A message from Deb…
I write this having just returned from our overnight vigil and closing WYD Mass- our photographer and blogger is still running around getting some more great shots! So I’m giving her the night off…well except for actually taking the photos, and downloading them, and imaging them, and uploading them to the site! Follow them from bottom to top and you see our two days. We began with an All-American Mass Saturday morning-the American pilgrims gathered with our Bishops -before our pligrimage walk to Randwick Racecourse or the renamed Southern Cross Precinct. Once at the SCP, we gathered three meals worth of food, and set up camp. An evening of prayer with Pope Benedict, and a candlelit Eucharistic Adoration set the mood. The night resonated with sounds of pilgrims singing, and drums beating. We woke for a morning of prayer and trading of souvenirs amongst the pilgrims, before Pope Benedict's arrival. We've got some great pictures of his trip around the racetrack! World Youth Day culminated with a beautiful closing liturgy which included 24 candidates receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. One of our pilgrims even received Communion from the hands of the Holy Father!! It was announced that Madrid, Spain will host World Youth Day in 2011!
I write this having just returned from our overnight vigil and closing WYD Mass- our photographer and blogger is still running around getting some more great shots! So I’m giving her the night off…well except for actually taking the photos, and downloading them, and imaging them, and uploading them to the site! Follow them from bottom to top and you see our two days. We began with an All-American Mass Saturday morning-the American pilgrims gathered with our Bishops -before our pligrimage walk to Randwick Racecourse or the renamed Southern Cross Precinct. Once at the SCP, we gathered three meals worth of food, and set up camp. An evening of prayer with Pope Benedict, and a candlelit Eucharistic Adoration set the mood. The night resonated with sounds of pilgrims singing, and drums beating. We woke for a morning of prayer and trading of souvenirs amongst the pilgrims, before Pope Benedict's arrival. We've got some great pictures of his trip around the racetrack! World Youth Day culminated with a beautiful closing liturgy which included 24 candidates receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. One of our pilgrims even received Communion from the hands of the Holy Father!! It was announced that Madrid, Spain will host World Youth Day in 2011!
We are showering and recovering after a long cold night spent huddled in sleeping bags. Our bodies are tired, but our spirits are renewed and refreshed!! While we have two or three days to go before we head home (depending upon where you are on the globe, and when you might be reading this!), I’d like to take the time to express my gratitude and share with you some of my thoughts. On behalf of the Youth & Young Adult Ministry Office of the Diocese of Harrisburg I pray that this experience has brought all of us, whether here physically or with us in spirit closer to Christ and deeper into our understanding of Church, as is our mission.
To have received our Lord consecrated by our Holy Father in the Eucharist-in union with our brothers and sisters from around the world, to have heard the words and wisdom from our Spiritual Father on earth, our beloved Pope Benedict, and to have received his blessing has hopefully been as transformational as it has been surreal!
We have celebrated daily Mass-either half a million strong, as a nation or as an intimate group of 40 since the start of our trip. Many have made pilgrimage to St. Mary’s Cathedral and prayed through the intercession of Blessed Pierre Georgio Frassati the young patron of World Youth Day, whose body was brought to the Cathedral. We have visited and venerated the World Youth Day Cross and Icon which have traveled around the world in preparation for their arrival in Sydney. Many have partaken in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and fulfilled the conditions for the plenary indulgence granted to participants of World Youth Day. The relics of several saints that have been brought to Sydney have been visited. We have stood beside one another, and shared our faith with the world, as we strengthened our own commitment and deepened our own understanding of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church we belong to and love. Truly the Spirit has been at work!
In joyful thanks, I recognize the support and encouragement and tremendous leadership and shepherding of our own Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades. What a shining example of witness to Christ he has been to our entire group, and to those who were blessed to have been part of his catechetical sessions!! His words of truth, his blessings, and his sharing in the journey with us have been unforgettable, deeply moving, and inspirational.
My deepest gratitude to all of you who have been not only following this blog but praying for the blessings of this pilgrimage for our pilgrims! Family & friends, please know that we have had a tremendous experience of Church, and appreciate all you have done to make this journey for us possible. We spoke with our Bishops this week about the power of the Holy Spirit. And on more than one occasion spoke of the gifts that we are given, but the same Spirit that bestows them. We each have our role to play in the Body of Christ, and are dependent upon each other in this Communion of Saints. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the role you have played in our pilgrimage. There have been many blessings bestowed upon us, and we have seen the face of Christ in the hospitality of so many, and are grateful for the intercession of your prayers. Your comments posted on the blog have kept us going many a night, when we were awfully tired, and not wanting to take the time to post our own journal of the day. But we knew you were counting on us…thank you, thank you for your support.
