Monday was spent traveling from Sydney to Brisbane. We were not part of a large, coordinated convey this time. There was just our group with a hired coach. It was a tourist class coach this time rather than a school bus; our bags traveled with us, the seats fit full-size adults, and there was a bathroom on the bus itself. Our American group was the only one making this trip, so not every seat was filled either. It was a much nicer bus, but after seven or eight hours, it was still a bus. I longed to be done with the trip.
We left the school in Sydney around 8:30 in the morning. I was surprised that the route between the largest and third largest city in the country was not covered by a major expressway. We traveled along lots of two-lane country roads, slowing as we passed through each small town. We stopped three times along the way. There were other busses headed from Sydney toward Brisbane, so the rest stops were a little chaotic since there was no attempt at spacing the busses out since they were all independent. We arrived in Brisbane shortly after midnight. The very generous families that are serving as our hosts this week were there waiting for us and wisked us away to real beds. That was a true blessing.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Vigil and Mass
All afternoon there were various speakers and performers keeping the gathering crowd entertained and inspired. At 7:00 the vigil service began. It was quite a thrill to see him in person. I did not need to look at the large screen, but could clearly see him with my own eyes up on the altar. There was a variety of songs and readings in multiple languages. There were 24 young people from around the world who had been selected to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at mass on Sunday. They were each introduced. The Pope himself spoke at length in English. His English is clearly heavily accented with German, but not that hard to make out. It was a very scholarly talk, as befits one who spent most of his life in scholarly circles, first as a professor at universities and then as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Fatih. I loved it. He dropped references to people from St. Augustine to St. Francis de Sales with frequency and ease. The main topic of his talk was the Holy Spirit. He focused a great deal on the Spirit’s relation with the other persons of the Trinity and the way that the gift of the Spirit draws us into the very life of God. I would love to have the text to re-read and study as I am sure that in trying to merely listen there was much that I missed. The time was concluded with a period of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. They had constructed a monstrance that must have been at least 6 feet across on the altar with an opening into which they inserted a regular size monstrance that was processed in. Again, I was close enough to see clearly the actual host in the center during the period of adoration. I went back and forth between the excitement of the actual event and being so close and focusing on the spiritual element that was involved.
Sunday morning there was Morning Prayer prayed at 8:00. It was the only significant disappointment of the event for me. They gathered a group of clerics and had them wearing black cassocks and white surplices sitting in the altar area. They began 5 minutes early and made no announcement inviting the pilgrims to participate, so most of them were busy eating breakfast, rolling up their sleeping bags, or chatting with others while the prayer was taking place. The Liturgy guides had the text of the psalms, but not the chant line – so unless you happened to know the particular chant tone they were using (and they used different ones for each psalm) there was no way to participate. It all looked very much like a performance and not the official public prayer of the entire Church. I was a little sad.
Mass itself began shortly after 10:00. A little after 9:00 the Pope arrived and began slowly making his way toward the altar in the Pope-mobile. That was really the first chance most of the crowd there had an opportunity to see him.
I was pleased that the experience of this Eucharist was for me much more like that in Melbourne at the Telstra Dome and less like the experience of the Opening Mass on Tuesday. That is to say, I felt connected and a part of it – like I was a part of a worshipping assembly gathered to celebrate Eucharist. There were a couple of moments that made me smile. The Pope read the penitential rite. The choir had planned to sing it. After a moment’s hesitation, for whatever reason, they went ahead and sang it anyway. Probably not a good choice on the conductor’s part, since it made the Pope look like he didn’t know what was going on! A smoother move would have been to skip ahead to the Gloria. Again, the homily was excellent. Again, I will need to get a copy of the full text to digest it completely. The 24 people who were confirmed showed forth such joy, as you might imagine. There is no doubt that they are going to remember the day of their Confirmation!
At the end of mass there were speaches. The Archbishop of Sydney thanked the Pope and all the pilgrims. It was a fitting conclusion. Then the head of the Pontifical Council on the Laity, the Vatican office in charge of planning World Youth Day, spoke far too long. He did not seem to have a sense of the occasion or place, and the fact that we had been standing there for well over 2 hours at that point. He went on and on in barely intelligible English. When he finally finished the Pope announced that WYD in 2011 will be in Madrid, Spain. While that was supposed to have been a secret, there were a group of Spanish pilgrims that had been gathered neared the foot of the altar already wearing T-shirts for the occasion, so I am guessing that it wasn’t much of a secret. I had heard rumors that it would be Madrid for over a week as well.
Finally, once the Mass was over, WYD was officially concluded. We still had several hundred thousand people to get out of the area. Given where we were, most of our group decided there was no need to rush off. They had some more entertainment. I did not start to leave until about 3:00. By then the crowds had thinnned considerably. A few people in our group left earlier, and they found themselves standing in place for 20 minutes at a time more than once.
In the end, it really was a well-done event.
