Steven:
Today defined the “pilgrimage” part of this pilgrimage. It started “later” than usual. We woke at 0715 for breakfast, our last real meal before our journey. We savored every last bit of it and then prepared our stuff for the walk. We all met downstairs and departed for St. Patrick’s church for our mass with the rest of Boston, Cardinal Sean included. After the beautiful ceremony, we gathered in the courtyard with the rest of Boston for a photo opportunity with the Cardinal. After our quick photo-op, we departed. As we began walking back in the direction of our hotel, we caught glimpse of the other 938,924,374,298 people slowly filing across the bridge. We walked towards Darling harbor and joined the 938,924,374,298 pilgrims on the exciting tour. We took a quick break at the Darling Harbor Convention Center to make use of the facilities and were quickly on our way. There’s not much to continue writing about about the next three hours; walking is walking no matter which way you look at it. Our next real challenge came about a mile away from the end of our journey. We came up on heartbreak hill; rightfully named so because of a 1/10 mile, 40° inclined hill that greeted us. With minimum struggle, from us “young” people that is, we conquered the hill. We were finally met by smiling, ever-so-happy, volunteers that made everything seem better with their words of encouragement. As we continued to get closer and closer to the racetrack, morale began to rise quickly. Upon entering the racetrack, we were quickly greeted be more volunteers who handed us our green bags containing our food. As we journeyed deeper into the racetrack, we came upon our plot of land. It may have been one of the further plots, but it was perfect nonetheless. We claimed our spots of where we were to sleep for the night, surrounded by Germans, Philippines, Hawaiians, and even more Germans. We opened our food and began to eat. Some devoured the whole box of food while others ate sparingly. We later learned that this box was meant to feed us for the next three meals. After food, I decided to take a nap for 3 hours (what else is new??). I awake to the sound of my name being used in a conversation between Sean Longden and a couple of the Philippines. I don’t quite remember much immediately after that, but soon enough, the evening candle-lit vigil began. After the vigil concluded, various groups, including an AMAZING group from Washington D.C., performed on stage raising the morale and getting people dancing and moving. All this activity warmed not only the soul, but the body too for it was a mere 48° outside. After the groups all finished, things began to die down, and people started sleeping. However, the fire of the Holy Spirit (and the fire of all those candles) kept some of us awake. All but two, Bill and I were asleep on the ground when the Germans began to (as usual) mess everything up and speak unnecessarily loud all around us. Ms. Hebert awoke and, with much agitation, SHUSHED the silly Germans. As those who were woken by this nuisance, another arouse when a large crowd of people from all over the world began to chant and clap and pound and carry on with their jolly selves. Despite this disruption, our fatigue of our long hike was enough to put us all back into a deep sleep.
The walk was a true test of faith for all of us especially when it came to working as a well-oiled machine in even the toughest of times; whether it was distributing the gear of the “older” pilgrims amongst the younglings, or providing simple moral support when morale began to run low. All-in-all, today was definitely a journey-and-a-half.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Resources
Here are some other sites that relate to WYD. Some are from the other Boston groups.
http://www.oymboston.org/HTML/wydboston.html Great photos
http://www.pope2008.typepad.com/ Great write ups that go along with our blogs
http://www.xt3.com/ official site on the ground
http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/ Cardinal Sean's blog
We will post our photos when we get to Hawaii. We have been non-stop since we arrived. The next 2 days are crazy. We leave first thing in the morning tomorrow and walk for 4 miles. We will have the overnight and then mass. We leave right after mass, get back to the hotel quickly pack, have dinner with Cardnial Sean in the hotel. We are bolting from dinner to the bus and heading to the plane. Boy, I hope showers are included in this plan. The weather forecast is good for the overnight and morning. Keep us in your prayers!
http://www.oymboston.org/HTML/wydboston.html Great photos
http://www.pope2008.typepad.com/ Great write ups that go along with our blogs
http://www.xt3.com/ official site on the ground
http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/ Cardinal Sean's blog
We will post our photos when we get to Hawaii. We have been non-stop since we arrived. The next 2 days are crazy. We leave first thing in the morning tomorrow and walk for 4 miles. We will have the overnight and then mass. We leave right after mass, get back to the hotel quickly pack, have dinner with Cardnial Sean in the hotel. We are bolting from dinner to the bus and heading to the plane. Boy, I hope showers are included in this plan. The weather forecast is good for the overnight and morning. Keep us in your prayers!
