My friends

What. A. Day.

This day can be summed up in one word: Gratitude.


Our day started at the ungodly hour of 6:45 AM with a soft, yet distinctively stern wake up call by our house mentor Supreme Overlord Thomas Gerald Romano the Great. We headed over to St. Peter’s Square, making our way to the papal audience. As we took our seats in the sea of spectators, patiently waiting for Pope Francis to arrive, I began to soak in the grandeur of my surroundings. The energy and buzz of the thousands upon thousands of faithful Catholics was unparalleled to anything I had ever experienced before. When the man of the hour finally arrived, I saw quite possibly the holiest man alive, the true Vicar of Christ, and the leader of over one billion Catholics around the world from less than four feet away. At the time, I really wasn’t focused on anything else except trying to get Francis’s attention by shouting and waving vigorously and trying to take as many pictures and videos as possible for my family back home. It wasn’t until after his blessing that I truly realized what an incredible experience I had just gone through. We actually got to see the direct successor to Peter IN PERSON. After repeating that statement several times in my head, I began to feel nothing but gratitude. I looked around and immediately thanked God for everything around me. I thanked God for just about everything imaginable, especially for the blessing of this pilgrimage I get to share with eleven brothers and three mentors. I don’t thank God nearly enough as I should throughout my daily life, and this moment essentially served as a slap in the face to make me start appreciating his graces as I should. I know it doesn’t stop here though, my blessings extend far beyond the pilgrimage into my everyday life and hopefully this experience will serve as a daily reminder to thank God not only for the good times in my life, but in the struggles as well.

Our next stop was St. Croce in Gerusaleme, a church 45 minutes away on foot: a journey filled with the sounds of ambulance sirens, angry drivers freely honking their horn, and LOTS of street vendors selling just about anything you could imagine. When we arrived, I immediately searched for the relics chapel and frantically rushed to the display of the relics. When I stepped into the humble chapel, I felt a wave of chills like never before. In a moment of awe, I dropped to my knees and prayed the most intense rosary of all time. Less than a meter away from my eyes were actual relics from the Passion of Jesus Christ. After the shock wore off, I started to reflect and meditate more about the indescribable effect the cross had on humanity. The ultimate sign of love and salvation was RIGHT THERE in front of my eyes. That feeling of gratitude came back, but now it was also overshadowed by a feeling of awe. I started to think about how these seemingly insignificant pieces of wood and thorns were present at the greatest act of love in human history. The remains from this act of love by the Savior of the World, who had nothing to gain and everything to lose, were right there. I closed my eyes and visualized the Passion as clearly as I could (most of it was my memory from the Mel Gibson movie) and started to immerse myself as much as I could. This powerful contemplative experience yet again sparked that feeling of gratitude and appreciation for God’s selfless I've towards us. I could’ve stayed in that chapel for hours and hours, but unfortunately, the show must go on and we moved on to the next stop.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any better, along came Master Leader Jeffrey Johnson the Mighty, S.J. To cap off the day with a bang. After returning to the Chiesa de Gesu for the reveal of the Ignatius statue, we stepped next door to the Jesuit residence to celebrate mass in the room where St. Ignatius died. This moment was the climax of the pilgrimage (so far). Celebrating mass with my fifteen fellow pilgrims at the very site where the Society of Jesus was run for so long is a memory I will never forget. To end mass, we sang the Strake Jesuit alma mater in honor of our background as Jesuit students. This was the biggest moment of gratitude. I thanked God for the past four years at Strake, sincerely the best four years of my life. I thanked him for my fellow pilgrims on the journey: Carlos, Jordi, Trey, Colton, Ethan, Jacob, James, Diego, Zach, John, Brian, Mr. Siemann, Mr. Romano, Mr. Cole, and Fr. Johnson. I thanked him for my family, who have served as the ultimate source of love one can ask for. Most importantly and above all things, I thanked him for the opportunity to share in his grace and be open to his plan for salvation. This truly was the perfect end to a day filled with nothing but gratitude for me and my fellow pilgrims. Now its time to put these graces into action when we get back into our daily routine. Thank you for your time, my friend.