On July 17, 2024, nearly 60,000 people showed up to become a witness of such a joyful dis-play of our faith. The entirety of Lucas Oil Stadium was filled with praising, day-to-day civilians. No one knew everyone there, however when you stumbled across a conversation you were welcomed in immediately. Individuals were no longer separated; they were brought into a family. A family of faith, love and blessings. Throughout the next three days, broken hearts would be mended, lost souls could be reunited and forgotten faith could start to grow.
JOURNEYING AS A YOUTH
As a youth attending this Congress, my experience was a bit different. We attended Mass in the mornings, but after that my fellow friends and I would make our way to Awaken, a youth encounter. During this 90-minute session, we would sing songs of worship and listen to guest speakers. The emcee for our youth assembly was Oscar Rivera. Mr. Rivera got on the same level as us and helped to walk us through it all. He taught us lessons and made things both honest and interesting. Mr. Rivera shared his path of faith, making it easier for us to understand ours. Each speaker, such as Paul J. Kim, Father Dave Pivonka, Jackie Francois Angel and Brian Greenfield, each assisted in everybody’s faith journey who was there. I thank God for sending these devotees of religion to help us learn how to follow the path of the saints. We are all destined to be welcomed into heaven, some of us may fall off the path, or trip along the way, but with the help of others we can get back up and rise to the love of Our Lord.
ENCOUNTERING BLESSINGS
Blessed is the best way to describe how I felt when I learned that my family, other parishioners, friends and I would be attending the Revival. To participate in this congress with those who I love, learning more about all our love for Jesus, was something I will never forget. And I feel blessed for the time I spent with people in my group and the new connections made. I learned new things and to be honest I have a confession to make. Ever since I was little, I believed that nuns were very pious people, and they are! But that led me to believe that they only spoke eloquently and stoic in manners. But I was very surprised when I ran into a sister on the street, and she started up a conversation with me. It was wonderful seeing her laugh, smile and simply engage with me. I’m sad I didn’t catch her name, but I’m thankful for this simple encounter. However, the most important thing I learned is that faith takes a village. Everyone grows together and that is what we all did during this beautiful pilgrimage of faith that took place. Our Lord blessed us all with this amazing encounter and now we can continue to share his love for us with others.
