There is no better way to begin a morning than to sit down on the couch with a priest who you also have known before he became a priest so you consider him to be a friend and he hears you talk about the need to find Acedopholis pills because you are taking antibiotics. Now, if you are a woman you should know what Acedopholis is (it’s a probiotic)…because if you have to take antibiotics you know that it is helpful to prevent some very uncomfortable side effects of taking the antibiotics. I’ll leave it at that. Did Fr. TJ? NO…”No, Shannon, really. What is it for? Why are you taking the antibiotics?” Well, I didn’t want to tell him about THAT either but he insisted. 🙁 Ugh…so to keep this ‘clean’ (ha ha, no pun intended)…I will say that I have the Spain’s version of Montazuma’s Revenge (Don’t Drink The Water In Mexico…same goes for Spain instead it’s Don’t Eat The Tapa’s!) 😉 So I came right out and told Fr. TJ what was going on and for those of you who know Fr. TJ the BOY erupted from within and he goes into telling me his own stories from when he actually was in Mexico and what it did to his intestinal track….NICE. LOL
Please do pray for one of our pilgrims, Candice, who is not only suffering with a little bout of the big D she is running high fever and we are calling in a doctor to come look at her now. They don’t have clinics they way we do in the US, instead you either go to the hospital (which is crazy now when there are an extra almost 2 million young people here) or you call a doctor in. Pray she gets well soon. And pray get past my issues and don’t get what she has!!! 🙁
To catch you up on where we’ve been and what we’ve done, on our way to Avila we took a detour to and had Mass at a Monastery that was way off the beaten path but very important to Spain. it is where they found their language (but interesting enough I can’t seem to remember the name of it… 🙁 ). After MUCH driving (and MUCH car sickness …I am not good on buses on narrow roads that curve up and down mountains) we made it to Avila. On the outskirts of the gated city is St. Therese’s convent where she lived and experienced her ‘ectasy’s’. Also, St. John the Cross had many relics and artifacts shown in the convent as well. I was very excited to get to see this amazing place but I will say I was a bit disappointed with the tour guide. He was clearly only interested in telling us the ‘facts’ but would roll his eyes when talking about the things that St. Therese had seen or what St. John the Cross did. He skipped over explaining many things we would have found very interesting and fascinating. He had an attitude issue. On the walk through the gated city (the city is hidden behind a brick fortress) I asked him point blank, ‘You don’t believe in what St. Theresa saw do you?” I think I stunned him with my forthright ways… he stuttered a bit and then said, “Um no. I will talk with you later.” Then avoided me like the plague. By the time he showed us the chapel of St. Therese where there was a painting of the moment Jesus came off the cross and spoke to her handing her a nail that had once pinned him to the cross the tour guide made a point to be more ‘exuberant’ with his explanation. Please don’t think I was judging him…I wanted to have the conversation because he was very ….how shall I say…. arrogant in the way he was ‘guiding’ us that day. He enjoyed the history of the places but the ‘religious’ part you could clearly tell he was not impressed by.
That evening we all went out and watched Barcelona vs. Madrid Fotball (soccer) and called it an early evening. The next morning I went jogging with a few others from our group and for the first 20 minutes I hung in there like a champ…it was all downhill. 🙂 The scenery was AMAZING… God’s is so creative with his landscapes to make them so different in each country. Once we started our way back though it was UP HILL and my chest fell like lead, my head pounded and cut it short once I knew my way back to the hotel.
Before we departed Avila we had the great honor of having Mass to celebrate the Feast Day of the Annunciation in Chapel of St. Therese. Marco (the seminarian with us) was most excited because he got to do incense and he made sure there was plenty!
This is probably one of the greatest gifts on this trip is being able to celebrate Mass in places that have held the Eucharistic celebration for centuries past.
After Mass we were on our way to Madrid! Thank GOD for our tour guide, Yolanda, who has been with us all week because she took care of everything! This was the first trip I did for a WYD that I had the tour guide take me directly to the registration area, help me get the backpacks, etc. She did beyond what she was called to do. Best tour guide ever and I do believe she was a little blessing for me from God.
Best part of it was with her is she and I ended up talking a lot about faith. She was raised Catholic but does not practice the faith anymore, yet she was just married two months ago to a man who is Catholic as well. They got married in a monastery! Can you imagine? She showed me the pictures, it was gorgeous! You know my ways, I slipped in the fact I worked with Catholics Returning Home and the conversation got started. I don’t push or pry ( I promise!!) so who knows what God had intended but at any rate it was worthwhile for me to learn more and get into the thoughts of another’s point of view. 🙂
Now we are settled in Madrid. THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE HERE and it hasn’t even begun! They are projecting almost 2 million people!!! The opening Mass is tonight and then it is music, talks, adoration, etc all over the Madrid area. The group we have is AWESOME and everyone is making the most of this trip both spiritually and in experiencing the culture and I am so blessed to be a part of this great group of people.
Thank you for your prayers and every day we are praying for you!
Blessings
Shannon