Youth | Holy Family Church

Rome – Assisi Pilgrimage June 2012

We are looking for young people who would like to grow in their faith, explore the timeless monuments of the past and experience the living history of the Church. Would you like to:

Experience Rome and see the Holy Father?
Pray on your knees on Pontius Pilot’s palace steps from Jerusalem
See incorrupt saints of the Church?
Visit the Catacombs, the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel?
Follow in the footsteps of St. Francis and St. Claire?
Pray in St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Mary Major and the Lateran?
Share this experience with friends?

Day 1	Depart your city for Rome
Day 2	Arrive in Rome, travel by bus or train to Assisi, the Medieval hillside hamlet of St. Francis and St. Claire, watch the sunset from the castle
Day 3	Visit the Basilicas of St Francis and St. Claire, the Temple of Minerva, spend time exploring Assisi, and St. Mary of the Angels
Day 4	Morning Train or bus to Siena, enjoy the unique Cathedral, pray before the relics of St. Catherine, witness a Eucharistic miracle, recreate your own races in Il Campo, Return to Rome this evening.
Day 5	Pray before the crèche at St. Mary Major, and the pillar of the scourging at Santa Prassede. Take time in the cathedral of Rome, St. John Lateran and ascend the Holy Stairs, Visit the Trevi Fountain
Day 6	Visit ancient Rome including, Coliseum, Roman Forum, Il Gesu and Piazza Navona
Day 7	Explore the Catacombs of S. Callisto, Pantheon, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Spanish Steps
Day 8	Marvel at St. Peter’s, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
Day 9	Possible Papal Audience, afternoon free
Day 10	Depart Rome for your city

Package includes: Roundtrip airfare from your city to Europe, Transportation within Rome and to Assisi and Siena, two meals per day, budget hotel lodging, entrance fees, Youth in Europe guide from arrival to departure in Rome, prices based on 25 or more pilgrims and $1.42USD/euro

Cost :	Est. $1500 + Airfare	Cancellation Fees:
$500	Due September 30^th, 2011	$300 after deposit is paid
$900	Due November 15^th, 2011	$400 after November 15^th, 2011
$900	Due January 15^th, 2012	$300 plus airfare after January 15^th, 2012
Balance	Due March 1^st, 2012	No refunds possible after March 1^st, 2012
Prices are estimates and will be confirmed 11 months prior to pilgrimage *Payment dates and itinerary may be adjusted depending on actual departure dates

NDVision 2011

We departed the Church in Afton @ 0530 on Thursday the 16th of June, right on schedule, with 12 people on a Utah Trailways bus. Jeff, Betsy, Josh, & Trevor Palmer, Meagan Haberberger, Rebecca Ryan, Brian Vasquez, Cody Greenwald, the 3 Wyatts, Greenwald, Martin, & Rauterkus, & Deacon Bill. Tiffanie Zimmer was picked up in Laramie, bringing the Star Valley contingent to 13. We pieced up 3 people, including Amy Larsen, the trip organizer, in Rock Springs, Tiffanie, and then two more youth from Wheatland in Cheyenne, bringing our group to 18 total. Our bus headed East with a tail wind and a load of eager people. When we stumbled into Omaha at midnight, the group was a little more subdued. We stayed at the Archdiocese of Omaha Retreat & Conference Center, at a special rate, which helped our finances immensely.NDVISION TRIP REPORT – JUNE 2011

Friday morning we were at the Siena-Francis House, a homeless shelter and alcohol/ drug abuse center. They had a garden plot that needed to have all the grass dug out, spaded and hoed, newspaper put down, and mulch applied. We spent about 3 hours completing this task, and the garden was “whipped into shape”. A recovering addict who worked at the House gave a talk on substance abuse, addiction, and recovery. His presentation was direct and right on target, and engaged our youth with the realities of addiction. The people working with us and on staff were people who had been through the program, making this a tremendous learning opportunity.

