Harvey Scholar Travels - Trevor in Poland

This July, I used my enrichment grant to go on a pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Krakόw, Poland with the Community of the Beatitudes, a religious order based out of France. World Youth Day is a gathering of Catholic youth from all around the globe every two or three years.

The pilgrimage began long before we ever stepped foot on European soil. For months, pilgrims from each corner of the United States were in formation, learning and growing together in the Catholic faith via Skype. Many of us convened in Denver at the solitary American branch of the Community of the Beatitudes. Beginning on July 1st, we visited the site of World Youth Day 1993 at Cherry Creek State Park where Pope John Paul II celebrated mass. From there, we flew to Toulouse, France and began our European leg of the journey.

Through the five-week journey, we traveled by bus, train, and foot between small settlements in the countryside of France to the booming metropolis of Krakόw. In each place, we lived the religious life, celebrating our Catholic faith with the priests, brothers, sisters, and lay members of the Beatitudes houses. I soon saw that a pilgrimage is about working through hard times and deep self-reflection. That essence of pilgrimage life that I realized was lived out daily in the chores, prayer, and suffering we endured individually and as a group.

One of the most important things I learned was patience. Before coming on the pilgrimage, I was patient to what my life had in it. I learned that I had to be patient with different cultures, backgrounds, and even fitness levels through the pilgrimage. The highlight of this learning experience was during the walking pilgrimage from Nay to Lourdes in France. The journey was just over 17 miles on a winding, hilly road through farmland in the heat of summer. I had plenty of experience with heat, humidity and tough conditions and chose to run part of the route (to satisfy my cross country training). Many people in our group, however, hit big obstacles in the form of whole-foot blisters, sprained ankles, dehydration, and severe sunburns. Through seeing this suffering, I learned that I have to focus on serving others in their time of need. It was a glorious time, though, once everyone reached Lourdes and was able to bask in the sanctity of God and His gifts to us. Further, I learned to be patient with myself. I had old habits and ideas that I struggled with during the pilgrimage. I had to work through these flaws, often times slower than I wanted, to see change in my life.

This journey culminated in the final mass of World Youth Day in Krakόw. Over 3 million people packed into the sprawling field of Campus Misericordiae, “The Field of Mercy”, to be with Pope Francis.

Without the generosity of the Harvey family and the change they enacted in my life through the Harvey Scholars Program, I wouldn’t have been able to experience such a spiritually and mentally challenging event. It truly was life changing and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.