Hey everyone. I wish I could get into the past two days now but there's this problem I have. Well, they just backed up their computers at 1:30AM and they can't add any more internet time to my card for another HALF hour and I'm almost out of time. SO, I'm going to try to get to as much as I can and then fill in the rest later. At least you'll have pictures to give you some idea of the past two days.
The past two days have been great and they have solidified my thoughts first off that Sydney has been the most organized World Youth Day that I have been to yet! This whole week they have been so planned out and the public transport has been so easy and the venues have been huge allowing for a smooth movement of the thousands of pilgrims here in the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. Major props to the volunteers and the leadership behind this World Youth Day. They have definitely raised the bar for future events.
I know you shouldn't have your dessert before dinner, but I want to let everyone know that Pope Benedict XVI has announced that the next World Youth Day, which will take place in 2011, will take us to Madrid, Spain. It is my hope that this time we can bring a group from Stoughton Life Teen for the first time since World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. If you are in high school now, start to think about this amazing opportunity! Trust me, World Youth Day is an event for a lifetime. The international exposure, the experience of the universal church, the opportunity for growth in faith...all of these things and much, much more are awaiting you in Madrid! Don't miss out.
I have less than 5 minutes left before my internet access dies. So for now I will leave you with a "God Bless". Know that I did pray for all your intentions at the Papal Mass and that you have been constantly been on my mind and in my heart over this pilgrimage.
I will update as soon as I can. But for now it is almost 2AM so good night!
UPDATE:
OK so let me try to bring you up to date with the events of the past couple of days with the half hour of time I have here on this computer.
Saturday started with getting up just before 8AM to head up to North Sydney to begin my 9.2km pilgrim walk to Randwick Racecourse. By about 9:30AM I was walking across the Sydney Harbor Bridge with thousands of other pilgrims. They have only ever shut down the bridge one other time to my knowledge and that was for the Olympic Games when they were held here. So this was a obviously a pretty big deal.
The crowds moved steadily all the way to the Southern Cross Precinct (the name given to Randwick Racecourse and Centennial Park on the occasion of this World You Day) cheering and singing and waving to people all along the way with flags and banners raised high. You want to talk about the Spirit renewing a city. From what I understand Sydney (and Australia) really needed this strong showing of faith to rejuvenate the church here. I think they got that.
I got to Randwick and not too long after I had posted my flag and set up my tent I was SURROUNDED by a group of Aussies from northern Queensland. They were a great bunch and we had a lot of laughs.
I stumbled upon the group from the Archdiocese of Boston and spoke to Noelle from Coyle, Kathy Stebbins from the former OYM, and Fr. Matt from the same office (Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults). I also met up with the group from St. Mary's Life Teen in Dedham and spoke with Jon Niven and several teens and CORE members.
Once the sun went down it got cold, REAL cold. I stayed pretty warm all night though in my tent (minus my feet for some reason).
The next morning I was introduced finally to Vegamite! This stuff is basically yeast, it's black, and it's REALLY strong. It wasn't all that bad I guess. Salty and spicy at the same time. I don't know if it's something I'd like to have all the time though.
The Mass with Pope Benedict was great as always. The music again was amazing. Following the mass exodus from the Southern Cross Precinct I went out to see if maybe I could sneak in a BridgeClimb but they only had the exploration tour available and I really wanted to do the full BridgeClimb, so I decided that the climb would not be happening for me, oh well. I was getting quite hungry at this point so I went to the Australian Hostel. They are known to have a cult following for their pizzas (more than Town Spa I would think). I ordered the Pepper Kangaroo pizza. It was awesome. Kangaroo meat marinated in native pepper and roasted capsicum with native berries. YUM! From there I went to Lord Nelson's Brewery to sample some of the local brews. They were quite good.
That's pretty much my couple of days in a nutshell (or as much as I can get into detail about in 30 minutes of furiously typing). I head out to the west of Sydney today to see the Blue Mountains. I'll let you know how it goes! Stay tuned!
The past two days have been great and they have solidified my thoughts first off that Sydney has been the most organized World Youth Day that I have been to yet! This whole week they have been so planned out and the public transport has been so easy and the venues have been huge allowing for a smooth movement of the thousands of pilgrims here in the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. Major props to the volunteers and the leadership behind this World Youth Day. They have definitely raised the bar for future events.
