World Youth Day - Day 5 (South Africa Mass)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Waking up after the ordeal we had the night before was not an easy task.  But the rule remained, that we had to be out of the school by 8:00 am.  There wasn't much we could do about that.

I woke up at 6:30 am to learn that our building had run out of water.  One of the qualifications for housing was that it had to have bathrooms and showers.  But this morning, we had neither.  No water meant no showers.  No toilets.  And most annoyingly, no ability to brush teeth.  It was a difficult start to the day.  

However, God is good, and He gave us a little gift early on in the day.  It was one of the best things I've ever experienced, and I think that many people in my group would say the same.

We were going to get catechesis for the next three mornings at the place where we ate breakfast.  We had no idea who was going to teach or what the topics were about.  I think that we all figured that the teachings would go along with the theme, "Go make disciples of all nations."  We figured it'd be from an English speaking archbishop.  I know that some in our group were hoping it would be Cardinal Dolan.  It wasn't.  We actually never even saw him.

Now, we were assigned a catechesis location based on our housing location.  Let's just say that there weren't a huge number of Americans who chose simple accommodations.  There were some.  The Vermont group was among them.  The American/Vietnemese Youth were among them.  But most of the Americans were in Rio.  Which meant that we were with a lot of the african groups.  And it is because we were with them that we got to witness such beauty.

The Archbishop of South Africa, Charles, taught us on this day.  He told us the story of his vocation, that he was only 8 years old when he first felt called to the priesthood.  Although he remained confident in that call for many years, he struggled with it for much of his time in seminary.  He wanted to be a lawyer, diplomat, actor or anything.  It wasn't until a priest told him that Jesus doesn't need him, but wants him, that he went through with it.  He became a priest at age 25, and is now "63 years young."  

His talk was about personal crisis, which was why he told us the story of the Rich Young Man (Mark 10:17-27).  He said that it's the story of every person because, like the rich young man, we don't just want to be Christians, we want to be good Christians.  Nobody wants to say goodbye.  Young people want to live and love forever, and that's what the Christian life offers.  He kept breaking into the song "Lord I want to be like Jesus."  

Archbishop Charles

All of us are thirsting for life, he said.  But that thirst for life can only be satisfied in Christ.  The problem of the Rich Young Man is not just his possession, it's the question that he asks, "What more do I need to DO?"  Just like with Martha and Mary, which we heard earlier in the week, it's not about doing.  But Jesus' response to this man was simply that he loved him.  That's the answer that we seek.  That Jesus loves us.  When Jesus told the Rich Young Man to sell his possessions, the purpose wasn't really that possessions themselves are evil.  Jesus' goal was not to have the man just sell his possessions; His goal was to have the man follow Him, which he couldn't do with his stuff.  It was never really about possessions.  It was about the heart.

So, basically, there were three points that the archbishop wanted us to remember:  1.  You are hungry for life.  2.  Jesus is the answer.  3.  Come and follow Him.  He ended the talk singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."
 
After his talk was over, which we thought was amazing, we got to experience mass with this Archbishop.  I guess groups had signed up to lead the music and bring up the gifts, but I didn't remember that ever being announced.  The music of the mass was really cool and different compared to what we are used to.  I can't remember which song it was, but I believe it was the Alleluia, that Archbishop Charles had us redo, because we didn't give it enough life.  Honestly, it was a new song that I was unfamiliar with, so I wasn't able to sing along.  And, honestly, he was probably right, that even if I had known the song, I wouldn't have given it the enthusiasm he was looking for!

Thanks, Andrea, for the picture!

I honestly don't really remember the homily.  I know that he continued talking about the Rich Young Man, but I don't really remember what he said.  But that wasn't the best part.  During the bringing up of the gifts, we saw a group from South Africa stand up and go to pick up the gifts.  They lined up and paused for only just a moment, but I could tell in that moment that something amazing was about to happen.  And then it did.

Who did I steal this picture from?

They broke into song and dance, right there, carrying the gifts.  It wasn't a wild or crazy song or dance.   It was extremely reverent.  It was gorgeous.  I have no idea what the words of their song meant, but I can tell you without a doubt that they were joyful about presenting the gifts.  It was what true gift giving should look like.  You know, at Christmas, we spend money wrapping gifts, buying paper, bows and pretty things to put on it.  We take time to pick out the right things.  We put the gifts under the tree, in sight, not just because that's a place to store them, but so we can look at them and build anticipation.  Gift giving is exciting and we make it special.  Unless it's our gifts at mass.  So many people use that time as intermission.  Watch how many people get up to go to the bathroom, get a sip of water, or turn to their neighbor to talk.  But those are OUR gifts, mine and yours, and we are presenting them through those who carry them up, to God.  We could learn a lesson from our South African friends about reverence.

During the Eucharistic prayers (I think?), the South African group sang another song.  There were no instruments, just their voices.  It was perfectly done.  The dynamics.  The harmonies.  It was gorgeous.  

A teen told me later that she wished we could have what they have, and I told her that in order to have what they have, you have to have everything that goes with it.  The reason that they are the way that they are is because they have very difficult lives.  Sure, we could reproduce some of the things we saw them do.  We could hire a choir, we could research traditional zulu songs and copy the way that they brought up the gifts, but if we did that, we still wouldn't have what they have.  They have that because they have to create it themselves.

