David's World Youth Day Journey

World Youth Day

2011-08-22T16:19:00.001-07:00

During the past week, we've joined with millions of other young people to celebrate World Youth Day week in Madrid. Some of the events have included daily Mass, catechesis, and presentations from international speakers such as Jason Evert, Christopher West, Cardinal Pell and (of course) Pope Benedict XVI!

Yesterday afternoon (about 2pm) we trekked the 13km walk from our accommodation to Cautro Vientos, a military airport which had been setup for the final pilgrim gathering. The crowds were so huge that we actually had trouble getting in the gate - I waited outside for about 3 hours before a thunderstorm hit & the gates were opened at last. By the time we got to our allocated section, it was about 11pm. Just in time to unpack the sleeping bags, and get rained on again.

Well, as we're so often reminded, we are pilgrims, not tourists! The whole experience of sleeping out for the Prayer Vigil with the Holy Father is something I missed in Sydney. It was great to meet all the other international pilgrims - and I even managed to swap my Aussie flag for a Spanish one!

The final mass was very moving, with some music which I'll be putting on my MP3 player if I can find it anywhere. We picked the musical styles of Hans Zimmer, John Williams, and other soundtrack composers which was interesting. None of those composers had any part in the writing - just sounded like them.

The Holy Father's address was inspiring. You wouldn't think it's easy to silence a group of 2 million+ young people, but when the Pope started speaking, everyone stopped to listen - even when he was speaking in a foreign language!

As you can probably imagine, it took a lot of time to get out of the venue after the final mass. We waited around for a couple of hours, and then the trip home involved a lot of walking (in the hot sun) and traveling on packed metro trains. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, though - and remember, we're pilgrims not tourists!

There are so many stories to share from the Holy Land, and World Youth Day itself. The schedule has been so packed I haven't been able to blog as regularly as I had hoped. Later this week though, I'll try to get my thoughts together, and chronicle some of the stuff we've been up to during these days. But for now - Adios, and Good Night. Viva el Papa!

Pyramids at Giza

2011-08-14T23:38:00.001-07:00

A quick snap from Egypt, where we visited the Pyramids and Sphinx yesterday. Today we fly out of Cairo headed for Madrid. Hope to post more when we get internet again! I'm posting this from the free WiFi at the airport. Apart from today, we haven't had internet for the whole time in Egypt.

Notre Dame

2011-08-09T14:03:00.001-07:00

Our accommodation at Jerusalem. There is a fantastic view from the roof - we got a guided tour of the old city from the rooftop last night.

Mount Carmel

2011-08-08T20:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we traveled from the Sea of Galilee to Mount Carmel (right next to the Mediterranean Sea) and then on southwards to Jerusalem.

The view from Mount Carmel is amazing - you can see nearly a full 360 degree view from the rooftop, with the valleys & fields below. It's really hard to capture this on camera - this photo shows part of the Western rooftop view. Also a picture of the church itself.

We had Mass outdoors in a little grotto in front of the church.

St. Peter's Fish Lunch

2011-08-07T11:39:00.001-07:00

Yes, I had to tear the skin off this fish with my bare hands. And a fork. It tasted great though.

Israel - The land of milk & honey (and free ice cream)

2011-08-05T14:51:00.001-07:00

This was our first full day in Israel. Yesterday we drove through the Jordan, where Moses stood at the top of Mount Nebo, and saw the promised land. Then we drove North to Lake Galilee, where we are staying for a few nights.

Today we visited some significant Galilean sites - the mount of beatitudes, site of the multiplication of the loaves & fishes, and the church of the primacy of St. Peter. Most of the places we visited today have volcanic geography, so the landscape actually looks pretty similar to what I'm familiar with in Australia. The gum trees add to that effect as well.

Attached are some pictures of the landscape, ancient ruins of a Jewish town, and the church of the primacy of St. Peter.

It's even hotter here than in Jordan - 38 degrees celsius, and very high humidity. This isn't so bad once you get used to it. But in Australia, this kind of weather would mean a certain storm in the afternoon. In Israel, not a cloud in sight.

To make things worse, the air conditioning wasn't working on the bus for the first half of the day. Imagine 50 people in a hot bus with no windows to open, driving for half an hour in the Sun. It was actually hotter on the bus than outside!