Pilgrim Blog: Day 8
Sean Egan
This morning our alarm clock did not go off but don’t worry mom we still got to have our waffle sticks and coco puffs. We went to the Sydney opera house to see a taping of a show on EWTN, a Catholic television show. Upon arrival we were briefed on all the things we could possibly be injured by and were sent to sit between the opera house and harbor. We met another group from North Dakota that also had very bright orange hats and had been planning their trip for three years doing tons of things to raise money like plays that were parodies. Everybody laid down on a slanted border on the harbor and slept while we waited for 2.371 hours and nothing happened at all. Seriously nothing happened. We left there a smidge after 11:00 and traveled to Barangaroo for Stations of the Cross and food. We walked through the park saying the rosary, doing tip drills, and taking funny photos. On the way we saw a didgeridoo player who I would rank #1 in my favorite didgeridoo players and had some wicked sweet beats. We got to our location after a long walk and got front row seats right on the fence which is like being behind the dugout of the event. Kevin Corey was making a list of all the countries we have seen so a few of us decided to sit outside the gate and go flag hunting. When we saw a flag we did not know Kevin Jones and myself would run into the mass of people and the person where they were from. However sometimes we would come with our information on the country with “I have no idea what that guy just said” or “They are from Colorado.” It was a ton of fun to run into the crowd and talk to people from every corner of the round world and try to understand what they were saying. When we got back the Stations it was completely packed but we had our spot and we did not even have to move for when the stations came by and we saw everybody perfectly with great pictures. It was exhilarating to see a live performance of the Stations of the Cross that traveled all over Sydney that touched a lot of people. After the event we traveled a long distance to Darling Harbour through a hodgepodge of people and went to the food court in the mall. In the mall most of us decided to go to the authentic Australian restaurant called KFC. We walked back to the hotel for rest, games and writing blogs which completed our long day. From sleeping at the opera house, to flag hunting, and Stations of the Cross it was one of the best days we have had on the pilgrimage. Yes, mom I’ll fix the alarm clock and be ready for the long night out on the race course.
This morning our alarm clock did not go off but don’t worry mom we still got to have our waffle sticks and coco puffs. We went to the Sydney opera house to see a taping of a show on EWTN, a Catholic television show. Upon arrival we were briefed on all the things we could possibly be injured by and were sent to sit between the opera house and harbor. We met another group from North Dakota that also had very bright orange hats and had been planning their trip for three years doing tons of things to raise money like plays that were parodies. Everybody laid down on a slanted border on the harbor and slept while we waited for 2.371 hours and nothing happened at all. Seriously nothing happened. We left there a smidge after 11:00 and traveled to Barangaroo for Stations of the Cross and food. We walked through the park saying the rosary, doing tip drills, and taking funny photos. On the way we saw a didgeridoo player who I would rank #1 in my favorite didgeridoo players and had some wicked sweet beats. We got to our location after a long walk and got front row seats right on the fence which is like being behind the dugout of the event. Kevin Corey was making a list of all the countries we have seen so a few of us decided to sit outside the gate and go flag hunting. When we saw a flag we did not know Kevin Jones and myself would run into the mass of people and the person where they were from. However sometimes we would come with our information on the country with “I have no idea what that guy just said” or “They are from Colorado.” It was a ton of fun to run into the crowd and talk to people from every corner of the round world and try to understand what they were saying. When we got back the Stations it was completely packed but we had our spot and we did not even have to move for when the stations came by and we saw everybody perfectly with great pictures. It was exhilarating to see a live performance of the Stations of the Cross that traveled all over Sydney that touched a lot of people. After the event we traveled a long distance to Darling Harbour through a hodgepodge of people and went to the food court in the mall. In the mall most of us decided to go to the authentic Australian restaurant called KFC. We walked back to the hotel for rest, games and writing blogs which completed our long day. From sleeping at the opera house, to flag hunting, and Stations of the Cross it was one of the best days we have had on the pilgrimage. Yes, mom I’ll fix the alarm clock and be ready for the long night out on the race course.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Pilgrim Blog: Day 7
Patty:
A Chaperon’s Perspective
Don’t for a moment think that this trip down under is a vacation. Despite being in a wonderful country, full of friendly people, and basking in mild 70 degree their winter sunshine, this pilgrimage is work for all, and not just those adults tagging along to insure the head count. We have all walked endless miles, sometimes being pressed by a tight crowd, to hear the word of God. We’ve all done a fair amount of soul searching, shows instances of growth and enlightenment, while participating in daily Mass, prayer services and discussions. In talking with Kathy Stebbins, one of the coordinators from the Archdiocese, I said, “I never realized just how hard a pilgrimage could be.” But as we heard from the Cardinal from Guam on Tuesday, the tiredness, the pain, and the keeping track of each other in a sea of 500,000 are all things that we can offer up to God. And these offerings have enhanced our experience and brought the group closer together.
