Anyways. I think these photos are among my favs:
Missy singing one of her originals to her grandmother. A very human moment of one person sharing with another.
Jun really loves crawfish.
On Jurassic Park, er, Hilo, on the volcano tour.
Most Reverend Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, signing our cross, with all the names of the kids on it. Very personable guy; has the feel of the next door neighbor you like, or a favorite uncle.Here's a little synopsis that Cow, self-proclaimed youngest and hairiest team member, wrote on our month-long jaunt into Toronto:
In February of this year, a small team of young adults from all across our beloved continent came together in the wilds of Los Angeles, California with the humble hope of taking over the world for Our Lady as soon as possible. And thus was formed the mighty Max007 team, which gets its name from our founding saint (Always a good way to start an organization!) Maximilian Kolbe and of course this year of Our Lord: 2007.And now, back to "ordinary" time.
We've spent the last four months on the road, driving all around the United States (including that envy-causing little state made up of the Hawaiian islands) and spending the entire month of May staying here in the mighty metropolis of Toronto and all the towns and areas around it, giving retreats and talks and hanging out with the youth and trying out hardest to make sure every one of them knows the message that Pope Benedict XVI wants to share with them.
First of all we let the message that God is love, be firmly known. The Holy Father asks us youth this year to "Love one another as [Christ] has loved you." God is not a huge angry old man who is just itching to catch you breaking the rules and send you packing into eternal suffering. God really is Love. Christ gave up everything in the hope that we would be able to be loved and love more deeply.
The faith and the whole of being Catholic is about love as well, and to really get anything out of being Catholic, we all have to be willing to join in that love, and really take interest and ownership of our faith. As the Militia Immaculata, we know that the best example of Christianity is that given by Mary, and so we entrust ourselves to her care and her direction to help us follow and suffer with Christ when necessary.
Through our missionary work we were blessed to be able to follow in that sacrifice in our own meager ways, as we gave up jobs, universities, our friends and families, and came here to Canada to help the teens and young adults here. The whole month we stayed wherever we could, in the basements and spare rooms of whoever could help us, and ate when we had food.
As for the events themselves, they all went beautifully. We went to parishes, prayer groups, youth groups, Catholic schools, and met with all kinds of remarkable and holy people, including Archbishop Thomas Collins and Msgr. Robert Nusca, who is both the rector of St. Augustine Seminary and the spiritual director of the MI in Canada.
When the team first arrived here in Toronto, there were less than a dozen adults who were actively involved and interested in the MI…and several of those people were already on the team. As we leave this beautiful city, the number has been bolstered dozens of times over, due mainly to the enthusiasm of the young people. It has been said on occasion that the youth are the Church of the Future.
That is wrong.
The young people are the Church of right now. Youth are the ones on the front lines, the ones who can love the world from the inside out, the ones who know that joy is worthy fighting for. The Max007 team worked hard to minister to the youth. But the youth are the ones who are ministering to us. Thank you all for such a fantastic experience in Canada.
You guys pray for us, and we'll be praying for all the people we got to meet during this month. God bless you!