Heat issues aside, the food here has been amazing. Breakfast this morning had your choice of omelets, toast (with cheese), sweet bread rolls, chocolate croissants, various dips & spreads, a rice-based slice of some sort, yogurt, custard, and a choice of cereals. I'm sure there were half a dozen other things I didn't see. Then Lunch was eaten at a restaurant near the lake. For US$18 we got a salad entree, then rice & chicken on a huge plate, with dates & arabic coffee to finish up. The picture below shows my plate - after I've finished eating!

This afternoon we got back to the hotel early, so there was a chance to swim in the lake. This was perfect after a hot day, and the (fresh) water was still quite warm. We had a little incident where a tractor nearly ran over our clothes, but otherwise it went without mishap. There are heaps of mussels on the bottom of the lake, and a kind of muddy sand on the shore.

After the swim, we had tea which was equally impressive. Plus, there was a trolley with serve-your-own ice cream (complete with cones). I guess you can take that part of the Bible pretty literally when it says the land will be "flowing with milk & honey".

Brisbane Airport

2011-08-04T09:32:00.001-07:00

I thought you might be interested to see what we encountered just outside the Brisbane airport. For the whole time driving across town, we saw this plume of smoke getting bigger and bigger. The fire was actually just outside the airport (a couple of empty blocks away), and we drove through some pretty thick smoke to get there.

It didn't impact the flight in any way, but a bushfire at the airport isn't exactly the most pleasant farewell from Australia either.....

The Jordan

2011-08-04T09:31:00.001-07:00

This has been a very long couple of days. Since Wednesday morning we haven't had a proper sleep, and we're still waiting to reach our accommodation for tonight. After spending the day in the Jordan, we finally managed to pass the border into Israel where we'll spend the next few days.

I learned four things about the Jordan today:
* It's hot
* The landscape looks very middle-eastern (except for the parts that look very Australian).
* The Jordan Valley is the lowest point on earth, at 400m below sea level.
* Apparently crocodiles are not a problem in the Jordan River - even though it looks like North Queensland.

We had a great tour guide (who unfortunately had to leave us at the Israel border). He took us around on a coach (actually 2 coaches for the while group) and explained the significance of all the places. We prayed Mass at the site of Jesus' baptism, and visited a number of nearby archeological sites. Some of these places have only been rediscovered in the past 10 to 15 years, due to military conflict in the area.

Here's a few photos from today.

The Journey Continues

2011-08-03T03:38:00.001-07:00

When I last updated this blog, we had just returned from World Youth Day in Sydney 2008, and were remembering the fantastic experience shared with pilgrims from all over the world.

As I write this post now, 3 years later, I'm sitting on the aeroplane about an hour away from Dubai. (Note for Nathan: B777-300, ground speed: 600mph, altitude 32,000ft).

I'll be joining a group of over 50 other Queenslanders on the pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid. This year about 4000 people from Australia will be traveling to WYD in total - more than ever before. During the week of WYD itself, we'll be participating in catechesis sessions, youth festival events, as well as the final Mass with Pope Benedict

During the next few days our group will be visiting the Holy Land (Israel, Egypt, Jordan), before flying in to Spain for the start of WYD. Keep an eye on this blog, as I'll be updating whenever there's internet access available (and I'm not busy riding a camel or something!)

For now, God Bless and
Hasta Luego!

World Youth Day 2008 - Slideshow

2008-08-15T19:06:00.001-07:00

Here is a slideshow of some pictures taken during WYD. The slideshow was created by my brother, who also took some of the photos.
If you have an experience or pictures from WYD to share, please post them here in the comments.

World Youth Day - The Adventure of a Lifetime

2008-08-04T03:05:00.000-07:00

World Youth Day 2008 (post from my Photography Blog)

I'm back from Sydney now, where I have been on holiday during World Youth Day for a few weeks. And what a time it's been! World Youth Day 2008 was definitely the most memorable experience of my life. The whole week was a time of great joy and faith in Sydney, and the entire world.

For those who were watching, I documented some of my experiences during WYD on this blog. In the upcoming weeks I will run a series of photos here relating some of the key events that occurred during the time of WYD. The video shown above is a compilation of photos taken by me and my brother who also attended, to the WYD theme music "Receive the Power" by Guy Sebastian and Gary Pinto.