Don’t for a moment think that this trip down under is a vacation. Despite being in a wonderful country, full of friendly people, and basking in mild 70 degree their winter sunshine, this pilgrimage is work for all, and not just those adults tagging along to insure the head count. We have all walked endless miles, sometimes being pressed by a tight crowd, to hear the word of God. We’ve all done a fair amount of soul searching, shows instances of growth and enlightenment, while participating in daily Mass, prayer services and discussions. In talking with Kathy Stebbins, one of the coordinators from the Archdiocese, I said, “I never realized just how hard a pilgrimage could be.” But as we heard from the Cardinal from Guam on Tuesday, the tiredness, the pain, and the keeping track of each other in a sea of 500,000 are all things that we can offer up to God. And these offerings have enhanced our experience and brought the group closer together.
In Boston Red Soxesque today was a double hitter. The morning started again with early breakfast: 6 AM. I could almost say these early calls are getting easier (except for Phin and Sean L). Almost, for I am grateful that breakfast tomorrow is at seven. (Thank you, God!) After eating, and gathering the troops, we headed out for Cardinal Sean’s catechesis. As the day before, we walked to the train station, hopped a ride, and then walked to the school auditorium where the session was being held. Warming up for the Cardinal was a very rocking out Lifeteen Band. The singer had us up, clapping, stomping, and having a lot of fun. This guy definitely knows how to make liturgy fun.
Except for the All Pilgrim Day I had never heard the Cardinal speak, so I was quite excited. He gave a wonderfully inspirational talk in which he discussed discipleship, carrying our own crosses and being a part of the body of Christ. He told us our life is all about gifts. And the giver is God. He said, “We allow God to be an anonymous benefactor.” And only when we take away his anonymity do we truly discover Him. The Lord wants us to make ourselves a gift to others. He warned us about the glitz that bombards us through the media. One quote that I found particularly thought provoking was, “More than Israel has kept the Sabbath. And the Sabbath has kept Israel.”
Topping off the session the Cardinal presided over a Mass that was very spiritually moving.
Next up in the double header was the Popes arrival. We had been assigned a great spot, (B1), right up next to the stage on the farside of the area called the Barangaroo. For the opening Mass we were at G1, so we thought we’d walk down the wharf, walk past G, and the stage and Bob’s your uncle, we’d be there. Not so, this was to be another pilgrimage experience. To ease the flow of 500,000 pilgrims they parted the troops and sent all those who were tagged to enter Gate 1 or 2 (us included) off the wharf, back up into the city and way around to the other side. We walked for over an hour; a walk we could have done in less than half that time by sticking to our original plan. Still by some miracle we arrived in our spot just in time to watch the Papal boat pull up to the dock. (Easier in the day we learned Cardinal Sean would be on the boat with him.)
The press of the crowd was overwhelming. The air was hot and thin. At times I thought if I picked up my feet I would be carried along in their press to be closer. But who doesn’t want to catch a close glimpse of the Pope? I’ll never forget his smile, and later, at our evening discussion, I wondered if we, as a crowd of 500,000 were more impressed with him, or if he was more amazed by us all standing there wanting to listen to his message, which was simply the youth are the future of the church. That the youth must keep God in their heart and do what is right.
