August 17, 2011: That biological clock is starting to malfunction
Breakfast again today, this time it was a chocolate pastry with that “jump-start” coffee. Then it was off to catechesis.
For those of you who don’t know, catechesis is session of Catholic teaching. Although it is not required in your weekly obligations, it can be compared to a homily. In this case, though, it does not follow the readings from scripture but allows for a general subject of instruction for Catholics. So we went down to this beautiful church in the middle of Madrid to listen to the instruction. I plan on making a separate entry on the notes from the catechesis (partially because I wasn’t able to take notes the first day and also because I’d like to compare my notes with some others and combine them).
The pain from my ankle is starting to subside. It’s still pretty swollen and hurts quite a bit, but I’m surviving. Thank God! :) I refuse to let this overtake my trip! I really think that your mindset on any issue can influence the outcome of the situation.
I really am starting to push my body to it’s brink. I didn’t realize I could go this far with this little sleep and with this much pain. But I’m just continuing to offer it up to God. After catechesis, we celebrated Mass. This was all English at this point. Different languages split up into their respective catecheses so that you could understand the message.
After this, the next event for the day was a Salesian party. Every group of Salesians that already in Madrid to attend WYD were going to gather and show off a part of their country’s culture through a performance. This was going to be outside, so I was not extremely excited about that. But when we got there, there were the misting fans and the people seemed to be like 10 times nicer already. I kinda wished that this was how the opening Mass went.
Our group performed first. It was a skit/song done as a modern day Annunciation. It was beautiful! And now that I am looking back on it, I’m glad we were first because we were able to go to Adoration that night instead of staying there the whole night. We were all having a pretty good time there. Our group had a minor mishap during the party, but everything turned out fine in the end. Now, it was off to Adoration.
Adoration was at a major park in Madrid. It was a bit of a walk, but it was nice because we were in a smaller group now. Most people just went back to the hostel because it was already dusk (in case you couldn’t tell, I am not liking the crowds too much). Anyways, Adoration was a perfect calm to this storm. There was still a lot of activity, but I was able to just have a conversation with God. He showed me some direction – what my mission is after my pilgrimage here. I feel a little more at ease. Hopefully everything that He told me to do comes to fruition. I’m going to try my hardest, and so far, I am on the right path.
To me Adoration should be praising and thanking Him for all the blessing He has bestowed on us – foremost the gift of His Son. And when you are finished with that, proceed to find ways to improve your relationship with Him. And I feel like I was able to do this even though my mind was still distracted by my surroundings. It’s odd to be distracted yet focused – hence my biological clock malfunction. Regardless, this day ended well. I am beginning to see my purpose here :)
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