Several months have passed since my pilgrimage to Rome during the Church’s Jubilee of Hope, yet the graces of that week continue to unfold now during this season of Lent.
As I move through daily life and prepare for marriage this summer, I often return to what God revealed during those days of pilgrimage. I see more clearly that what happened in Rome was not only a journey to a holy place, but the beginning of a deeper interior pilgrimage with God that continues to shape how I live and serve today.
When I left Canada last summer, I carried with me questions of discernment, along with the many prayers entrusted to me by others: people who had formed my faith, friends, and parishioners who asked me to remember their intentions. It felt as though I carried a piece of home with me on the pilgrimage, along with my own quiet anxieties about the road ahead and God’s will for my life.
The journey to Rome was not easy. Delays, disruptions, a sudden medical emergency during a layover, and little sleep made the trip physically exhausting before the pilgrimage had even begun. Each step, from the hospital and airport terminals to the cobblestone streets of Rome, became an act of surrender.
I did not arrive rested; I arrived offered.
During the week of the Jubilee of Youth, I was grateful to serve as a volunteer in the accommodation centre for more than 30,000 pilgrims. Our team welcomed pilgrims who had travelled from across the world seeking the grace of the Jubilee.
The work was demanding: early mornings, long hours on our feet, and constant movement across the vast halls in the Roman summer heat. With the long hours came unexpected physical challenges: mosquito bites from my thighs to my toes, blisters on both feet, and eventually a severe ankle sprain that required a cast.
Even simple walking became difficult. Yet it was precisely there that I encountered Christ most clearly.
From being alone in the emergency room during my layover in Toronto to visiting the mobile clinic in Rome, the difficulties of the pilgrimage became moments of deeper trust in God and humble obedience. Despite the pain, I remained present, serving, praying, and carrying the intentions of others with me.
Every swollen foot, every irritated bite, and every slow step across the cobblestones became a small share in Christ’s cross.
It was there that I learned something simple but lasting: hope is not polished; it is persevering.
Christ was present in every difficult step, every restless night, and every moment when I wanted to stop but chose to continue.
Beyond the physical challenges, the spiritual moments of the pilgrimage were deeply grounding. Passing through the Holy Doors, attending Mass in ancient churches, and praying before the relics and tombs of the saints reminded me that the Church is not only history. It is a family, a very human one, where listening, presence, empathy, forgiveness, and love are learned.
During adoration, I found quiet stillness. In the crowds, I experienced the beauty of the universal Church. In moments of silence, I sensed God’s patient work within me and his call to serve the Body of Christ and those most in need, especially the vulnerable.
This pilgrimage stretched and refined me in ways I did not expect. I encountered Christ in both beauty and weariness, in sacred basilicas and in crowded halls where pilgrims slept.
Rome was not only a moment of grace, but a beginning. The Jubilee of Hope continues to echo in my life, reminding me that Christ walks with us in every season, guiding, strengthening, and healing us.
The graces of that pilgrimage did not remain in Rome. They returned home with me, shaping how I seek to live my faith and serve within my parish, the Catholic school community, and the wider Church here in British Columbia.
In the small and often hidden work of accompanying others in their growth, especially young people, I am reminded that hope is formed not only in extraordinary moments, but in the daily act of patiently accompanying one another and quietly bearing witness to Christ in one another.
Brenna Maduro is an education assistant with the Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese and a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Parish in Delta, where she coordinates the VANSPEC ministry and co-founded the youth and young adult initiative Bridging Generations.
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