Kenia Avila, a parishioner of Glenmary’s Holy Family mission in Macon County, Tennessee, experienced a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this summer. With 50 other youth and young adults from the Diocese of Nashville, she traveled to Italy and participated in the Jubilee of Youth from July 28 to August 3.

Pope Francis had declared the 2025 Holy Year as a time for all Catholics “to renew ourselves as ‘Pilgrims of Hope,’” according to the US Catholic Bishops. The Jubilee of Youth is one of many events hosted by the Vatican throughout the year.

Those seven days were packed with events. “We were doing [events] like 7 in the morning all the way until like 9 pm,” Kenia says. Activities included having Mass at the Vatican, walking through the Holy Doors of the four major basilicas, visiting other churches, and attending a live concert.

The Jubilee of Youth concluded with an audience and Mass celebrated by Pope Leo in Tor Vergata, 18 miles outside of the Vatican.

“We had to walk almost like three to four hours,” says Kenia, “outside of Rome to stay the night and camp out for us to have the whole church and Mass service with the Pope.” An estimated one million youth and young adults were in attendance, reports Vatican News.

The following week, Kenia traveled with her pilgrimage group around Italy to visit saints and sacred sites. She went to Assisi, where the bodies of St. Francis and now St. Carlo Acutis are buried; San Giovanni Rotondo, where St. Padre Pio is buried; and Lanciano, where the first recorded Eucharistic miracle occurred in the 8th century.

“I think my favorite part was actually going in to see the first miracle, where it first happened where the host and the wine actually became human flesh and human blood,” Kenia says. “I got chills just seeing this and I was like, I can’t believe I’m literally here.”

While in Lanciano, her pilgrimage group started singing. “It just touched me so much that I cried,” she recalls. “I just feel like [Jesus] was talking to me in that moment.”

Although she’s back home now, her experience in Italy has made a lasting impact. “Ever since [I came back] I’ve just been more involved in church,” she says. “I’ve been going to classes to be a catechist. I’m doing this whole formation in the diocese.”

“I want young adults, like young children, to know that feeling I get when I’m in Mass,” she says, “feeling at peace, getting to know that I’m really close to Jesus, and I get to talk to him, be in prayer. I want young girls to see that and be able to be close to him.”

“It was just an eye-opening experience for me,” she shares. “I want to help others see that as well.”

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