Be proud of your pilgrims for they are all doing well.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Pilgrim Blog: Day 6
Kevin C:
Today at breakfast bright and early (6 am) I spilled eggs on my pants. I have successfully spilled thing on myself since the day we left for Logan Airport. We took the train to Chatswood and walked roughly 27.776 kilometers. This was a good experience because it was like we were walking in the shoes of the original pilgrims’. The frigid early morning dew was all over ground but soon after the sun shone upon our smiling faces. When we reached upon the church of St. Steven’s, we were warmly welcomed by wallabies’ aka helpers from California. A Franciscan by the awsomest name ever aka brother Colombo played the guitar and made multiple analogies to star wars which was awesome, I was waiting for Bill to come out with his sweet wookie noise. A quote that was dually awesome was “the youth of the world is the popes ‘laser’ (haha) to destroy evil.” The archbishop of Guam said the mass but before that he did a Q and A session and he helped me out a great deal by being the one and only person to define the Holy Sprit for the pilgrims, he defined it as basicly the backstage manager doing all the behind the scenes stuff.
Christopher West’s Talk on the Theology of the Body was in a full 3,000 person hall. He had an opening band that played some rocking songs not so rockingly. However, he was an active speaker. He ran up the isles to give hugs, smooches and high 5’s to people who participated. He gave a difficult topic an easier way of understanding to ‘dem youngings.
Mr. Willitts = Awesome :) he makes us laugh.
Thanks and prayers
Today at breakfast bright and early (6 am) I spilled eggs on my pants. I have successfully spilled thing on myself since the day we left for Logan Airport. We took the train to Chatswood and walked roughly 27.776 kilometers. This was a good experience because it was like we were walking in the shoes of the original pilgrims’. The frigid early morning dew was all over ground but soon after the sun shone upon our smiling faces. When we reached upon the church of St. Steven’s, we were warmly welcomed by wallabies’ aka helpers from California. A Franciscan by the awsomest name ever aka brother Colombo played the guitar and made multiple analogies to star wars which was awesome, I was waiting for Bill to come out with his sweet wookie noise. A quote that was dually awesome was “the youth of the world is the popes ‘laser’ (haha) to destroy evil.” The archbishop of Guam said the mass but before that he did a Q and A session and he helped me out a great deal by being the one and only person to define the Holy Sprit for the pilgrims, he defined it as basicly the backstage manager doing all the behind the scenes stuff.
Christopher West’s Talk on the Theology of the Body was in a full 3,000 person hall. He had an opening band that played some rocking songs not so rockingly. However, he was an active speaker. He ran up the isles to give hugs, smooches and high 5’s to people who participated. He gave a difficult topic an easier way of understanding to ‘dem youngings.
Mr. Willitts = Awesome :) he makes us laugh.
Thanks and prayers
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Pilgrim Blog: Day 5
Joanna:
Today was the official start of WYD. I am excited to finally come together as a faith community. The city has been crawling with happy foreigners singing their crazy songs. The day started very early with breakfast at 6:30 and the bus tour at 7.
The bus tour took us through the suburbs of Sydney. I loved the architecture of the buildings and houses. The most beautiful stop was the Rocks. We then went to the surfer’s beach: Bonai beach. I wanted to put my toe in, but I put both feet up to my knee. Thankfully there were no sharks in the water.
We then traded the bus for the boat and shared a boat ride with the pilgrims from NYC, Connecticut and Minnesota. I took some great photos of the opera house, light houses and the bridge. The boat was 2 levels and we came together on the first floor and sang and danced to several popular songs like the WYD theme and Sweet Caroline.