After a quick lunch, we went up to a low income housing project administered by Catholic Charities called St. James Manor. Here we weeded, mulched, planted flowers, and cleaned the grounds. We had help from the children who lived there who couldn’t believe we were helping them. Most of the families seemed to be Somalian refugees who had moved to Omaha. The interaction between the youth and the children was really amazing, including the inevitable water fight. The afternoon, which was sunny, hot and humid ended with root beer floats, a walk back to the rooms, showers, dinner, and off to the opening ceremonies for the College World Series, which were free in the new AmeriTrade Center. Martina McBride sang, paratroopers dropped, teams were introduced, dignitaries spoke, Dave Winfield received a Legacy jersey, and the sky lit up with an incredible fireworks display. Quite a day!!!

Saturday morning and we were at Holy Family Catholic Church, about 2 blocks from the Siena Francis House. This is a parish that has 50 members, hasn’t had a Pastor for 30 years and has an incredibly active ministry. Every day they provide lunch for between 600 & 900 people. Our task was to make sandwiches for Monday’s lunch, because with the after Mass Father’s Day luncheon, a lot of volunteers would miss the project. The group made and bagged, 927 sandwiches in just under 45 minutes, a new record. The people were amazed, astounded, and extremely appreciative of the effort. We went upstairs into the church and heard an explanation about a parish that is extremely resilient. In 2010, they distributed over 272,000 lunches from the doors of the church or in other locations. The parish also maintains a food pantry, clothing and furniture program, and a redistribution program where donated items are picked up and taken to people in need. The parish functions through donations from all over the city, and lots ofvolunteers. The have priests from Creighton University and a retired priest from Belleview who celebrate Mass for the congregation. The statue of Jesus as a street preacher, dominates their Sanctuary, and is a very thought provoking piece of religious art.

After Holy Family, we went to the Campus for Hope to serve lunch to recovering addicts. I don’t know about the kids, but what an eye opener for me. I think I will stay away from chocolate, so I don’t get hooked.

A quick lunch in the park and we headed for Christ Child, a food pantry and help center rum by Catholic Charities. Here we again weeded, mulched, planted flowers, and cleaned up the grounds. The place looked real neat and tidy after 3 hours of good hard work. All in all,we had accomplished 270 hours of volunteer labor, met a lot of wonderful people, and hopefully impressed the agencies with how well behaved and hard working the youth are. After dinner we went out to a huge mall for an outdoor concert and some shopping.

Sunday was Mass at St. Cecilia Cathedral and a day at Henry Doorly Zoo. We had received free passes from the Zoo because of our service work. A nice reward for all the work the youth accomplished. The youth did not have a lot of presents for me for Father’s Day, so they may have to be in time out for a while.

Monday, the 20th, we were up at 0400 and headed out in the rain for South Bend. It rained all the way through Illinois and we pulled onto the Notre Dame campus a little before 4:00 pm. We checked in, ate dinner and started the sessions. It will be a bit of a late night getting moved in, but we should be back on a regular schedule tomorrow.

Regular schedule means up at 6:00 and get things done before the sessions start. The youth are in a different track, so we see some of them at meals and then in joint sessions or at Mass. Our sessions continued the discussion of the church formed from God’s love and should stay on that theme tomorrow. We did see the premiere of “The Lost Sheep”, a musical put on by the student mentors, illustrating a Biblical story in an entertaining and instructional way. The youth are broken down into groups of about 10 youth, with a college age mentor. The mentors have appropriate majors and have taken a 3-hour class to prepare for the session. The youth seem to be enjoying their track, but then again, they might be enjoying being away from me. With the addition of the group from Cheyenne, the Wyoming contingent now numbers 37 people. A thunderstorm and rain shower and a nice warm, muggy night for Reconciliation. Today is the longest day of the year. Tomorrow the days start getting shorter as we approach another winter.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011. We continue only seeing the youth infrequently, usually around the cafeteria. The cafeteria is out of sight, so I don’t think any of them are starving. We are learning about building community and after talking with their mentors (small group leaders), I do know the focus for their discussions. They are identifying where they are in their relationship with God and then asked what they think God is

asking them to do with their lives right now, not years from now. The discussions should be interesting, but you will have to ask them. Mike Patin, one of our keynote speakers asked the question “God is calling. How will you answer?”. This is a great question because God is always calling us to do something. It may be as simple as going over to help the neighbor fix fence or it may be complex. It really is a great question to ponder during quiet moments.