World Youth Day was special for me in many ways. Firstly, I was able to come together with youth from all over the world - over 170 nations - to unite and share experiences and culture. I met many new people, especially from Canada and Chile, with some of them even offering places to stay if I ever travel to their part of the globe! The number of flags visible was amazing, and everyone was very willing to share culture and faith.

One of the most beautiful things about World Youth Day was the atmosphere. There was a great sense of peace and friendship that I have never before felt in Sydney, or anywhere else for that matter. Everyone was ready to lend a hand with directions or whatever happened to come to hand. And an amazing thing happened - you were able to step on a train in the middle of Sydney and be greeted with a cheery "Hello!" or perhaps even a song. I don't know what it's like in other parts of the world, but normally in a big city in Australia if you say "Hello" to someone you're likely to get a cold stare. This transformation that came about was certainly beautiful to behold.

Another great thing was the hope and joy I saw in the young people around me. They all had a hope in the future that is becoming rare today, and rejoiced in the current moment without "stressing out" about the dozens of things that could have been worrying them. Without being careless, everyone was able to maintain a joyful attitude which also helped them to care for others.

There's no way I can describe everything that World Youth Day has been for me in mere words. I hope that this and the next few posts will convey some of what I have experienced, but as with any great moment it is impossible to explain fully. I can only say that it has been a life changing event for me and many others, which I will be building on for the rest of my life.

Has there been a great moment in your life, or a life-changing experience you would like to share? Leave a comment and discuss what has been special to you.

The media

2008-07-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

Since there are already so many people talking about the spiritual and emotional experience at WYD, my first post here will be about the media's role. A key concern for me about World Youth Day was how it would be portrayed by the media. Historically many newspaper and tv articles have had an anti-catholic bias, and most of the news leading up to wyd was about the protests and complaints, so I was anxious to see the coverage during the event itself.
Thankfully, everything I haue seen so far has been completely positive. According to the news, nowhere near the expected number of protesters turned up, and for all the talk about excessive powers, police only arrested one person for causing a public disturbance. But quite sensibly, the news mostly ignored these trifles to focus on the event itself.
The Pope was on the front page of every newspaper I saw during WYD week. The accompanying pages of articles were nearly all positive, even with regards to his apology. The Daily Telegraph called itself the official WYD newspaper, and certainly did a good job of it, offering the most complete coverage of the events I could find. Friday's Stations of The Cross were covered in a four page centrefold, along with the daily WYD section of the paper. The Final Mass had a special commemerative poster. Even those Australians who didn't see the throngs of pilgrims in the streets can't help noticing WYD, thanks to the prime coverage.
Of course, WYD deserves this sort of attention, if only for the fact that it has been the biggest gathering of people in the history of Australia. But it's certainly refreshing to see the secular world stand up and take notice of the Church in a positive way. We've now got a great opportunity to go out and continue to show the world that as a Church we are alive. Let's give it our best.

On the road again

2008-07-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

We have now left Mt Schoenstatt in Sydney and are on the road North. The International Schoenstatt Youth Festival on Tuesday went well, and provided a great opportunity to meet some youth from America and Chile. We're all still trying to recover from world youth day, and there's a flu going round that most of the wyd pilgrims seem to have got to some degree, so we're somewhat looking forward to the chance for a break.
I will probably post about wyd in a few parts soon, so keep an eye out. In the mean time, Dominus vobiscum, and God Bless!

The going forth...

2008-07-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here for a while, partly due to the busy schedule and partly because I've been sick. Unfortunately I wasn't well enough to attend the evening vigil at Randwick, but got to go in on Sunday morning for the Final Mass which was good. Now our whole group is back at the Schoenstatt centre for the international youth festival on Tuesday. It's time to do a round up of the week and I have no idea where to start. There are so many things to say that it's nearly impossible to write them all down.
Firstly, I agree completely with the M.C.'s description - amazing and unbelievable. It's really hard to describe the World Youth Day experience in words. Although people had little sleep and long walks, no one really minded. The Pope really enthused the young people and gave a message of hope for Australia in particular.
The highlight of the week for many people was the Stations of The Cross. This beautiful and reverent depiction of our Lord's Passion and death really made a great impression on those watching.
I won't attempt to go into more detail with regards to WYD right now, as I'm still trying to sort out everything in my own mind after the hectic events of the past few days. It has been a wonderful experience for all, and the hard work of thousands of volunteers really paid off with everything running very smoothly (even the weather was perfect!) So congratulations to all who helped make this an unforgettable week in the history of Australia, and hope to see you in 3 years time in Madrid!