We have made many friends along the way, and have been hosted, shuttled and welcomed in the most hospitable manners. We were able to make Mt. Erin and Wagga Wagga truly our home away from home. Judy and Charlie, thank you for your prayers & thoughts during the night of our vigil! We miss you!! We were able to easily put ourselves into the trust and care of the staff at the Tops, the Harvest Staff and into the wonderful drivers we had along the way…Phil especially, but David, Frank, and Derek as well. If you are reading, we gratefully thank you all of you for sharing your time, stories, expertise, and welcome with us along this journey.
It has been an honor and a privilege to have brought this group to Sydney, Australia to join with young people from around the world at the Eucharistic Table lead by our wonderful Pope Benedict XVI. Be assured that your children, your siblings, your friends, your parishioners, have made a true faith journey, and have represented you well along the way. While we had several obstacles to overcome throughout the last 2 weeks, I can honestly say that behavior and respect (or lack thereof) were not major issues that we as chaperones had to contend with. We were complimented on many more than one occasion on the manners and respect displayed by our participants. They are a terrific group!
As for our chaperones, many, many thanks for the late nights and early mornings. For the bed checks, conversations, laughter, and group gatherings. For not losing anyone!! For your flexibility, your time, your sacrifice, your openness and willingness to share. Joan- many thanks for all you did in caring for our pilgrims and chaperones. You all lifted huge loads of responsibility and worry from my shoulders. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have made this journey with you! I wish you peace and may your generosity of spirit return to you 100, 60 and 30 fold!!
I am also extremely thankful for all who made this blog possible…all those at the Catholic Witness and in the IT department at the Diocese who updated our computer, set up our blog site, updated the website, approved comments for posting…and most certainly to our dear Emily, who came ‘home’ at night as tired as everyone else, and downloaded the many pictures she took from the heavy camera equipment she carried throughout the day, and then wrote our post with heavy eyelids. She has been a gift to us in logging and archiving our journey, and in her energy, support and encouragement! I thank you for your friendship over these past two weeks!
A special shout out to Jean and Rob, Father John, and all the rest of the ladies in the office. I thank you for your great effort in getting the logistics together for our departure over the past months and weeks! You have been and continue to be in my prayers.
To have received our Lord consecrated by our Holy Father in the Eucharist-in union with our brothers and sisters from around the world, to have heard the words and wisdom from our Spiritual Father on earth, our beloved Pope Benedict, and to have received his blessing has hopefully been as transformational as it has been surreal!
We have celebrated daily Mass-either half a million strong, as a nation or as an intimate group of 40 since the start of our trip. Many have made pilgrimage to St. Mary’s Cathedral and prayed through the intercession of Blessed Pierre Georgio Frassati the young patron of World Youth Day, whose body was brought to the Cathedral. We have visited and venerated the World Youth Day Cross and Icon which have traveled around the world in preparation for their arrival in Sydney. Many have partaken in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and fulfilled the conditions for the plenary indulgence granted to participants of World Youth Day. The relics of several saints that have been brought to Sydney have been visited. We have stood beside one another, and shared our faith with the world, as we strengthened our own commitment and deepened our own understanding of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church we belong to and love. Truly the Spirit has been at work!
In joyful thanks, I recognize the support and encouragement and tremendous leadership and shepherding of our own Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades. What a shining example of witness to Christ he has been to our entire group, and to those who were blessed to have been part of his catechetical sessions!! His words of truth, his blessings, and his sharing in the journey with us have been unforgettable, deeply moving, and inspirational.
My deepest gratitude to all of you who have been not only following this blog but praying for the blessings of this pilgrimage for our pilgrims! Family & friends, please know that we have had a tremendous experience of Church, and appreciate all you have done to make this journey for us possible. We spoke with our Bishops this week about the power of the Holy Spirit. And on more than one occasion spoke of the gifts that we are given, but the same Spirit that bestows them. We each have our role to play in the Body of Christ, and are dependent upon each other in this Communion of Saints. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the role you have played in our pilgrimage. There have been many blessings bestowed upon us, and we have seen the face of Christ in the hospitality of so many, and are grateful for the intercession of your prayers. Your comments posted on the blog have kept us going many a night, when we were awfully tired, and not wanting to take the time to post our own journal of the day. But we knew you were counting on us…thank you, thank you for your support.
We have made many friends along the way, and have been hosted, shuttled and welcomed in the most hospitable manners. We were able to make Mt. Erin and Wagga Wagga truly our home away from home. Judy and Charlie, thank you for your prayers & thoughts during the night of our vigil! We miss you!! We were able to easily put ourselves into the trust and care of the staff at the Tops, the Harvest Staff and into the wonderful drivers we had along the way…Phil especially, but David, Frank, and Derek as well. If you are reading, we gratefully thank you all of you for sharing your time, stories, expertise, and welcome with us along this journey.
