The first day in Spain was nice. We def looked like tourists taking pictures galore. The land is beautiful with it's trees and hills and architecture. We rated for 2hrs. It was such good nap! Then we took the subway to the Church in Bagona. Beautiful church! High steeple, inside there were just heart touching paintings. Pictures of the Virgin holding her son baby Jesus close to her heart with so much tenderness. It touched my heart deeply and made me think of our boys. Another painting depicting st. Joseph, Mother Mary and baby Jesus as a family - st. Joseph had his eyes closed as if tired. Mother Mary holding baby Jesus while angels were around helping with chores and one even brought a cup of tea to Mary. So sweet and felt very Human. Another picture was of st. Joseph dying, Jesus sitting next to Him, Mary crying, her eyes,nose red. God father and Holy Spirit above present. It was so touching to see Chua Ba Ngoi present during joseph's last hours, with love and support. Wow. I found the tabernacle in the corner, so humble. As I kneeled to pray, I smelled a pleasant smell, lilies. God smelled so good. I gave thanks and felt so much gratefulness. I prayed for my family, cau Toan, ob ngoai, khoa, for cac Bac,Chu,Di, cac em. I prayed with all my heart. I put some money in the offertory to pray for Khoa. TS put money in to pray for our boys. And when TS called home, me tuyet said they were doing sooo good. No crying, no missing Bo me, eating very good, sleeping good. Only Chu Ni is the one crying bc Thayer toi nghiep cho 2 chau. Hehe. So tinh cam, our little brother is. Sweet. Good heart. After the church, we walked all the way back to the main square. On the way, encountered beautiful scenes and took lots of pictures. We walked down this very long flight of stairs...and was amazed that it lead us straight to where we originally started -the main square, the heart of Bilbao. Wow. Then we enjoyed dinner at the Cafe Bilbao. Tapas, fried calamari, and Sangria. Hmmm. Soooo good all the food. The guys who served us was so nice cha Tri understood what he as saying so well. In the end, he gave us each free bags and liters from the cafe! So nice!! Total bill was 143,50€. Not bad. About 25$/person! We njoyed the music, accordion live, playing music we all recognized from old school vnmese. It was surreal. It was the life. It was sweet. Thankful. Grateful. Good food. Good friends in the Lord. Sangria was verrrrry good.
After dinner, we sat and shared what our hopes were for this trip. Why were we going and what are we looking for. And we have a list of prayer petitions from our group Manna and our family petitions. All in all, it was a wonderful first day here. Thank u god for keeping us safe.
Dizzy now. Sould sleep. Tmw, 9am bkfast. Tour city, gugenhiem museum, and njoy the city before we leave to Loyola via train 3hrs. Start our retreat there for 3-4 days. Gn!! Buenas noches.
aug 5,2011
5:00pm
Here we are, on our way to Loyola (Loiola here in Spain). Our train ride was two hours long. The seats were the hard kind so my behind was hurting after a while but we all were able to sleep. We are pilgrims therefore, be open and take what God gives us. We had the windows pulled down so we can feel the breeze. It was the coolest when we ran through the dark tunnels, the breeze felt so nice!! Refreshing. When I awoke, there were lots of pple on the train. When did they get on, I do not know. Hehe. But at the next stop, they all got off, carrying beach towels. They were going to the beach!! Oh man, if only I could go! The train drove past it and it looked so beautiful and inviting!! Hehe. As I looked out the window, my eyes took in beautiful nature, pictures you only see in books or postcards. The mountainside, sheep, cows on the hills, so green. The beach, Mediterranean sea up ahead there. I wish I could go to the beach and lie down, enjoy the sun and the sound of the waves, feel the water on my feet...but, another time. Right now, we are on the bus on our way to Loyola. Cha Tri said it's a glorious place, a place where you "tha hon," daydream. The road there is very curvy and narrow, and it seems like we are going up the side of a hill/mountain. The town looks like a cute humble little one, with different kinds of architecture, a japanese influence on one house. I saw a Chinese store. There's a river that runs through the city.
