Mercy.
This is where we begin our incredible journey to World Youth Day in Kraków, Poland during the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy! Our small but mighty crew of pilgrims have been preparing for this journey for months now, and the story behind our FIAT is quite a tale of intrigue.
Much of it has transpired as fire burns through wood and steel, but this is simply the purgative nature of our earthly lives! Pope Francis said himself that he sees the Church as a “field hospital” in the heat of battle. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds, but we must first start with ourselves. Indeed, this is not about going to Poland seeking a CURE for our afflictions and iniquities. Rather, our great sojourn to the Field of Mercy, to Campus Misericordie, is but the foundation to our greater sanctification in the larger pilgrimage to the Eternal Kingdom of Heaven!
I just purchased a wireless Bluetooth keyboard, and hooked to my iPhone with international data, it should do the job for our daily blogs from Kraków. If you’ve never heard of World Youth Day, or if you’ve always wanted to go and would like to journey with us in your heart, sit back and enjoy the ride! There are eleven of us leaving together this coming Monday, July 18, but with your intentions and support, we know truly how many are traveling with us. It is our hope to share that experience with you as thoroughly and intimately as possible. Please pray for us all:
Michael Schultz, seminarian for the Archdiocese of Louisville
Fermin Luna, seminarian for the Archdiocese of Louisville
Rosa Luna, St. Rita of Louisville
Mary Shepardson, St. Aloysius & St. Benedict of Shepherdsville
Hope Shepardson, St. Aloysius & St. Benedict of Shepherdsville
Kristin Ballard, St. Luke of Louisville
Kim Abell, St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Louisville
Madeline Haydon, St. Joe’s in Bardstown
Mary Whitfill, St. Romual in Hardinsburg
Sr. Caryn Crush, an aspiring religious sister with the Sisters of the Fiat!
John Sohl, Coordinator of Youth Ministry for the Circle of Life Youth
Let us begin most appropriately with the St. Michael prayer, for this truly is a journey to the Field Hospital in the heat of battle, and there’s no going around the battlefield of the soul:
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
In Christ, for Love and Life!
John Sohl & the WYD 2016 Crew
The Circle of Life 