It has been an honor and a privilege to have brought this group to Sydney, Australia to join with young people from around the world at the Eucharistic Table lead by our wonderful Pope Benedict XVI. Be assured that your children, your siblings, your friends, your parishioners, have made a true faith journey, and have represented you well along the way. While we had several obstacles to overcome throughout the last 2 weeks, I can honestly say that behavior and respect (or lack thereof) were not major issues that we as chaperones had to contend with. We were complimented on many more than one occasion on the manners and respect displayed by our participants. They are a terrific group!
As for our chaperones, many, many thanks for the late nights and early mornings. For the bed checks, conversations, laughter, and group gatherings. For not losing anyone!! For your flexibility, your time, your sacrifice, your openness and willingness to share. Joan- many thanks for all you did in caring for our pilgrims and chaperones. You all lifted huge loads of responsibility and worry from my shoulders. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have made this journey with you! I wish you peace and may your generosity of spirit return to you 100, 60 and 30 fold!!
I am also extremely thankful for all who made this blog possible…all those at the Catholic Witness and in the IT department at the Diocese who updated our computer, set up our blog site, updated the website, approved comments for posting…and most certainly to our dear Emily, who came ‘home’ at night as tired as everyone else, and downloaded the many pictures she took from the heavy camera equipment she carried throughout the day, and then wrote our post with heavy eyelids. She has been a gift to us in logging and archiving our journey, and in her energy, support and encouragement! I thank you for your friendship over these past two weeks!
A special shout out to Jean and Rob, Father John, and all the rest of the ladies in the office. I thank you for your great effort in getting the logistics together for our departure over the past months and weeks! You have been and continue to be in my prayers.
Our Lady of the Southern Cross...pray for us!
We'll tour a bit tomorrow then pack and head for home on Tuesday morning. The blessed and much needed rain (that held off until after our night sleeping outside!!) is falling outside-and as it does, we send peace & love to all of you as we sign off for the night from Stanwell Tops.
We'll tour a bit tomorrow then pack and head for home on Tuesday morning. The blessed and much needed rain (that held off until after our night sleeping outside!!) is falling outside-and as it does, we send peace & love to all of you as we sign off for the night from Stanwell Tops.
As we say in my family…good night, God bless you, love you, see you tomorrow!
4 comments:
During Saturday evening Mass at Holy Infant we prayed for the Holy Catholic Church, our Pope Benedict and our Bishop Kevin and were reminded that in a few hours all of you would be sharing Eucharist together with the world, our Bishop and the Holy Father. It was a very humbling thought. We were able to watch the Mass live on EWTN. It was incredible to see the HUGE crowd at the Racetrack and know that all of you were there participating in that awesome experience. Even over TV we could appreciate the sense of unity and the presence of the Spirit at SCP. Words cannot fully express what we all feel back in Pennsylvania for all of you Pilgrims. Thanks- for taking all of us along with you on this pilgrimage of faith through pictures and blogs and renewing our faith with yours. Pride- that you represented our parishes and families so well to the world; that you faced and overcame the challenges of this pilgrimage through the Holy Spirit, using the gifts within you and others around you.
Patrick.... we are so proud of you. See... it all came together... you were meant to be there. No more doubts, no more hesitations.... now you've seen the strong spirit within you, now you can believe what we already knew. All of the questions you're facing, all of the decisions... the answers are there.
Our prayers are with you all. Have a safe trip home. We'll see you all in a few days.
Hi Jake & WYD Pilgrims
It was so good to hear you voice again and that you were so close to be able to see the Pope and get some good pictures too when he was making his way to the Altar to celebrate the final Mass of WYD. I watched the whole thing on EWTN and they did a really great job. Not the same as being there like you where but very moving just the same. And knowing that you were in that crowd somewhere it made it even more special.
I am sure that you all were exhausted and ready to get cleaned up and have some down time after the walk, the vigil and the Mass. Just reflecting on everything that was bestowed upon all of you during the Holy Father’s addresses and the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during the vigil would be overwhelming.
Just continue to enjoy your last days in Sydney and the sightseeing tour on Monday. Then we can start thinking about Madrid, Spain in 2011.
We will continue to pray that everything continues to go smoothly as you prepare to return home and incorporation what you have received during this amazing trip into your everyday lives.
Jake we love you and cannot wait to see you again in a few days.
Love Mom & Dad (Karen & Phil)
G'day from St Joseph's Culcairn Michael Vineburg from Wagga Catholic Schools Office has been sharing your wonderful blog with us. We are amazed and grateful to be able to share your wondrous journey. Safe travelling .Staff at St Joseph's Culcairn
Dear All,
What a wonderful way to share this extraordinary experience with your loved ones while so far away from home. We have just started back at school for a new term in NSW Australia and we are learning about this blog from our IT department. I cannot wait to have my students ( 8-10 year olds) in class tomorrow to share this with them.
Cheers Gwen
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