Catechesis with Bishop Rhoades!

G’Day Mates!
We enjoyed a very special catechesis today with our very own Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades! Also with us were pilgrims from South Africa, Kenya, Australia, Florida and New Zealand. Bishop Rhoades, of course, captivated the crowd while speaking about the Holy Spirit bringing us strength to go out as evangelists and missionaries. “The Holy Spirit gives us strength to live as faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus and to bear witness to Him with courage.” Bishop Rhoades continued “he gives us the strength of fidelity, patience, and perseverance on the path of good and in the struggle against evil.” After Bishop’s teaching, the floor was open for discussion, and many of the students raised their hands for questions, too many to answer in the allowed time. Some questions were deeper then others, but they all were very good and thought out. Bishop Rhoades, answered questions ranging from sin and its effects to bringing others to the Catholic faith. He answered each question truthfully, even when the questions covered more sensitive topics; the pilgrims responded well to this. They seemed to like that answers were being given and never avoided. Many of our HBG pilgrims were able to ask questions during the forum.

We then had a couple hours to roam around Sydney and get in our position for the Stations of the Cross. You can see in the crowd photo, the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims all making their way to the site. Even with so many people in one place, the entire field was silent as the cross went to each station around Sydney until it finally made its way to the pilgrims for the final stations. You can’t imagine the chills that you get when you see so many people touched by the presence of the Lord.

Though this was the peak of our day, we did enjoy more WYD event’s after the Stations of the Cross. Many attended music concerts, the photo’s of pilgrims dancing were from a concert provided by Steve Angrisano, Jesse Manibusan, and Steven Curtis. And just a couple of photo’s thrown in to show you how much our pilgrims are representing America.

Well, we have a very long two days ahead of us, and I regret to say that there will be no blog until our Sunday night, (Sunday morning in the U.S.) due to the vigil tomorrow. But please, please pray for good dry if not dry & warm weather and keep all of us in your prayers!

Good Night from Australia!