The musicals that the staff presents are just outstanding. They take a parable and make it into a musical. This year we have 3 new musicals to watch, all in their premiere year. The musicals are “The Lost Sheep”, “Lazarus and the Rich Man”, and “The Great Banquet”. All well thought out, entertaining, and thought provoking. We all really enjoyed them all and got a little reinforcement from them.

Thursday we continued with how to encourage ourselves and our youth how to be good disciples. We adults had a little more free time and were able to walk around in the rain and look at the campus. Notre Dame is well laid out and is very well kept up. There are lots of new buildings, especially dorms for the students. All the rain and hot, humid summers leads to big trees and lots of vegetation. Of course they pay the price in the winter with the wind off of Lake Michigan, grey skies, and cold. The day ended with a candlelight evening prayer in the grotto. The youth had finished with their scavenger hunt before the beautiful gathering and then back to the dorms to organize clothes for morning checkout.

Friday morning was very quick, with morning prayer, a class, slideshow of the week’s activities, Mass, then time for quick goodbyes, gather suitcases, get to the bus, lunch and then on our way. We start with a bus full of sleepy people, but that should change. We stop about 6:00 on the Illinois/Iowa border and cross the Mississippi River. We have hit the three “I” States today. Still have to cross Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming before we get home . Should be a fun(?) trip. Left Omaha about midnight and got treated to a Midwestern thunder storm from Lincoln to North Platte. Continuos lightning, wind, high winds, heavy rain, and reports of funnel clouds. Pretty exciting that the kids slept through most of it. Dropped Matt & Amanda off in Cheyenne with their parents and headed west at 8:00 am. We dropped Tiffanie off in Laramie and continued on to Rock Springs. Dropped off Amy, Brandon,& Taylor and headed toward Star Valley at 12:40. Arrived at 3:45 and everybody scattered to pick up where they left off. A great trip and thanks to all those who supported the youth through their various fundraisers.

EUROPE PILGRIMAGE 2010

WOW!!!!!!

We departed from the valley without a hitch. All the contingencies were unnecessary as all the youth were ready to go. We started loading in Alpine, then to Nordic Ranch, The Wolf Den and then the church, and on our way at 5:30. No stops no hitches & no glitches and we were at the airport in Salt Lake City by 9:30.

Waited for the group from Rock Springs and left at 12:40 p.m., arriving in Chicago at 4:45. A bit of dinner and a wait for our flight to Munich at 8:40. Youth are still excited, this old guy is looking for a little sleep, maybe tomorrow.

We are staying in a hostel called “Lemon” informally, and a much longer name on the Internet. Fr. Flo arrived about 2:30 this morning coming from Rome and the closing of The Year of the Priests. Breakfast is very simple, cold cereal, juice, bread, sliced meat & cheese, the rooms are small, but adequate with shared bathrooms. We started the day going to Auschwitz/Birkenau. We had an excellent guide and learned not only the history of the camp, but a lot of the history of Poland. To say that the tour was thought provoking would be an understatement. One important point is the number of Poles, and other ethnicities who were murdered in these camps. There are 2.2 million Poles unaccounted for from WW II, not counting the Polish Jews. Our guides referred to the camps as international cemeteries.There are many things to think about as far as how we treat our fellow man. We traveled to Watowice, the birthplace of JP II, toured his house and the town and the minor basilica next to his house, which is very beautiful. Traveled back to Krakow for a late dinner. Dinner is soup,cole slaw, potatoes, and meat, beef or chicken. Simple fare, but quite tasty and filling. The kids are taking full advantage of the local market across the street, even freezing bottles of water in the ice cream cooler, because there is no ice. Off to bed.

