What a Wonderful World

Like the title says, God has definitely made a wonderful world. 

The first place that I was able to experience was Ireland. Ireland is definitely a beautiful country. It did rain a lot, constantly reminding me that I was not in sunny San Diego or Orange County, but it was still beautiful and I was able to take home with me some beautiful pictures and exciting memories. The little town that we stayed in Ireland was called Rosscarberry. It is a beautiful peaceful town, very different from the crazy city that I come from. On the trip in Ireland we were able to hike to many castles, which often meant many exciting adventures. On one of the adventures, we saw (and then hiked to) a huge cross that was on the top of a hill that overlooked the ocean. All of the Catholic Churches in Ireland were defintely beautiful. We also visited  some of the neighboring towns, which gave us a small impression of what the cities in Ireland are like. 

After spending an amazing week in Ireland, we flew to Rome, Italy. Clearly, it was a wonderful and spiritual experience that has definitely stengthened my faith. It is one thing to hear and learn about all the old churches and the significance that each one has in class, however, being able to look and touch all the different churches was surreal. For example, walking into the Catacombs and knowing that it was there that many of the first martyrs prayed and celebrated Mass was truly moving. We were very fortunate that we were able to be in the general audience on Wednesday and see Pope Benedict XVI. At one point, luckily in English, one of the Cardinals presented us by name as one of the Universities that had come to see him. To hear him speak directly to the English speaking pilgrims in English was thrilling. Luckily, Joey was able to video the English speaking part of the morning. However, when the Cardinal mentioned our school, I am not sure how well the video camera will be able to pick up that because of how loud everyone started screaming and waving towards the Pope, so for those few seconds of our "Catholic fame," all you can hear on the video is excited screaming.

I am so blessed to have been able to experience all of the wonderful things on this trip. 

All the time, God is good.