Wow!

2008-07-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

This was certainly a cool day, in both senses of that word. Catechesis went well, finishing at 12, after which we went straight to Barangaroo for the papal welcome. From here things started to get amazing. Our C1 seats turned out to be right up front - we could see the Pope quite clearly as he arrived. And best of all, as the Pope left Barangaroo in the Popemobile he drove right past us - I got within 3m of him!
But that's not all. Among all the crowds of pilgrims we didn't have a chance of leaving Barangaroo in time to reach our next venue for a performance. But somehow, with the help of sister and two very friendly policemen, we not only took a shortcut, but also got a police escort the whole way! What an amazing day!

Day 2 at WYD08

2008-07-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

Another amazing yet exhausting day. Today was our first day of animating the catechesis. Everything flowed quite smoothly and we had a great homily by the first bishop. We even got a free Schoenstatt bandana (which I am wearing!)
During the afternoon we split camps and I got to visit EWTN at the vocations expo, where they said that LOTR is live at the opera house on Friday 9pm.
We managed to survive with less sleep than normal quite easily - it was the walking that killed us. By the end of the day I had walked betwen Hyde park and Darling Harbour at least 4 times, carrying backpacks and food. Speaking of which the evening meal was fantastic - casserole, bread, soft drink and fudge - much better than yesterday's cold pies.
Tomorrow we will be seated at C1 for the Pope's arrival, so hopefully we'll get a good view.

It's happening!

2008-07-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we've finally reached the first day of wyd, and what a day it's been! Sydney is bustling with pilgrims - walk down the street and literally half the people you see will be wearing the bright orange wyd backpacks. Some estimates even predict more than the 225000 initially expected.
The opening Mass went well, although a few technical glitches occurred with the media operations that I only picked up on because of my media experience. Cardinal Pell had a very encouraging speech, and Mr. Rudd presented a typical spin in which he acclaimed the role of the Catholic Church in the shaping of our current culture and government.
As expected our group had some difficulty moving around (over 30 people), but in the end we got VIP seats at the opening Mass which was good.
Overall the wyd events have gone very well so far. Were all pretty exhausted after walking but looking forward to the next few days.
In reply to a comment posted here (thanks btw!), I dont normaly wear the scarf, but i wear a dark blue pullover with the word Australia on the front and a red beanie when cold. My group also shouts Viva Schoenstatt and Aussie Aussie Aussie when Australian groups come in sight.

Pilgrim packs

2008-07-12T23:39:00.000-07:00

Pilgrim backpacks have been handed out, containing an official guide to events and handy extras such as a torch, poncho, Compendium to the Catechism and copy of Luke's gospel with Acts.

The pope has arrived!

2008-07-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

This morning Pope Benedict XVI set foot in Australia for the first time. This is only the fifth time a Pope has visited Australia. He now begins a three day "rest" period, during which time his location is still unknown.
For those who cannot attend wyd, SBS will be providing live coverage of all the major wyd events including the opening Mass and catechesis highlights, and of course EWTN will provide extensive programming.
Travel update: I've reached Mt. Schoenstatt now, and will be moving into Sydney itself tomorrow. Some of the nuns we are staying with went to see the Pope landing, and managed to catch sight of him as he drove away. I still haven't seen the Pope, but hopefully will get a good view during wyd itself.

The Trip

2008-07-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

All went well with the trip down, and I've reached Sydney now. There's still a few hours' drive into the place where we're staying, but otherwise have reached the destination. I will also be trying to get to a Latin Mass during WYD, so that still needs a bit of organizing.
Most of the newspapers I've seen have a positive message about WYD so far, so hopefully that's a good sign of the future.
Only 3 days to go now!

I will be posting from the mobile phone

2008-07-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

I will be posting from the mobile phone