CONTEMPLANZAS

Since returning to the States from World Youth Day in Lisbon, I've been pummeled with questions. Genuinely sincere questions I believe, especially from people who've never been. How was it? Who did you meet? What did you eat? What moved you the most? Did you come back changed? I find myself struggling to answer sometimes because WYD is such a multi-sensory experience that is impossible to summarize in only a few words. Still, I would have to say that two events stand out in my mind: The Opening Mass and the Welcome Ceremony for Pope Francis. Ironically, these were the two events that I didn't attend during my last World Youth Day experience in Krakow, so maybe that had something to do with it. In a nutshell, one lives each WYD differently and this was especially true given that I went with a group organized by the Augustinians of the Assumption (a male Catholic religious order) this time around versus traveling solo the first time. There are pros and cons to both, but howev...