By Andrew Lauria
Contributing Writer

World Youth Day 2011 was one of the single most incredible experiences of my life.  My trip to Spain in August taught me a major lesson about life; how to let go. 

I had been on a pilgrimage before but forgot the great difference between a vacation and a pilgrimage.  You go on a vacation to lose yourself, a pilgrimage to find yourself.

After two months of joyous reflection, I think I am just beginning to realize the importance of this life lesson.
I almost forgot that I it all started with a simple ‘yes’. 

The first line of my journal from Spain said this:
“It is 10:01 a.m .in London’s Heathrow Airport.  I am with my brother and it has been an exhausting trip so far.  Pilgrimages are never easy because the evil one tries always to get his way.  But we are relentless.  We are totally committed to our Faith and to this journey.  Even though we still aren’t there, we will make it.  The Lord has blessed and ordained this trip and His will shall be done.”

There is an old saying that goes “God never gives us more than we can handle”.  This is very true but often I forget it. Staring at the ceiling in Heathrow Airport was one of those times. As I sat next to my brother (our flight was separate from the group) in a waiting area full of uncomfortable couches, I came to an intimate realization that I had nothing left to give God or anyone else. I had been so overwhelmed that I was totally drained. I was not even frustrated, I was just empty. The previous two days had been impossibly long and spiritually some of the hardest to bear.  I remember receiving the phone call from Deacon Thomas Higman the day before we were set to depart informing me that he and I were now in charge of the trip because our faithful leader, Father Bryan Stitt, could not make it.

I had helped Father Bryan organize the trip since the beginning but I had never intended to lead it. In complete shock, I did a quick survey and realized that I theoretically knew what was going on but had no idea what I was getting myself into. But stronger than the uncertainty was my “yes” that I told Father Bryan and so with Deacon Tom at my side, I put my complete faith in God and together we stepped into history.

I had been on a pilgrimage before but forgot the great difference between a vacation and a pilgrimage.  You go on a vacation to lose yourself, a pilgrimage to find yourself.  It was not until my “yes” to God through Father Bryan that I realized the spiritual reality of this particular pilgrimage. God never gives us more than we can handle but He likes us to be strong.

There is not enough room in this article to identify and explain all of the obstacles that I faced just getting to my layover in London where I wrote my first journal entry.  Some of the highlights include our bus being stuck in flooded streets so as to force me to miss my plane to London, the unfriendly airport workers who refused to help with ticketing, and the emptiness I felt without our leader, Father Bryan. But the physical adversities were only a sign of the spiritual turmoil in which I found myself.

The real issue was not any one of the countless problems that I faced along the way, but rather, that I did not believe that I could do it.  I did not believe that I could successfully complete the enormous task of leading these two dozen young adults to a foreign country and through an experience of which I knew almost nothing about. I did not believe that I could do it but, for the first time in my life, I did believe that He could, the God that blessed and ordained this incredible trip.  I just had to let go.

Like a budding plant in the springtime, each day spent in Madrid was like a single petal opening to reveal the full flower of trust that was blooming in my heart.  Amidst every obstacle, adversity, problem, and pain, none was ever a barrier to the eternal reality of God’s love for me manifested in my World Youth Day experience.
If it was through the companionship of my good friend Deacon Tom, the amazing witness of our pilgrim group, or the stunning sunshine that permeated all of Madrid, God never hid His face.  The Lord was faithful and He gave me peace in my heart, a peace that I could not create and the world cannot give.

Looking back, I realize now that no matter what the task in life, God will never leave me. He is faithful to his promises forever.  I just have to remember to say “yes” and then let go. 
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(Andrew Lauria works as the librarian at Seton Catholic Central School in Plattsburgh)

This week’s Young Catholic Voice writer, Andrew Lauria of Plattsburgh, was also the photographer who captured  this picture of the pope as he arrived in  Madrid for this summer’s World Youth Day.