Mary Arose and Left with Haste
Dom dia from Lisbon, Portugal where myself and over a million pilgrims from all over the globe are preparing to celebrate World Youth Day. Everywhere you walk in the city you see the red, green, and gray pilgrim backpacks, joyful singing, and friendly faces. Just today at dinner I met pilgrims from Brazil, Germany, and Ivory Coast. It's an amazing witness of the universal church in action.
The theme for WYD Lisbon is from the Gospel of Luke (1:39) "Mary got up and left in haste." Today as we celebrate our Lady's Immaculate Conception I can't help but think about how Mary really lived up to her calling. She was chosen at birth for something incredible. That is what we celebrate today, Mary being born without sin because God had great plans for her.
This is also true for everyone of us. My favorite bible verse is from Psalm 139 "He knit me in my mother's womb. I praise Him because I am wonderfully made. My very self he knows." From the moment of your conception God knew you and He has great plans for you. Yesterday we began our Pilgrimage with a trip to Fatima and I learned about Our Lady's apparition there to three little shepherd children. We were able to walk the path they walked through the olive groves from thier houses to the field where the an angel and our Lady appeared to them many times. A whole city has grown up around the site of these apparitions and not one but TWO basilicas have been built. We prayed the Rosary at a candlight vigil with hundreds of Catholics, all praising our Lord because of three little kids!
Now it's our turn! When Mary herself pregnant with Jesus found out her cousin Elizabeth was expecting a child she got up and left with haste to go to her. When she arrived St. John the Baptist lept with joy in his mother's womb sensing the presense of our Lord. May we, like Mary, go to meet those in need of our assistance and bring Christ to the world. Here in Lisbon the joy of all the pilgrims gathered here is overflowing as we sense the closeness of Christ in each other. I hope that you too know the closeness of Christ as you go to Mass and know we are all praying for here at World Youth Day! Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
Kristina is a Catholic mom, speaker, and recovering New Yorker. After spending over a decade as a theology teacher, youth minister, basketball coach and Faith Formation Director in the Diocese of Brooklyn, she now serves in the Diocese of Orlando. Kristina loves to sing, have lunch at Disneyworld, and watch movies with her tween son, Kyle. She is passionate about St. Edith Stein, tacos, Social Justice, Doctor Who, and God's love for each of us. Kristina has an undergraduate degree in Religious Studies from St. Francis College in Brooklyn and a Master's Degree from St. John's University in Pastoral Theology. Her Guardian Angel's name is Pat Pat.
