THE GAZE OF JESUS
“To be able to see Jesus it is necessary first to let him look at you.”
“We have seen many things in Rome but, without doubt, it was more than enough to be ‘in the presence of a saint’: John Paul II. When he passed by us he looked at us and all I could say was: ‘Holy Father, we love you!’. His gaze is like the gaze of the Lord that invited his apostles to leave everything and follow Him. That’s how I felt anyway. I also felt the greatness and the maternity of the Church. She is a Mother who gives her children the life of grace, forgiving us, cleaning us, protecting us and enabling us to live the joy of the eternal life here on earth. I feel privileged to belong to the ONE, TRUE, CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC Church. Three cheers for the Church! Three cheers for the Pope! Three cheers for the Saints! Three cheers for the Home!”
(Sara Jiménez)
I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!
 “I can’t believe it!!! This is how I would sum up the whole pilgrimage. It was an amazing and unforgettable trip in which I received many graces. One of the biggest was seeing so, so, so close up the man whom I consider a living saint, the Pope. His gaze is still branded in my heart. He’s very special, he is Christ on earth.
In Rome, in the heart of the Church, I felt really at home and I just kept giving thanks to God for being Catholic, for belonging to this great family. The Pope talked a lot to us about the Cross and this helped me to love it a lot more and to embrace it as the only way to salvation.”
(Sonia Moset)
SHE’S INVITED!
“Our lady of Nazareth, attentive and patient mother... will teach you how to fix your eyes on Jesus.”
“I was impressed by the presence of Jesus in the Pope. It wasn’t just the Pope, it was Jesus. I just knew that the Church is the truth, I couldn’t doubt it, the Holy Spirit acts. I also felt the presence of Our Lady, who was with us the whole time” .
(Silvia Ramírez)
“I felt guided, spoiled and thanked by Our Blessed Mother. It was a very special pilgrimage. I felt guided in the sense that She showed us where to go and led us providentially to very good people. I felt spoiled because every time I raised my eyes to Her in some hard or tiring moment, asking Her for strength, She never let me down. I was invaded by a peace that made everything else superfluous. Peace is one of the greatest gifts one can receive. I also felt that Our Blessed Mother thanked me for even the slightest thing I did for her Son, for Her or for whomever. That thankfulness was something I experienced in my heart along with a great peace. She guided our pilgrimage and She is invited always to come with us wherever we go.”
(Mónica Fernández)
LOVE OF THE CHURCH
 “And do not forget to seek Christ and to recognise his presence in the Church...”
“This pilgrimage to Rome has strengthened my faith and my love of the Church. I felt this very much in the Eucharist of Palm Sunday. My heart overflowed with joy on seeing so many cardinals, bishops, priests, religious, young people, lay people, all united to the Pope; I really felt I was a ‘child of the Church’. She has engendered me in the faith; through her I have received the life of grace.”
(Mari Luz Martín)
“I had passed through Rome other times but this was an authentic pilgrimage. I really felt that I was in the heart of the Church. It oozes Christianity everywhere. I was particularly impressed by the catacombs.”
(Loli Ventas)
TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE!
““You must be the ones who take up this challenge”.
“One of the biggest graces I received was seeing the Pope so close up, and he seeing me. I have often thought that he is a saint and gives us all such an example. His words give me a lot of hope, especially the confidence that he has in young people and how he encourages us not to be afraid to look at the Lord. The  reading of the Gospel of the Lord’s Passion helped me a lot and I reflected that I have to give myself for the Church, like the Pope does. Being there was like being at home. You could breathe the peace of being at home. To sum up, I lived the pilgrimage as a preparation for whatever God asks of me, imploring his help, the help of Our Blessed Mother and of the martyrs and saints, rekindling my desire to give myself up for the Church.”
(Sara Lozano)
“What most impressed me about Rome was the faith that it is founded upon. Rome is Rome, the centre of Christianity, where the Pope lives. This trip has been a grace for me. We visited the places of the first Christians and the martyrs who gave their lives for God. This made me reflect on my own life and I thought: would I have given my life for Christ? Now I know with a greater force that I have to be like the first martyrs and give witness of Christ in a world that needs to return to the true faith."
(Michelle Maes)
“I ENTRUST TO YOU THE CROSS”
“Do not be surprised if afterwards you discover the cross in your path.”
“Dear young people...,
...I entrust to you the cross of Christ!”
When the Pope entrusted the cross to the young people, I felt a very strong call. The Lord, through this Pope who is so holy, was calling me to help Him to carry His cross, with joy and with a smile. And not only during the pilgrimage but in my whole life.”
(Kristen Gardner)
“Everything we have seen has been a grace from God. The very fact of being there was a grace in itself. For me one of the most important things was feeling part of the Church. Being in the heart of the Church with Christ’s representative on earth was a joy. Throughout the whole pilgrimage we felt a great sense of God’s protection, we felt privileged. Now we have to live, to put into practice everything that the Pope said to us: ‘to bring the power of the Cross wherever you go so that everyone may continue to see and to believe in the Redeemer of man’. Thanks to the Holy Father for trusting in young people and for helping us to be holy. Thanks to the Lord and to Our Blessed Mother for this pilgrimage."
(Maria Belén Hortelano)
JUMP!