Today was a trip through more Polish history, with a tout of the Wavel Castle and Cathedral. The castle was the home of the Polish kings until the Capitol was moved to Warsaw in the 1700′s. Poland ceased to exist as a country from 1795 until the. End of WW 1 when the Allies re established the country. The castle has been restored to much of it’s former splendor including the 136 tapestry wall hangings which comprise the largest collection in the world. The workmanship and colors, including gold & silver threads is just magnificent. Our guides were excellent and made the history of Krakow and Poland come alive for our youth. We attended Mass in Polish in the Wavel cathedral. What a beautiful structure! After Mass we took the train to the Shrine of Divine Mercy and spent time on the grounds, in the Basilica, and other buildings. The facility is quite large and beautiful and is still an active convent and school. Took the train back to the castle.and back to the hostel for a 9:00 dinner, 9:45 meeting to reflect on the day, and off to bed for a 6:00 breakfast and departure.

Monday & we are off to Czestochowa and Katowice. The trip is nearly 200 miles, so travel is a part of the day, which allows everyone to catch up on their sleep and view the Polish countryside on a cool, rainy day. The stop to see the Black Madonna was truly wonderful. Fr Flo celebrated Mass in the chapel adjacent to the Chapel of the Blessed Mother. Although today was a Monday, the church was continually packed with tours, 1st communicants and their families, and pilgrims. We got a real dose of being wedged in a crowd, an unusual situation for people from Wyoming. We were able to get quite close to the icon which is heavily jeweled and is above the altar at the back of the chapel. The adjoining basilica is undergoing restoration and is also quite breathtaking. Our Lady of Czestochowa is considered the Mother of Poland and this shrine is the most important in the country. This stop has to be the highlight of the trip to Poland and made everyone very aware of their Catholic heritage. We then traveled to the city of Katowice, and visited the Church of St. Stephen and the Cathedral of Katowice. The cathedral is the largest in Poland, and is spectacular inside. The outside is showing the effects of age and elements and is undergoing restoration. The church of St. Stephen is quite beautiful and was a wonderful stop and lunch break. Most of the youth stopped by the local confectionary and then treated us to a busload of sugar high teens. I did notice that there are a lot of retail coal yards throughout the country, the sign of a modern, progressive country. Busing back to Krakow for a walk through old town, a night to pack and prepare for the trip to Prague, about 340 miles away, tomorrow. In the old part of Krakow is the Basilica of the Virgin Mary. We had about 20 minutes to tour the basilica before it closed. The interior is undergoing restoration and the stained glass, altar, and wooden structures covered in gold leaf are truly magnificent. We had about a half hour to walk through the stalls in the central square and buy an assortment of items. Chess sets, jasper necklaces & bracelets, ceramics, & icons seemed to be the most prevalent items. A bus ride home, very late dinner and pack for the trip to Prague.

We actually left on time, with a 6:00 departure. A lot of fog after 2 days of rain, but beautiful sunny morning. The bus trip to Prague took 8 hours and provided an opportunity to nap and catch up on the journal. We unloaded bags at the hostel/hotel and headed downtown with our new guide. When we walked into the Church of the Infant Jesus of Prague, the brother who was at the Ambon asked Fr. Flo if he wanted to celebrate Mass. Fr. Flo said yes, and he celebrated in the main church. What a beautiful church with the Infant Jesus image present on the right side of the church. After Mass we walked from the church, over the Charles Bridge, into Old Town Prague. Hard to compare a city that is 1000 years old with Star Valley and keep a clear perspective. We got back to the hotel for an 8:30 dinner, meeting and than bed after finally catching up on emails. Headed out from the hotel at 9:00 to St. Vitus Cathedral. The church is the largest and most important in Prague and took 900 year to complete. This gothic style church is so big and magnificent that it literally takes your breath away. We walked down from the church to river level, met our bus and headed for Germany. Prague is just a beautiful,old, and interesting city. I think I could come back for another visit sometime in the future. Our trip to Fulda took about 6 hours. We arrived at the convent/retreat house about 6:30, got our room assignments, and headed for Mass at 7:00. After Mass, the sisters had dinner for us, then group meetings to discuss the days activities and bed by 11:00. Thursday started with Mass at 6:45, then breakfast and on the bus to downtown Fulda at 9:00. We toured the old town, about the population of Cheyenne,and then went through the Cathedral of St. Boniface. The monastery was built in the ninth century, and the original chapel of St. Michael was round like the Church of the Holy Cross, rather than in the shape of a cross. The cathedral was the largest in Europe until the 1800′s when newer, bigger churches were completed. Because Boniface is the patron of Germany, the fall conference of German bishops is still held in Fulda. Although a small city, it’s location has made it an important crossroads. The boundary between the former East/West Germany is just east of the city. After finishing the tour, we boarded the bus and headed for Cologne.

