Pilgrim Profile: Jennifer Roveto

Jennifer Roveto - WYD'11 (Madrid)
Hello OLM! My name is Jennifer Roveto and I will be joining thousands of young people in Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day 2011. I am a 2003 graduate of Our Lady of Mercy, a 2007 graduate of Saint Anthony’s High School, and a senior at Molloy College this fall. I am extremely excited to embark on this amazing pilgrimage with my two brothers, Steven and Matthew, and our cousin, Karen. I feel very blessed to experience this unique, once in a lifetime opportunity. Having vacationed in several different countries, such as France, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and even Japan, I truly look forward to visiting Spain because I know it will be like nothing else I’ve seen. The difference here is that I am about to go on a life-changing journey with my family and friends where I will get to meet other people my age who share my beliefs. This is not a vacation…this is my chance to deepen my faith and to represent Our Lady of Mercy Parish to the rest of the world. Thank you for your support and please keep us in your prayers!

Pilgrim Profile: Joseph Ceriello

Joe Ceriello - WYD'08 (Sydney), WYD'11 (Madrid)
My name is Joseph Ceriello. I am a graduate of Chaminade High School and am currently a physics major at SUNY Geneseo. Going to World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008 was one of the best experiences of my life not only as a Catholic but also as a human being. Never before had I seen so many people at one location for one purpose. I was meeting people from every corner of the globe, and most of the time we could not understand each other’s languages, but we knew we had something in each of us that made us brothers and sisters, and that would instantly make us best friends. The best way to describe World Youth Day is by saying it’s a tiny slice of Heaven. It’s something that you have to experience to understand. That is why I want to go to World Youth Day. I want to connect with other Catholics from around the world again and relive what it was like to experience the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.

Pilgrim Profile: Eric Werneburg

Eric Werneburg - WYD '11 in Madrid, Spain
My name is Eric Werneburg, and I am a sophomore at Chaminade High School.  At first, I didn't want to ask my parents about World Youth Day because I knew the trip would cost a lot of money, but they felt it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me and encouraged me to go.  I've been active at OLM for my entire life, but I really would like to meet new people.  World Youth Day sounds like it will be a lot of fun for me.  Because I am fairly outgoing, I believe I will make a lot of new friends from other countries.  Fortunately, I have been studying Spanish since I was in 5th Grade, so hopefully I can communicate well in Madrid.  I also think it would be great to receive Eucharist consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

Pilgrim Profile: Brian Graney

Every week we will try to profile a different pilgrim who will be attending World Youth Day 2011, but I thought we'd start with one of OLM's "pioneer" pilgrims, WYD 2008 alum Brian Graney, who has a particular interest in the next event as his brother will be following in his footsteps...


Brian Graney, WYD 2008 in Sydney, Australia
World Youth Day still affects me even two years after I went.  I learned from World Youth Day to stay involved and grow in my faith.  I chose to go to Mount St. Mary's University after learning this at World Youth Day.  I am very involved with Campus Ministry activities at the Mount and I continue to grow in my faith everyday and all because of World Youth Day.  My brother, Brendan, will really enjoy World Youth Day along with all of the others, who will grow in their faith during the pilgrimage to Madrid as well.

Pennies from Heaven Campaign

In the coming weeks we will kick off our "Pennies from Heaven" Campaign as a means of raising money for our pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2011. We recently got together to gather all of our collected coffee cans and cover them with a special WYD'11 label. Please consider taking part in this campaign. All you need to do is take a can and over the next 6-7 months use it to collect pennies in. We will ask for the cans back in June or July, before our trip in August. Whatever you are able to collect and bring back will help. No donation is too small!

Look for the cans to be available at all masses Thanksgiving weekend!

Thank you for your support!

WELCOME!

Welcome to the OLM Life Teen World Youth Day 2011 Blog!

Although we are over a year away from taking part in this historic gathering in Madrid of the Pope and Catholic youth from all over the world, the journey starts now. For the next year we will be meeting, praying, working together, and fund raising to make our dream a reality.

Follow this blog to track all our happenings as we get closer to August of 2011. Thank you for journeying with us and keep us in your prayers!