“But you, dear young people, do not be afraid of proclaming the Gospel of the cross in every circumstance.. Do not be afraid to go against the tide!”
 “Thanks Mom. I think these words sum up our entire pilgrimage to Rome. The presence of Our Blessed Mother was patent in every moment. It was She who arranged every moment of our pilgrimage, She who presented to us so many martyrs as authentic examples to encourage us in our fight against the world; She who made us all feel the same, united in Christ, and She who presented to us the Church as our Home where we are always welcome. It was She who put us there at the feet of the Holy Father where we could thank him for teaching us that we must be holy. And I really mean ‘at his feet’, because it was a physical reality. I was able to go right up to the Pope.
When we arrived to participate in the World Youth Day I felt very strongly that I had to approach the Pope to thank him moment and I thought it would be an act of madness. I tried to banish the idea from my mind. But on Palm Sunday as we were waiting in St. Peter’s Square for the Pope to arrive I began to feel the same, and I thought that before leaving there I had to go up to the Holy Father. As the time went by the feeling increased.
At the end of the Eucharist when the Popemobile was approaching to collect him I felt really strongly: ‘you have to jump’ and I said: ‘it’s now or never’, and I jumped. Of course the police reacted immediately and they intercepted me before I got to the Holy Father but I knew that if the Pope saw me he would tell me to come on up and so it was. They let me go up. I knelt down before him and I was able to say to him: ‘Thank you, Holy Father, we are from Spain. Thank you for the Encyclical about the Eucharist, for teaching us to love Our Blessed Mother, thank you for the cross that you have given us, for teaching us that we have to be holy”. He gave me a kiss and three blessings on my forehead, which I found very significant because it was as if he were blessing our three missions in the Church: ‘The defence of the Eucharist, the defence of the honour of Our Blessed Mother, especially in the privilege of her virginity and the conquest of the youth for Jesus Christ’.
When I got back to my place I felt a great peace and joy; I had received an important task to fulfill and I had done it. It comprehended more than ever how much Our Blessed Mother loves us, with predilection. Thanks, Mom”
(Laura Gómez)
THE FAITH!
“Whoever approaches Jesus with a heart free of prejudices can more easily reach the faith, because Jesus himself has seen and loved him first.”
Another of the fruits and joys of this pilgrimage has been the incorporation into the Church of Zdeñka María, a girl from the Czech Republic who was a member of the group of pilgrims and who, having completed her preparation for baptism, was able to travel to Rome where she finally found the Lord and He granted her the strength to make the firm decision to be baptised in the Catholic Church.
 I am Zdeñka María. I am from the Czech Republic. I came to Spain to study Spanish and English for nine months and I never imagined that in Spain my life would be changed.
In one of my first classes in the University I met a girl. She asked me where I was from and similar things without importance. And looking at the small cross that I was wearing around my neck, she asked me: ‘Are you Catholic?’. Here I have to say that I considered myself a convinced atheist and wore the cross only because it made me feel more protected, but without knowing or wanting to find out why. I answered her: ‘I don’t know; I’m searching’. As soon as I had finished giving this answer, I was astonished because I didn’t even know myself that I was searching. And that was that.
Sara, the girl, introduced me to a Sister, who lent me a book. Reading the book I realised that it was true that God exists.
Later on, the Sister invited me to her house to eat, where I was impressed by the atmosphere of love, friendship, joy and understanding. So from time to time I started to go there and at the same time to form myself. During this time I was fighting with myself. I knew that the faith and the Lord were good, but on the other hand I was afraid of changing my lifestyle. It seemed like madness to me to live according to the faith and the so “out-of-date” commandments in this “modern” world.
At one point I saw things clearly and decided to ask to be baptised. The Easter Vigil was the best date. I said yes. With this decision my interior battle became even more intense and violent. Finally, with just one week left before the date, I decided not to be baptised, because I knew I wasn’t going to fulfill the commandments. I didn’t have the strength, and to be sincere I didn’t have the will either. But the Lord was generous once again. They had invited me to a pilgrimage to Rome and I practically felt obliged to go, so I went. I was convinced that there was no way my decision was going to change. But... in every church we visited the Lord spoke to me. He spoke to me and I didn’t want to listen, but He revealed himself so many times until finally He broke my heart of stone and I fell in love with Him. He gave me such a great grace that I can’t stop thanking Him. He gave me what I needed - to feel His love, because without feeling it I couldn’t believe it.
I returned from Rome a “new” person. But the Lord didn’t stop there. Even though I don’t deserve anything, He continued and continues to give me one grace after another.
After Rome, Holy Week. I realised that there really are people who live their faith and who aren’t crazy, people who are prepared sincerely to embrace new brothers and sisters in Christ, prepared to cry out to the world the praises of the Lord and to work for Him. This experience helped me to make big steps in my faith and in my life.
The biggest grace I have received was that of receiving Baptism and the Eucharist. I experienced a great peace and joy, I felt truly clean and new. I felt that a beautiful spiritual baby had been born inside me who needed the food of the faith because without it she would remain small and weak all her life.
I felt very strongly the presence of the Virgin Mary and that I had to work very much for her Son. So here I am, Mother, ready to work with love and joy. All I ask is that You guide me and, even though I may not understand everything, the important thing is to know what I have to do and how I have to live to please You and God.
(Zdeñka Maria)
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