There really is no way for me to sum up the entirety of the trip with a neat little bow on top. But rather, if I had to think about this through the lens of Courageously Living the Gospel, I’d say there were a few occasions that I was blessed to be able to do this. While small, they bolstered my faith.  

One of the first things I realized upon arriving in Italy for the Jubilee (Jubilee of Youth), was the duality of my experience as I traveled: comfort and worry. On the one hand, I felt very comfortable spiritually as a Catholic in a predominantly Catholic country. That’s not to say that being a Catholic in the U.S. is uncomfortable, but I never had to second-guess myself when running over to the next church or chapel (which always felt just around the corner), praying out in the open, and even getting to know complete strangers knowing that they too were pilgrims on a journey. But on the other hand, I found myself always unsure of many things. I worried about communicating with people where there were major language barriers, how I would get back to meetup locations, how to navigate crowded areas, and hoping I wouldn’t become the next victim of theft (clenching tightly to all those new third-class relics!). Often, I found myself worrying about things that at the end of the day either never happened or were swiftly resolved. Ultimately, all I had to do was  trust in the Lord-a constant struggle that I know I face like many others.  

A beautiful example of this is occured during our stop in Pompeii.  After daily mass at the Shrine of the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii, three of my friends and I took time apart from the rest of our group to climb to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. For us to get to the base of the volcano, it required us to take a bus. However, we only had enough money on hand to get to Mt. Vesuvius, but not enough for all of us to get back. We only realized this after we had arrived at the bus (15 Euros per trip for the group, but we only had about 10 left). With no ATM nearby, and the bus preparing to leave, we decided to commit and hope that the Lord would provide. I cannot explain why the group was eager to do this, all I could hear in my head at the time were the famous words of our newly canonized Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati “The higher we go, the better we shall hear the voice of Christ.” So, what better reason to go than to get to the top and give thanks?  

As we  made our trek we prayed that Mary would wrap us in her mantle and that her son would provide for us, which he absolutely did. 

By the time we reached the top, we were out of luck with hoping there would be an ATM  in the gift shops along the way. Because of this, we realized that our only option (given that we didn’t want to leave anyone behind) was to go around and ask strangers for money– something that none of us wanted to do but would prove to be how the Lord would provide if we were willing to have the humility to do so. After taking a moment to pray, we committed and made sure to only ask what we needed for and no more. After asking over and over, many people had nothing to offer, but eventually, we came across a few good Samaritans who provided us with exactly what we needed to get back.  

As thanks, we asked them how we could pray for them. Though they were not Christians they  asked us to continue to be good people to the world. This is one of the many moments I realized that even just simple faith in the Lord’s ability to provide can help us to overcome and find great joy and goes to show how he works in unforeseen ways and through people we may not expect.  

One other occasion was during our visit to Tor Vergata. Myself and 2 others from our group left to see how close we could get to the stage where Jesus would be present in the Eucharist during Adoration. Our group was near the very back and we had to navigate through a sea of people to get there (1.2 million young people!). From time to time, one of us would want to turn back, but the others would encourage them  to keep going and press on. Who knew that by gently relying on one another to keep going, and having hope that we would continue to get closer (despite how long it felt and how many times we had to turn back due to railings), it would lead to the three of us being just a few feet away from our Holy Father!  

To Courageously Live the Gospel, we must trust in the Lord. Yes, it can be daunting, and every day can be a challenge, but no matter how big or small, let today be just one more step closer to Christ. 

For more information about the Jubilee Year of Hope, click here.