Cologne is a blur of churches. The Church of the Apostles, St. Mary in Kapitol, St. Mary in Lyskirchen, St. Martin of Tours, and the Cathedral of St. Peter and the Blessed Mother, which houses the bones of the wise men, and is the second largest Gothic cathedral in the world. The cathedral is on the scale of the duomo of Milan, which is where the archbishop “borrowed” the relics of the magi. The evening and all day tour was broken up by dinner where one of the menu items was horse sauerbraten, which was tried by the youth. Some of them decided that horses are for riding and not for eating. The whole day and a half was spent on foot and there are a lot of tired toes in the group this evening. We will venture out for dinner at 7:00 and then back to the hostel to prepare for an early start to travel to Aachen to visit the cathedral and Charlemagne’s burial site. Our tour guides in Cologne were architectural and historical experts. My head is still spinning with facts, figures, and explanations of what we saw today and yesterday evening. One item that I need to pass on is that our guide Stefan asked me if all American teenagers were as reverent, quiet and well-behaved as our group. He said that European youth didn’t pay attention and were disruptive and disrespectful. I pass this on because the youth on this trip have, in my opinion also, been extremely well behaved in the churches as well as on the street. You should have been with them and the Sisters at Fulda, what a delight and such respect!!!

Saturday and we are on our way to visit Charlemagne’s Cathedral in the town of Aachen. We took the long way, first stopping at a Marian apparition site in Banneux, Belgium. Our stop in Belgium made our fourth country on this trip which covered over 2500 bus miles. The site is remote yet very close to Louven Belgium, where one of our seminarians, Brandon Halverson is studying for the diocese. Fr. Flo celebrated Mass in a small chapel, and we toured the grounds and had the 8 appearances explained bynthe reside t priest. We then drove to Aachen to tour the cathedral, the treasury and the old downtown. The cathedral was built in the 800′s and then added on in the 1600′s, and was originally a tall, octagonal structure. There are two reliquaries in the cathedral, one containing the bones of Charlemagne and one containing 4 items: the cloak of the Blessed Mother, swaddling cloths of the infant Jesus, the loin cloth of Christ on the cross, and the cloth on which lay the head of John the Baptist. Because of the pilgrimage nature of Europe during middle ages, the churches with the most relics got the most visitors and the most money. Just when you can’t stand to see another church, you enter a spectacular structure such as this cathedral. We toured the treasury to see more gold than at any other stop and then made the trip back to Cologne for dinner and to pack.

Sunday morning we were up and on our way to Frankfurt. We made a stop at the Schoenstatt Shrine in the town of Valleran. A sister who has lived at one of the convents in Milwaukee met us and was our guide. We attended Mass (in German) at one of the chapels. Josh Wilbert from Rock Springs served at the Mass and did an outstanding job. Again we saw that the Mass is the Mass, regardless of language or country. We traveled along the Rhine River, looking at old castles and tour boats, and lots of tourists. We stopped for lunch and a bit of shopping and than headed to Frankfurt for dinner and another short night. We leave for the airport at 8:45 in the morning and should be in Salt lake tomorrow night at about 10:00, and hopefully back in Star Valley between 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning on Tuesday.

This has been a wonderful opportunity for our youth. For some their first plane ride, for most, their first time out of the United States, and for all, the first time in these countries. They had the opportunity to visit Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Belgium. They had chances to learn history, religion, and culture in a variety of settings. They had a chance to grow and to pray and to learn about the Catholic Faith and it’s Traditions in another part of the world. They traveled on little sleep, enjoyed diverse dining experiences, walked until they were darn tired, and through it all, they kept their sense of humor and sense of awe for everything we saw. Every church we entered, they first knelt in prayer before learning the facts and information. I think they had a great time and I certainly know that I did!!!!!!!!!!

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