Welcome back to our adventures down under! It is now 8pm in Sydney on Sunday, and so much has happened. We left Saturday morning early so the teens could get to Paddy's market for souvenirs. The Encore Rep told us it was a five minute walk from the bus stop. Apparently 5 minutes in Australia is 40 minutes back home. hehe (I wouldn't know because Erich, Mary Jo, Christine, and Andrew took them while Pam and I stayed back to do laundry. For just the essentials for 19 of us, it was over $40. Yikes!) The teens loved the market and since they only had 15 minutes to shop, we told them we would come back.
When we returned to the hotel from doing laundry, I finally got to talk to my family! Hooray! (Happy Birthday to both Aunt Sue's!) I miss you all lots and lots! Everyone sounds like they are doing fine without us, but that is a good thing. (I guess. jk) After the phone call, Pam and I walked the beach eating gelato. (Not a bad life if you can get it.) Once the group returned from Paddy's we left for our 10 kilometer pilgrim walk. Our liturgy guide had prayers for multiple stops throughout the city along with stops at "power stations." Each one of us, if we wanted to, took a turn leading prayer at the stops. We started our beginning prayer at the bus stop outside of our hotel. It was a neat experience praying with each other throughout the day. I think my very favorite stop was in the middle of the bridge. The locals told us that they have never closed the bridge for anything, and a lot of Sydneysiders who live in the high rises around the bridge were on their balconies yelling and cheering. (KJ~It reminded me a lot of the Flying Pig Race, except that I didn't have to run. hehe) We stopped directly under the Sydney Flag in the middle of the bridge to say our second prayer stop prayer. It was amazing to see the throngs of people praying and praising God with no fear of how they looked or what other people would think. It was truly inspiring.
This isn't to say that there weren't protesters and evangelizers from other religions around. The Catholics around us just dealt with it peacefully and non-confrontationally! Let me give you an example: At one of the corners there was a man passing out "Aids Awareness" ribbons wrapped around condoms. About 10 feet away you started to see them on the ground and around rubbish cans. One of our boys saw a girl from another country picking them up off the ground and asked her what she was doing. She replied without hesitation that she was picking them up to throw them away at the end of the route because "true love is worth more than 25 cents." It stopped our guys for a minute, and then they started to pick them up to throw them away also.
The last part of our walk was straight up a big hill. By this time, our backs and feet were hurting and we just wanted to get there. We even missed the power station stops at the end because they were on flags way up in the air, and all of the other signs were on big yellow placards. We didn't skip our prayers though. We found a really cool gum tree to rest under and say our ending (and power station) prayers.
The line to get into Randwick Racetrack was the most organized of the week. We picked up our last three 'green bag' meals and went to find our spot. We were assigned a section in J, but when we got there, it was full. The volunteer told us to find a spot in the public section of K and to move back for mass in the morning. At this point, we didn't care. We just wanted to drop our gear and rest. We ended up in K3, right in the front, by the circle track. (Randwick is a horse race venue.) All 19 of us were together, and that was all I cared about. We spent some time blowing up our rafts (I blew up four of them for others, but we all know that I have more hot air than most. hehe) and then we got settled in for the vigil with the Pope. There were concerts leading up to the vigil, and some of our girls got up to dance.
During the prayer walk, we stopped at Darling Harbour for lunch. (It was nice to eat by our favorite fountain, and the Aussies are very affectionate.) By now we were set up at Randwick, and hungry. We opened our packs to find. . .say it with me. . .tuna or salmon! A lot of us just skipped the meal.
The vigil started and the music and prayers were very moving. This was a very good thing because it was the coldest I have ever been. Most of us had on multiple shirts, sweatshirts, pants, and socks; and we still froze! The teens were told that they could go explore as long as they stayed in groups of three and checked in every hour. They had all night adoration in four different tents, prayer stops, and snack/hot chocolate booths. There was a lot to see. The songs and group chants went on all night.
