Rio di Janeiro Brazil

The 3.7 million people from 170 different countries on the beach for Mass with the Pope in 2013.

I wanted to share an experience I was fortunate to have back in July of 2013 thanks to my uncle through the modern extended family. The pictures I have shared are sadly just some I found online, since I no longer have my own images due to my detachment of social media. From time to time I would delete my accounts due to the unhealthy nature social media has become, in addition this was to let go of old memories in confidence of creating new ones. Sadly I didn’t back up these photos :-[ but it’s all good.

My uncle was a priest in Brazil for 12 years early in his life, and during the time I was helping him through his kidney transplant I began spending time with the community he served in Long Branch, New Jersey. Later on after his recovery, he encouraged me to look into something called World Youth Day which I hadn’t heard of at the time. He recommended I find out if I could go through my diocese and how much it would cost. After obtaining all this information, he ended up sponsoring me to go through my home Diocese in Charlotte. It was a huge blessing in multiple ways, especially considering many dioceses had to cancel their trips when the travel agency that organized them went bankrupt. Our diocese was one of them, but thanks to the constant great kindness of Monseigneur Maurico West, the Vicar General and Chancellor we still went. He respected the hard work the kids did to raise funds for themselves, and the diocese put together a new trip on their own.

During the 10 days we were in Rio, a city known for it’s crime, I learned what a “City of God” can truly look like. With 170 different countries visiting at the same time we saw people come together in 1 universal church, the true meaning of Catholic, while still maintaining their own cultural and national identities. It was amazing to see people singing together on the buses, praying together in public, helping each other, randomly running into each other from around the world in this city. It was simply amazing, and then to ice the cake, we had Pope Francis who was newly selected at the new successor of St. Peter himself.

I do not share this story as often nowadays due to all the other amazing experiences and miracles I experience daily, but it’s definitely one my earlier stories and travels that sparked so much inspiration in future travels. I currently visit the Brazilian community regularly through my friend that runs the help center in Long Branch, as well as being a church leader in her Brazilian community. Ironically my first date with my now fiance was to the Brazilian festival in Philadelphia. Just another reminder of my love for this culture and people. Every year in New Jersey there are several Brazilian festivals. I like to attend the one in Long Branch which usually occurs in July along the shore over looking the Atlantic Ocean with great bands.