My jubilee youth pilgrimage experience!

By Erin Newton
As a young adult, it’s important to experience new experiences. For me, this pilgrimage was different, exciting, challenging and so fast paced.

I’d like to firstly share that every encounter with fellow Catholics, gathering for the same purpose—to worship God together—energises me. It’s always inspirational to know that all these people share the same belief as I do and that I’m not alone. Certainly, this fires up my spiritual life.

Unlike my many other experiences, I took up the role of youth leader on this pilgrimage. What this meant for me is that I had to step out of my comfort zone and discover a side of me that was in its shell.

I didn’t expect people to listen to me, but they did. I didn’t expect to be treated like any other leader, but I was (just with a little more care, as I expressed that I’d never done this before). Teamwork reveals different personalities and relationship dynamics. Some people want to take charge, some want to assist, some follow but with authority and some have no idea what’s going on, but they’re in on the plan. In the end, the idea is that I had to surrender who I was and my skills to God and let Him do what He needed to do. My gratitude extends to the two aunties who really supported me on the trip and always asked if I needed assistance or what I needed them to do while I embarked on this new experience. I am also very grateful to the planning team and, in particular, our planning team leader, who gave her support as well.

The day was made up of so many little moments that just had to go as God willed them to shift the gears to completion. It was a line of dominoes, lifted to God, so they fell exactly into the right places.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted but fulfilled. I believe when we give ourselves to others and to the Lord, it’s a joyful tiredness we experience. I feel like I had a day well spent, even though at the end, all I wanted to do was sleep.

Another amazing part of the day was embarking on the journey with my friends and family. Both were a part of my youth group journeying on the same bus. It was easy to fall into a familiar rhythm of laughs and encouragement and truly, the people you surround yourself with can either lift you up or bring you down.

One moment I’d share is that on the bus ride down in the morning, I was battling whether to pray the full rosary with the group. I was thinking, “three decades may be enough, it’s a little more than half, so the other youths would pray but not so much to tire us from praying”. One of my friends said, “We can’t do it halfway like that”. This was

my wake-up call to pray the full thing. It’s one thing to struggle with your faith for various reasons, especially social acceptance, but it’s another, even greater happening when you’re surrounded by people who would give you a pick-me-up in your weak moments. My other friend encouraged me and reminded me to pray about the day’s happenings—she sent me her notes that I could pray with from the day’s key messages. I encourage everyone to fill your inner circle with friends who remind you why you believe what you believe. At the end of the day, we all went on the pilgrimage to pray and get closer to God. God called us and we said ‘yes’. And when He sends us into places, He sends people to help us.

Moving to the Jubilee hub, the person-to-person interactions increased tremendously. At this point in the day, I was tired from the morning but still pushed through. Knowing your limit is a very important part of field trips and outings as it reminds you to take a step back—be it a break, a breath, or just a moment of silence. This helps to push through.

Overall, this experience was a multi-layered journey that I would recommend. It reminded me that sometimes, while your support system isn’t very far, these people are very important. It also brought to the forefront of my mind that the Lord is always one prayer away, so asking for the strength can be as simple as uttering “Jesus, I need you.”

Would I do it again? Maybe. Would I move on with the lessons? Definitely. Do I regret going? Absolutely not!