Charis Service Trips, while this will be my inaugural visit to the fine state of Mississippi. We're off to Pontotoc, Mississippi to build houses with Habitat for Humanity. Working with each other by day and staying with our friends at the First Baptist Church of Pontotoc by night, we hope our time away will give us space to reflect on our service, our faith and ourselves.

Aside from the physical and spiritual benefits of laboring for others, I'm hoping for some great food. Bet you can't get good grits in Sydney! Check back for more update and pics as we become "contemplatives in SERIOUS action."

Lauren B.