We live in a world where beauty is handed to us on a silver platter (a beautiful one).  We show up to mass and expect to have a piano, a guitar, maybe a drum, an organ, and a sound system to hear it not just well, but perfectly.  We can manipulate the volumes and place speakers where they will be the most effective.  We have it easy.  

But they don't.  Sure, the landscape in South Africa may be beautiful, and there are places that are very wealthy.  But theirs is a different kind of wealth, and theirs is a different kind of poverty.  In order for them to have beauty, they have to create it themselves.  If they don't create it, they don't have it.  And that is the difference.  It is something that they are taught and that they experience their entire lives, and it shapes and forms who they are and how they worship.  If you want what they've got, you have to take everything that comes with it, and I'm just not sure that many of us are willing to have that.  I mean, after only ten days in Brazil, sleeping on the floor, not being guaranteed showers or flushing toilets, or clean teeth, we were ready and willing to give that up to go home to our comfortable lives.  They went home to conditions similar, if not worse, to what we experienced in Brazil.  And that is what makes them beautiful.  They don't settle for the ugly lives they could have, but instead, they create the beautiful lives that they do have.

After Mass, we got special permission to return to the school because apparently the boys' room was flooded!  Someone left the sink in their room on (probably because there was no water when they turned it on), and the sink overflowed and flooded their room.  We were all really worried for the boys, but it turned out to be a non-event for everyone except the one who was almost immediately under the sink.  "Flooded," we discovered, meant a little stream of water running down the room.  In fact, most of the boys weren't affected at all.  One boy took all of damage himself.  :(

I was irritated at this point, not that we went back to the dorms to help the boys, but because we stayed there.  I was extremely hungry, and it was now after 2:00 pm.  We hadn't eaten dinner the night before, and all I had had for lunch the day before was french fries.  The breakfast kits they gave us were not exactly substantial, and so I was in a really bad mood.  I wanted to go get food, but there appeared to be no rush to do that.  I think that I could have held it together a bit more if I hadn't smacked my head really hard on a low doorway (only to be laughed at by the cleaning lady who saw me do it).  Everything looked weird for a moment after I did it.  Between the hunger, being cold, the exhaustion, the frustration and the hitting of my head, I lost it.  I started crying, and for the next 24 hours, I couldn't stop myself.  I tried techniques I had heard to stop myself from crying, like swallowing.  That worked for me for a while.  But I just needed to cry it out.

A family of pigs, just walking down the street.  Thanks, Christa, for the picture!

We finally went to get lunch at a buffet that supposedly had all kinds of grilled chicken, but I didn't really see any of that.  But the rice and beans were good, and the chicken that I did get was good.  It wasn't much, but it did the trick.

The group was a little weary of going back into Rio on this day, because of the adventures from the day before.  Everyone (almost) tried to get out of going.  Our plan was to not go into the city, but to stay back at the parish center, but people were sleeping there, and so we would have had to be quiet.  We are not good at quiet.  So we ended up making a last minute decision to go into the city anyway.  We were going to have to do it eventually.  We might as well face our fears now.

It was raining and we were cold, but we made it to the Vocations Fair in relatively good time.  Guess who was there?!  Our very own Archbishop Aquila!  He was in the middle of giving an interview when we saw him, and because this was World Youth Day, where boundaries disappear, we pretty much just crowded around him, awkwardly watching him finish his interview, and waited until he could pay attention to us!  Yup.  We did that.

Thanks, Christa, for the picture!

 He was so happy to see us!  Like, so happy!  It was really touching!  He talked with us and took pictures with us, and he gave us a special blessing!  It was really cute!  After we took pictures with him, he wanted a picture on his own, personal, camera, too!  So we took a picture for him, too!  He was so proud of his Colorado kids!  That was really special!
 

Thanks, Kim, for the picture!

We went into the room where they were having XLT, and watched a cute little nun tell her story, which was followed by a priest, who told his story.  A woman named Danielle Rose played a song she wrote about Saints which was beautiful.  She had an amazing voice.  When the band (The Matt and Jacob Band?) played, Danielle Rose played the violin, and the combination was amazing!  They did great work!

Afterwards, we had Adoration, and then praise and worship, and then we got to go home.  Everyone was in a much better mood on the way home.  The ferry ride was actually fun.  I think that, had we stayed back at the parish center like we were going to, we would have just been cranky and pouty the whole time.  But going to the Vocations Fair and the XLT was a really good choice.  Who would have known that Archbishop Aquila would be there?  I think that we needed to see him.  It was nice to have a piece of home surprise us here in Rio.  I kind of think that he was really lonely at that time, too, and was excited to have a piece of his home there, too!  It served all of us!

We were finally starting to get the hang of traveling around in Rio.  Getting into Niteroi was much easier, but we got lost once we got there.  Last night we were lost in Rio, tonight we are lost in Niteroi.  What would tomorrow bring?

We asked a girl to help us, who conveniently spoke English.  She walked us to our neighborhood but refused to enter the neighborhood because it was too dangerous.  That was not exactly comforting to hear.  She also gave us a strict warning not to ever walk alone in there.  We took her advice, and quickly (and quietly) walked back to the school where we were safe.  Spirits were high again, and things were looking up.

Again, I was asleep maybe one minute after walking through those doors.  Complete, utter, exhaustion, but a little more hope!