It's a work of god how the trees, the millions of trees grow straight up the side of steep mountains. There's a lot of them. And they all just grow evenly up. It's a beautiful sight. I feel so close to god and His presence through this creation, nature. We humans didn't do any of this. god did. A wonder how god planted every seed and nourished the seed so it can grow into tall beautiful trees, one next to the other.
10:16pm.
I'm sitting here at our hotel Loiola. It's pretty nice. Double bed. Nice shower. Good size. When we arrived, the weather was cool and cloudy. We saw a lot of Pple that were there apart of the Magis program. The's pple are from all over the world. After we settled into our rooms, we took a very long walk towards the outskirts of the city to the church that St. ignatius was baptized. Along the way, I saw so many interesting buildings that were apartment-like. All different architecture. It was very interesting and neat. And just showed diversity, creativity and openness. I feel God through the buildings, the river with the ducks in there. So cute. Big ducks too. The city is surrounded by mountains and trees. So tranquil. As I'm writing this, I feels sense of peace and a "Cham" joy. I'm so thankful to be here. So happy. We had a chance to attend mass at st. Sebastian church, where st. ignatius was baptized. It's a beautiful church. Not very big. There was mass in French for all the pilgrims who spoke french. I was touched to tears bc I felt His presence through the cantor. U can tell the music band which consisted of a flutist, 2 violins and a keyboard, that they weren't well rehearsed. Yet the cantor was very patient ( she was apart of their group) and she exuded confidence and knew what she was doing. Her voice was beautiful too. On one song, she lead the first time and for the 2nd time, dropped out and I can hear the congregation singing...pple from all diff backgrounds, diff ethnicities, singing, in French, together. It was so beautiful it touched my heart to tears bc I knew God was present, he was happy that youth and young adults from all over the world were here gathered in His name, to praise and worship him. Wow. The gospel was about the Transifiguration of Jesus. Since we didnt understand, Cha had the gospel on his iPad.
As I read the gospel and came to the part of when Jesus' face shined bright like the sun and his body became white with light, and Moses and Elijah was there, Peter said, let me make 3 tents. As if he was saying Lord, this is the life, it's so good and "perfect". Lets just stay here forever. We won't have to worry about anything anymore. It made me think of how i felt last night in the plaza in Bilbao the food was good, the conversation was nice, the atmosphere perfect and relaxing. I wished i could stay here for a long while. But then...God Father comes out and says This is my Beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Immediately, I thought, how can God ever be well pleased with me? Has he ever been? I am a sinner. I have my faults, my attachments. How can God Father be well pleased with me? I asked that, and let it go for the moment. As I was in line to receive his Body, I felt so close to him, so honored to be about to receive His body. When it was my turn, I bowed deeply and said Amen. the main celebrant smiled at me. And I felt an instant warmth in my heart....I pondered on that feeling for a while. Why did I feel warm and happy when Cha smiled at me? Later on, while we were walking back to the hotel, I received an insight. God father is pleased with me. I am His beloved and he is happy with me! I guess bc I am here, I am open to his guidance, to where he wants to take me, continuing to search Him in all things and to deeper my relationship with Him. I am so happy. I feel loved. Light. So close to God. And even closer with our windows wide open to the rain outside pouring gently on us.
We also walked to the place where St. Ignatius lived after he came back from Paris. He lived and took care of the poor and sick in a hospice like setting. And across the narrow street was a chapel where he preached God's words. It was surreal knowing that this is where st. Ignatius walked and preached and ministered. Along these streets and city. Very neat.
Well, tmw, we are starting our retreat. Disconnect to the outside world, meaning the Internet. =>and create our own space to meet God. I can't wait. Im so excited to began this journey, walk those streets that st. Ignatius walked, dreaming and letting The holy spirit guide me. We are attending mass with all the Magis pple in front of the church where St. Ignatius lived for 6mths and had his conversion. The Father General of the Jesuits will be celebrating mass tmw! What an honor! Well, until next time...god is always with us.
Traveler of God in grace.
Sent from my iPad
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