World Youth Day volunteer gets close to Pope Francis

Elizabeth Balcazar

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Elizabeth Balcazar (right) volunteered at WYD 2013. Courtesy photo/Elizabeth Balcazar

SALT LAKE CITY – Being part of the World Youth Day 2013 as a volunteer gave a Saint Ann parishioner an opportunity to be closer to the pope than she ever could have imagined.

Born in Mexico and raised in Ogden in a Catholic family, Elizabeth (Liz) Balcazar was baptized in the Catholic Church but didn’t receive her First Communion and the Sacrament of Confirmation until 2010, after hearing the testimony of another Catholic.

From that time, her life has never been the same, she said.

"By the grace of God, hearing a testimony inspired me to know the Catholic faith better," said Balcazar.

She recalls that she used to talk to God, saying, "‘God, I want to get to know your son Jesus, but I don’t know in what church or what religion I belong to. Please help me.’ And I came across the testimony of a Catholic person, and that directed me to the Catholic faith."

Balcazar attended her first World Youth Day in Madrid, in 2011.

"I went as a pilgrim. It was such a different experience. … God has given me so many gifts! I came back with the love for the Eucharist," said Balcazar, explaining that she returned from Madrid with the need to go to daily Mass and "a hunger for the Eucharist and Adoration. And so by God’s grace, in September it will be two years that I have been going to daily Mass because of WYD Madrid."

Following that experience, Balcazar decided it was time to give back to WYD. She applied to attend WYD Rio de Janeiro as a volunteer, but several obstacles cropped up.

‘"I was really sick in June so I was not sure if I could make the trip. … Even a week before my departure flight I was very sick and my doctor told me I was not going to be able to go," said Balcazar, who suffers from a chronic stomach disease. "I remember the day that I was flying into Rio. … I was thinking. … ‘God, I am in your hands. If I am sick, you are going to take care of me, and if I am not sick, you are still going to take care of me.’"

The WYD in Rio de Janeiro helped Balcazar increase her faith in Divine Providence "because I was really sick and … so for me it was a gift and almost like a miracle that I did not get sick at all while I was in Rio," she said.

Balcazar learned that she needed to let go and let God take care of her.

"Instead of worrying, it’s just wonderful to let go and offer everything to our Lord," said Balcazar, who served as a media credential volunteer, working with the international and national media that covered WYD. She stayed with a group of about 200 volunteers, sleeping in a church basement and working a volunteer shift every day of the event.

"It’s important that the youth follow Jesus," said Balcazar. "Jesus wants to guide us and help us."

WYD was by far one of the best trips of her life, she said; she even got as close as five steps from Pope Francis.

"I didn’t expect that at all, but one day when we were working at the media center, the organizers told us that we were going to form a human chain along the road that the pope was going on to get to the beach. The spirit of love radiated from him. … His smile just radiates," said Balcazar with a big smile, her eyes shining, filled with the joy of having been so close to the Holy Father.