At 2am I had pretty much given up on the idea of sleep, and it was much warmer walking around anyways, so Pam, Christine, and I walked down to the gas station (called petrol stations here) to get a paper and a real hot chocolate. (Did I mention it was cold?!) They routed you around the whole race track at the beginning, but the police officers took pity on us and let us hop the fence. (Always, always be nice to police officers! hehe) We walked back to our section and checked on everyone there. In our backpacks, we were given "thermal blankets" that look like a sheet of 5 by 5 foot pieces of aluminum foil. (Pardon me! Here it is pronounced
AL-U-MIN-E-UM.) Looking over our section reminded me of a bunch of Chipotle Burritos snuggled together. (Ok, maybe I do need a little more to eat.)
At 8am, after staying up staring at the Southern Cross before the clouds covered it up, we started Morning Prayers. After scraping our frozen bodies off of our plastic rafts, we went to toilet, brushed our teeth, and got ready for the Closing mass. (Some of us ate our hard dinner rolls for breakfast, but again, most of us skipped it and just drank more bad hot chocolate.)
We got out our Liturgy guides and decided to stay in section K for mass because we had a better view of the jumbo screens, BUT that wasn't all we had a better view of! The Pope drove around the track, this time slowly, and we had front row seats again! He waved to our group and smiled.
I got an awesome shot of him that we posted below. See how the Holy Spirit blesses us! What are the odds that we would get front row seats for the Pope twice??? It was awesome!
During mass this morning, the Aborigines brought the Gospel up to the altar in a beautiful dance to tribal music. Then after the homily and renewal of our baptismal promises. Pope Benedict confirmed 24 people! Can you imagine being confirmed in front of millions of people by the POPE??? The Holy Spirit is definitely present today.
The mass took three hours and ended with the announcement of WYD '11 being held in Madrid, Spain. The Spaniards went crazy! There excitement was catching!
The walk back to the bus stop was supposed to be a long one. (300,000 people trying to get on the same buses.) One of the locals took pity on us though, and told Erich how to get to a rarely used bus stop. It was a bit of a walk, but well worth it. The bus wasn't crowded and it took us all the way back to our hotel.
We got back to our hotel around three and had some free time until our 'nice dinner' started at 6:30pm. Some of us took naps, got showers, shopped in the stores on the strip, and Erich and I did another load of laundry. (It feels like home. jk) We decided to dress up for dinner this evening and the group really cleaned up well.
The meal was great too! We had three types of salad, mostaciolli with olives, chicken breasts, pork steaks, fruits and vegetables, and a cheese and cracker tray. It was a real meal, inside a warm building, and all of it was identifiable. AWESOME!!!! After dinner, some of the group went to get gelato, and some went to take a walk on the beach, and I came to blog so I could be in bed by midnight! (YAHOO!!!)
We love and miss you lots, and can't wait to come home and tell you all about our personal stories. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We promise to do the same!
P.S. Please remember that it takes about 10 minutes each time we post a single picture, and another 40 to do a video, so if we don't have a lot of what you'd like to see, I'm sorry. We promise to show you more when we get home!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
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. . . .
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. . . .
Thursday, July 17, 2008
This is the center of the spiral fountain at Darling Harbor. The young man praying on the center rock was from New York. It was nice to take off our shoes and soak our tired feet for a minute. 
This is the outside of the Sydney Opera House as we approached for the Papal arrival.
This is the Pope's boat - see how close it came to our seats and the view we had!!!!
This is the view we had of the Pope on the big screen TV at our site. It was amazing to watch him lead the prayer service in larger-than-life size on the screen. A picture of the Pope driving by us (15 feet away) is forthcoming but we need to download it from a different camera.
Jessie Manbusan in concert - an incredibly moving experience of "Church" through community and music (complete with a room full of people doing silly hand motions)
They seem to be big on sky-writing here in Sydney... in addition to this fish, we have seen a cross, and the words Jesus and Welcome. It takes a lot of talent to draw in the clouds
This is the WYD banner. It is a giant paint-by-number that all the gathered youth have the opportunity to help paint. We all took turns adding a bit of color to the mural. We will post the completed mural later in the week.
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