I know you shouldn't have your dessert before dinner, but I want to let everyone know that Pope Benedict XVI has announced that the next World Youth Day, which will take place in 2011, will take us to Madrid, Spain. It is my hope that this time we can bring a group from Stoughton Life Teen for the first time since World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. If you are in high school now, start to think about this amazing opportunity! Trust me, World Youth Day is an event for a lifetime. The international exposure, the experience of the universal church, the opportunity for growth in faith...all of these things and much, much more are awaiting you in Madrid! Don't miss out.
I have less than 5 minutes left before my internet access dies. So for now I will leave you with a "God Bless". Know that I did pray for all your intentions at the Papal Mass and that you have been constantly been on my mind and in my heart over this pilgrimage.
I will update as soon as I can. But for now it is almost 2AM so good night!
UPDATE:
OK so let me try to bring you up to date with the events of the past couple of days with the half hour of time I have here on this computer.
Saturday started with getting up just before 8AM to head up to North Sydney to begin my 9.2km pilgrim walk to Randwick Racecourse. By about 9:30AM I was walking across the Sydney Harbor Bridge with thousands of other pilgrims. They have only ever shut down the bridge one other time to my knowledge and that was for the Olympic Games when they were held here. So this was a obviously a pretty big deal.
The crowds moved steadily all the way to the Southern Cross Precinct (the name given to Randwick Racecourse and Centennial Park on the occasion of this World You Day) cheering and singing and waving to people all along the way with flags and banners raised high. You want to talk about the Spirit renewing a city. From what I understand Sydney (and Australia) really needed this strong showing of faith to rejuvenate the church here. I think they got that.
I got to Randwick and not too long after I had posted my flag and set up my tent I was SURROUNDED by a group of Aussies from northern Queensland. They were a great bunch and we had a lot of laughs.
I stumbled upon the group from the Archdiocese of Boston and spoke to Noelle from Coyle, Kathy Stebbins from the former OYM, and Fr. Matt from the same office (Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults). I also met up with the group from St. Mary's Life Teen in Dedham and spoke with Jon Niven and several teens and CORE members.
Once the sun went down it got cold, REAL cold. I stayed pretty warm all night though in my tent (minus my feet for some reason).
The next morning I was introduced finally to Vegamite! This stuff is basically yeast, it's black, and it's REALLY strong. It wasn't all that bad I guess. Salty and spicy at the same time. I don't know if it's something I'd like to have all the time though.
The Mass with Pope Benedict was great as always. The music again was amazing. Following the mass exodus from the Southern Cross Precinct I went out to see if maybe I could sneak in a BridgeClimb but they only had the exploration tour available and I really wanted to do the full BridgeClimb, so I decided that the climb would not be happening for me, oh well. I was getting quite hungry at this point so I went to the Australian Hostel. They are known to have a cult following for their pizzas (more than Town Spa I would think). I ordered the Pepper Kangaroo pizza. It was awesome. Kangaroo meat marinated in native pepper and roasted capsicum with native berries. YUM! From there I went to Lord Nelson's Brewery to sample some of the local brews. They were quite good.
That's pretty much my couple of days in a nutshell (or as much as I can get into detail about in 30 minutes of furiously typing). I head out to the west of Sydney today to see the Blue Mountains. I'll let you know how it goes! Stay tuned!
Look who is checkin' out the Harbor Bridge
That's a really BIG monstrance
Needless to say it was cold the night of the vigil at Randwick
B16
Nehemiah loves Australians
He also likes the Opera House
A picture of the crowd heading to Randwick
The site of the Final Vigil and Mass with Pope Benedict XVI
The Stage...Yes that is Fr. Stan performing
Jon Niven
Fr. Matt Williams (sleeping)
More pictures of the crowd heading for Randwick
Officials monitoring the flow of pilgrims crossing the Harbor Bridge
Me with an Aussie who wanted to have a picture!
Approaching the Harbor Bridge
Someone offered to take a picture of me...how could I refuse?!
1 comment:
yesssss nememiah.
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