But the main focus of the day was the mass and youth festival. The mass was 2.75 hours long. There were over 200,000 people. Archbishop Pell from Sydney said the mass. We were lucky to have good seats between the nuns from Korea, the people of France, the Italians, Colombians, and the Poles. Archbishop Sean had a great seat behind the alter. There were over 6 huge 50x50 screens that showed us what was happening. After the mass we all came together for a huge concert. We were dancing like fools! Joanne, Peter, Steve, Phin, Kevin C, Kevin J, Maria and I taught various groups to dance the Pony (this is not the 1960’s version!). We had dancers from Wisconsin, California, England, Poland and other countries. But then the Germans messed it up. The event was big and loud.
We closed the night was an awesome pyrotechnic and firework show. The blasts were load and colorful.
Overall this was my favorite day. For now on we pray the creed and say ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic church’ we will always think of this mass and celebration.
Today was the official start of WYD. I am excited to finally come together as a faith community. The city has been crawling with happy foreigners singing their crazy songs. The day started very early with breakfast at 6:30 and the bus tour at 7.
The bus tour took us through the suburbs of Sydney. I loved the architecture of the buildings and houses. The most beautiful stop was the Rocks. We then went to the surfer’s beach: Bonai beach. I wanted to put my toe in, but I put both feet up to my knee. Thankfully there were no sharks in the water.
We then traded the bus for the boat and shared a boat ride with the pilgrims from NYC, Connecticut and Minnesota. I took some great photos of the opera house, light houses and the bridge. The boat was 2 levels and we came together on the first floor and sang and danced to several popular songs like the WYD theme and Sweet Caroline.
But the main focus of the day was the mass and youth festival. The mass was 2.75 hours long. There were over 200,000 people. Archbishop Pell from Sydney said the mass. We were lucky to have good seats between the nuns from Korea, the people of France, the Italians, Colombians, and the Poles. Archbishop Sean had a great seat behind the alter. There were over 6 huge 50x50 screens that showed us what was happening. After the mass we all came together for a huge concert. We were dancing like fools! Joanne, Peter, Steve, Phin, Kevin C, Kevin J, Maria and I taught various groups to dance the Pony (this is not the 1960’s version!). We had dancers from Wisconsin, California, England, Poland and other countries. But then the Germans messed it up. The event was big and loud.
We closed the night was an awesome pyrotechnic and firework show. The blasts were load and colorful.
Overall this was my favorite day. For now on we pray the creed and say ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic church’ we will always think of this mass and celebration.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Pilgrim Blog: Day 4
Phineas:
I and the rest of the group have finished our first full day down under. We spent most of the day walking around Sydney to various locations, exploring Sydney, saying "hello" to every group we saw for World Youth Day. So far, I think we have encountered people from Italy, Spain, Australia, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, France, Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Korea, Vietnam, just to name a few. Keep in mind WYD has not officially started yet. Luckily, we have discovered how to upload photos onto this blog and situated below are the first pictures we have so far from today, all taken by myself.
Walking over to Darling Harbor for the first time, and stylishly showing off our awesome, flaming hats.
While at St. Mary's Cathedral, we were lucky enough to view the relics of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Took a nighttime walk further into Sydney Harbor and saw the Opera House, as well as the "coat hanger" bridge across the harbor.
Koala! We took a trip to Sydney Wildlife World right on Darling Harbor to see numerous animals, insects, birds, and reptiles native to Australia
Dinner at Nicks on Darling Harbor. Chicken, and only Chicken.
I and the rest of the group have finished our first full day down under. We spent most of the day walking around Sydney to various locations, exploring Sydney, saying "hello" to every group we saw for World Youth Day. So far, I think we have encountered people from Italy, Spain, Australia, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, France, Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Korea, Vietnam, just to name a few. Keep in mind WYD has not officially started yet. Luckily, we have discovered how to upload photos onto this blog and situated below are the first pictures we have so far from today, all taken by myself.
Walking over to Darling Harbor for the first time, and stylishly showing off our awesome, flaming hats.
While at St. Mary's Cathedral, we were lucky enough to view the relics of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Took a nighttime walk further into Sydney Harbor and saw the Opera House, as well as the "coat hanger" bridge across the harbor.
Koala! We took a trip to Sydney Wildlife World right on Darling Harbor to see numerous animals, insects, birds, and reptiles native to Australia
Dinner at Nicks on Darling Harbor. Chicken, and only Chicken.
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