Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home Youth

A journey of faith and love

byEmilie Ng
18 August 2013
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA

Sea of faith: Pilgrims pack Copacabana beach for the World Youth Day closing Mass in Rio de Janeiro last Sunday. Main photo: CNS/Stefano Rellandini, Reuters

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Sea of faith: Pilgrims pack Copacabana beach for the World Youth Day closing Mass in Rio de Janeiro last Sunday. Main photo: CNS/Stefano Rellandini, Reuters
Sea of faith: Pilgrims pack Copacabana beach for the World Youth Day closing Mass in Rio de Janeiro last Sunday. Main photo: CNS/Stefano Rellandini, Reuters

WHEN I first began working as the youth journalist for The Catholic Leader, I immediately set my heart on finding Pope Francis in Rio de Janeiro.

Not surprisingly, 3.7 million other young Catholics from the world had the same idea.

Fortunately for me, the World Youth Day experience extended beyond a crushed dream to rub shoulders with the leader of my beloved Church.

They say that when a tourist leaves their home, they come back with heavier luggage, but when a pilgrim leaves their home, they return with a lighter heart.

A journey of faith and love
Emilie Ng

In many ways, I left the beautiful city of Rio with a lighter, more trusting heart.

Not long before boarding the plane to South America where I would spend six days in Valparaiso, Chile, God made a slight adjustment to my vocation plans.

I was back in the “Catholic singles market”.

I flew over the Pacific Ocean, reflecting on the fact that I had reclined back into “the market”, and not finding much consolation in being thousands of kilometers above ground.

It was a moment I call my agony in the sky.

But just as passengers are required to return their seat to an upright position during takeoff or landing, I myself had a bit of straightening up to do.

Related Stories

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says

Elderly must set example of faith for young people, Pope says

Brisbane-based Jesuit Father Ian Howells has died aged 91

This happened in Chile.

I must have come off as a moody, introverted foreigner, walking around with meters of barbed wire wrapped around my heart, because I struggled to connect with anybody on a deeper level.

Truly, I was in a state of grieving that denied anybody access to my usual joyful self.

During the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney, I fell into a state of monotony that left me apathetic about the gathering of the whole universal Church.

I spent most of the Vigil with headphones in my ears, listening to Brooke Fraser.

I was determined never to repeat such sad behavior, but my mood in Chile seemed like it was headed for a carbon copy of Emilie, the 20-year old sulky pilgrim.

On one bus trip back to our Chilean home stay, I put in my headphones to alert any pilgrims that I was not vacant for chats, and pressed play on a song called Therapy.

“This is my therapy, cause you won’t take my calls and that makes God the only One that’s left to listen in to me.”

In that song, I encountered God’s jealous love for me, begging me to live completely for Him, totally surrendered to His grace.

That encounter with God, made manifest through the simple lyrics of a Christian pop song, stirred something in my heart.

God’s grace was pulling me back to a life full of joy, not distress; full of hope and not despair.

On July 14, heaving a group of teary-eyed Chileans, who were now close friends, we headed for our final destination, Rio de Janeiro.

This time, I flew with a heart full of hope, and an eagerness to connect with the joy of the Risen Christ.

During World Youth Day, I created a number of precious memories, which helped to lighten my heart.

I prayed an hour before the Blessed Sacrament held in a Monstrance that was blessed by Pope John Paul II, a fact kept secret until moments before Exposition.

I hugged Catholic music missionary Danielle Rose and saw her play the only two songs of hers I know.

I cried for twenty minutes during a reflection on Pope John Paul II.

And the Holy Father waved to me from his Popemobile, or so I’d like to think.

Without God’s graces, I’m sure I would have missed those encounters.

But with God, all things are possible, even for newly single ladies.

World Youth Day reignited my joy for life, but not a life that I’ve planned – it’s a life written by God, who wants me all to Himself.

And that is the look of a pilgrim with a lighter heart.

ShareTweet
Previous Post

InsideOut leads to action in faith

Next Post

Young migrants need help

Emilie Ng

Emilie Ng is a Brisbane-based journalist for The Catholic Leader.

Related Posts

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says
Faith

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says

18 May 2022
Pope Francis greets elderly woman
Vatican

Elderly must set example of faith for young people, Pope says

5 May 2022
Brisbane-based Jesuit Father Ian Howells has died aged 91
News

Brisbane-based Jesuit Father Ian Howells has died aged 91

29 April 2022
Next Post

Young migrants need help

Society is taking a wrong turn

Society is taking a wrong turn

Teen searching for his way

Teen searching for his way

Popular News

  • Pregnant woman

    Queensland election: The pro-life political parties committed to abortion law reforms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Answering God’s invitation to us all

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

by Joe Higgins
20 May 2022
0

BRISBANE grandmother Gwendoline Grant has clocked up 15,000 hours cuddling and caring for sick and premature babies...

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022
Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Catholic relationship advisers offer five tips to look after your mental health

Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

19 May 2022
Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

19 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping