Friday, July 18, 2008

The Stations of the Cross

Good Morning! (Well, it is actually 11pm here, but for you it is morning.) We had a very eventful day and we can't wait to share it with you. As usual, we got up at 5:30, ate breakfast,(with real apple juice this time, not the warm baby Motrin that is usually served) and got on the bus to the train station. (Now that we know about the trains, our transportation has been much, much easier!) We rode into the Leichardt Station and it was only about a 20 minute walk to our catechises from there. (And we were only about 15 minutes late, which is wonderful since we made all of the earliest transfers.)

We walked into the church, and Bob & Maggie McCarty were doing the opening exercises and introduction of the Bishop. (They are very high up in our NFCYM.) It was so nice to see them! Before they introduced Bishop Daniel Bowen from Sasskatoo, Saskatchewan(sp?); they called on their music ministry to play the opening song. Guess who it was????? Jesse Manibusen! We were so excited. Remind us when we get home and we will teach you the "Come and Follow Me" song and hand motions. (Everyone did them and had a great time, so don't let the boys tell you different. jk)

Bishop Bowen got up to give us his insights on today's theme, 'Using the Holy Spirit to help you in your lives'. He started with a funny story about one of the pilgrims coming up to him and introducing himself. When Bishop Bowen introduced himself and said where he was from (Saskatchewan), the pilgrim smiled and walked away. Bishop Dan thought this was kind of odd, and then overheard one of his friends ask where the Bishop was from. He smiled and answered, "I don't know. They don't speak English." (It was very cute.)

After that, he gave us some great thoughts to ponder. He reminded us that God continues to tell us how good and wonderful we all are. How can we not be when we are made in his image! He went on to tell us that Jesus didn't make the church for our salvation. He made the church to spread the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth, and we were baptised for the salvation of the world. This is a huge responsibility, but one that we can not overlook. You are never to young, or to old to spread the message of God's truth. To witness is to testify the truth as you know it through God's revelation to us. It will be scary and hard sometimes, but definitely worth it. This was such a great message to hear, and our teens definitely heeded the meaning.

We ate lunch at the catechises sight (tuna again. . .so most of us just ate potato chips, the bun, and lamingtons.) and after we cleaned up, we taught the little girls who were there from the parish how to dance the cotton eyed joe. They had so much fun, and their giggles made my day. As we were hiking down the road to catch our bus/train the kids were showing their new found dancing skills to their Moms/Grandmas in the parking lot. (See, the teens were sharing their gifts already!) (I'm looking forward to dancing with my own diva's when I get home. Maybe I can keep up with them now. nah!)

We took the bus into town and started our walk to Barrangaroo for the Stations of the Cross. Along the path, we found a really neat swap meet that had some fun souvenirs in it. We didn't have time to stop, but promised that we would return tomorrow.

The stations of the Cross for WYD08 were all taken from the New Testament scriptural version of the Via Crucis that was approved by Pope John Paul II for use during the Jubilee Year. The Scriptural texts were taken from the Jerusalem Bible as modified for use in the Australian Catholic Lectionary. It was so interesting to see the differences.

We were all excited because we were stationed to be seated in Section 1 A 5. (This just meant that we were right in between both of the stages that the last 6 stations were going to be presented at.) It was a bit of a struggle to get there, because the volunteers kept giving people conflicting messages. We ended up praying the first station on the way in. Once we got to our area, there was a big screen TV set up to show us the stations not at our location. Each station was acted out with music and prayers that we could follow along with in our pilgrim guide. Station One, 'The Last Supper, was held at St. Mary's Cathedral. Station Two, 'The Agony of our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane' was at the Domain. Station Three, 'Jesus Before the Sanhedrin' was at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Stations Four, Five, and Six; 'Jesus Before Pilate' , 'Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns, and 'Jesus takes up His Cross were all at the Sydney Opera House. Station Seven, 'Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to Carry his Cross, was held at Darling Harbour, and of course, Stations 8-13 were with us at Barangaroo. (Jesus Speaks to the Women of Jerusalem, Jesus is stripped of his garments and nailed to the Cross, Jesus Promises Paradise to the Good Thief, Jesus Entrusts Mary and John to each other, Jesus Dies on the Cross, and The Body of Jesus is brought down from the Cross.)

It was such a moving and powerful experience. The weather was super cold, but not one teen or adult complained. When 'Jesus' walked through the city, he walked right past us. Many of us were crying. I think the thing that struck me personally was the fact that we were watching this reenactment with all 300,000 of us as the crowd. There were people who were talking and not paying attention, national flags waving everywhere, people visibly moved by the experience, and people who were paid to be there for security. The Sydney police lined the route. . .I'm sure for the actors protection, but when you looked around you could feel what Jesus saw and felt when he lived it. Can't you just imagine the people who were working in the city that just glanced at the spectacle as it went by, and then went back to their busy jobs? Or seeing Mary, Veronica, and Mary Magdalene wailing in the streets for their son/friend while people jeered at them. It was hard to realize that we did this to Jesus, and yet he still died to save us because he loves us that much. It was an unforgettable, life changing experience.

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately, this one did too. It was super cold and no one wanted to stay to eat our meals outside. (And, it was day 4 of the stew/soup. . .) One of our adult leaders had a serious migraine at this point, and so we sent him home in a cab with two others to save him the pain of the cheers, bells, and chants that are heard everywhere from every group. He is sleeping it off as we speak.

We took the bus/train back to our hotel, ordered in pizza, (well, it is youth ministry you know), and sorted laundry. Pam and I are going to get up early and take it around the corner to the self-serve laundromat. (Like 19 bright pink shirts we need for the ride home. hehe)

Thanks for continuing to keep us in your prayers. We are living in the moment and praising God for you at home.

P.S. I almost forgot! We found a couple more fun word stories. A car rental agency is called a "car for hire" and a singlet is a tube top. More fun words to come later. . . .

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