My Lord and my God!

Early in my faith journey, I had the awesome opportunity to go to Kibeho, Rwanda and I attribute the depth of my faith to that pilgrimage. Kibeho, is an approved Marian Apparition site. Mary appeared to some school children there in the 1980’s to give them messages and a stark warning that if we did not turn our hearts back to Christ bad things would happen. As is usually the case, we don’t want to listen to the kids. Bad things DID in fact happen. Neighbors turned on neighbors, friends turned on friends in a horrific genocide that lasted about 3 months where over 1 million lives were taken.

When I went to Kibeho, I did not have anything miraculous happen to me. Mary or Jesus did not appear to me to give me any messages. I did not go into a trance of mystical proportions. I did however have an experience that would change my heart forever. I witnessed thousands of people coming together to worship with a genuine love of our Lord and his Mother, Mary. If I had not seen with my own eyes and felt it with my own heart I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have the passion for my Catholic faith that I do today.

Fast forward 7 years and now having returned from another trip, this time from Steubenville Mid-America, with 44 teenagers and 5 other adult chaperones, I had the same experience! I was transformed and shown what the love of Christ can do to even the hardest of hearts. On the bus ride down I told the kids that it was my intentions to be inspired by their faith. And boy was I right!

The speakers did a great job reaching out to the kids and meeting them right where they are. Women were inspired to be the daughters that Christ called them to be and the men were inspired to be the sons that Christ called them to be. Defining what it means to be real Men and Women in a society that makes you change who you are just to fit in to a mold. Sarah Swafford, Oscar Rivera Jr, Chris Mueller and Cooper Ray were awesome!

But my favorite moment had to be during Eucharistic Adoration! As the monstrance processed around the arena, witnessing 4,000+ kids deep in prayer just yearning for Jesus, I learned that I needed that type of faith. Many times in our lives we try to do everything alone, all the while, Jesus is saying to us, “I can help you. I just need you to invite me into your life. Not just for today or tomorrow, but everyday.” Teenage men and women melting in front of our Lord, present in simple bread and wine. I recommend every adult volunteer at least once to chaperone a trip like this. I may have received more from this trip than most of the kids.

Here are some of the things the kids said about adoration on the trip back:

• I felt Jesus. I saw him staring right back at me!
• I felt an unbelievable sense of joy!!
• I usually sing but I couldn’t, all I could do was cry because I was so happy.
• I never understood or believed in the true presence until adoration tonight. I get it now.

The last statement reminded me of St. Thomas the Apostle in the upper room. In John 20:28, Thomas had probably the best reaction to the moment when he experienced Jesus in the flesh. “Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Remember earlier in the chapter the other Apostles telling Thomas that Jesus appeared to them in the upper room and his response was, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Be careful what you wish for! Jesus LITERALLY shows up and pretty much says, “Put er’ there!” (Bad joke or dad joke.)

I could get into the argument of transubstantiation and the true presence of the Eucharist but I will save that for another time. I just want to say how proud I am of the kids on the trip and how much we adults need to lift them up in prayer. Let us all help in feeding their faith and stoking the fire that was lit in them. These kids are the future of our Church and our society. Let’s help them on their pilgrimage to holiness because we might learn something from them unlike the adults who refused to listen to the visionaries in Kibeho.

Boys, it’s time to be real men of faith!