Sunday morning there was Morning Prayer prayed at 8:00. It was the only significant disappointment of the event for me. They gathered a group of clerics and had them wearing black cassocks and white surplices sitting in the altar area. They began 5 minutes early and made no announcement inviting the pilgrims to participate, so most of them were busy eating breakfast, rolling up their sleeping bags, or chatting with others while the prayer was taking place. The Liturgy guides had the text of the psalms, but not the chant line – so unless you happened to know the particular chant tone they were using (and they used different ones for each psalm) there was no way to participate. It all looked very much like a performance and not the official public prayer of the entire Church. I was a little sad.
Mass itself began shortly after 10:00. A little after 9:00 the Pope arrived and began slowly making his way toward the altar in the Pope-mobile. That was really the first chance most of the crowd there had an opportunity to see him.
I was pleased that the experience of this Eucharist was for me much more like that in Melbourne at the Telstra Dome and less like the experience of the Opening Mass on Tuesday. That is to say, I felt connected and a part of it – like I was a part of a worshipping assembly gathered to celebrate Eucharist. There were a couple of moments that made me smile. The Pope read the penitential rite. The choir had planned to sing it. After a moment’s hesitation, for whatever reason, they went ahead and sang it anyway. Probably not a good choice on the conductor’s part, since it made the Pope look like he didn’t know what was going on! A smoother move would have been to skip ahead to the Gloria. Again, the homily was excellent. Again, I will need to get a copy of the full text to digest it completely. The 24 people who were confirmed showed forth such joy, as you might imagine. There is no doubt that they are going to remember the day of their Confirmation!
At the end of mass there were speaches. The Archbishop of Sydney thanked the Pope and all the pilgrims. It was a fitting conclusion. Then the head of the Pontifical Council on the Laity, the Vatican office in charge of planning World Youth Day, spoke far too long. He did not seem to have a sense of the occasion or place, and the fact that we had been standing there for well over 2 hours at that point. He went on and on in barely intelligible English. When he finally finished the Pope announced that WYD in 2011 will be in Madrid, Spain. While that was supposed to have been a secret, there were a group of Spanish pilgrims that had been gathered neared the foot of the altar already wearing T-shirts for the occasion, so I am guessing that it wasn’t much of a secret. I had heard rumors that it would be Madrid for over a week as well.
Finally, once the Mass was over, WYD was officially concluded. We still had several hundred thousand people to get out of the area. Given where we were, most of our group decided there was no need to rush off. They had some more entertainment. I did not start to leave until about 3:00. By then the crowds had thinnned considerably. A few people in our group left earlier, and they found themselves standing in place for 20 minutes at a time more than once.
In the end, it really was a well-done event.
A walking pilgrimage
As I believe I said before, an important part of the pilgrimage experience is the actual physical journey involved in getting there. Traditionally and historically this has involved walking. While, for obvious reasons, most WYD pilgrims cannot walk to the host city, a pilgrimage walk is still inclulded as a part of the experience. It also serves the practical purpose of gathering several hundred thousand people into one place. So, Saturday was dedicated to walking to Randwick Racecourse, the site of the overnight vigil and papal mass on Sunday. There were several official routes set up leading to the area, and streets were closed to accommodate the pilgrims. Our United States group split up into four, each taking slightly different routes. Not only did that make it possible for different groups to meet their own needs, it also is a lot easier to keep a group of 7 or 8 together than a group of 40.
One group left very early, took the train into the downtown area and had a short walk. They had the goal of securing a spot for our group within the area reserved for us. One group walked directly from the school, eschewing all public transportation. Another group wanted a long walk and took the train to the end of one of the routes and walked a full 26km. I was in a group that took the train up to North Sydney. Our walk took us across the famous Harbor Bridge and into the central business district.
The crowds were not bad. There were plenty of people to be sure, but because of the multiple routes and people beginning at different times of the day we never experienced the human gridlock that had been a part of the walk on Tuesday. Not only was the walk pleasant and view tremendous, I was surpised at how much the experience touched me on a spiritual level. There were a few places set up along the way as prayer stations, and we also prayed other prayers as we went. I felt very connected with the tradition of pilgrimage and found it a very helpful preparation for the upcoming celebrations.
Once we arrived in the area people entered by various gates depening on what had been alloted them on their admission ticket. We had gate 14, section A, area 4. We had to walk down the full length of the racecourse on the east side to find gate 14 was the final gate. Once we entered we followed the signs and got slightly confused. It seemed that we were being directed toward what was labeled VIP entrance. The very helpful volunteers looked at our tickets and told us that we were headed correctly! A little further on and we discovered that we were about to enter a restricted area and had to go through a special security screening not unlike that at an airport (x-ray bags, walk through a metal detector). After than it was still a long walk until finally we found our area. The early group had done well. Within A4 they had the corner nearest the altar area. And A4 was literally the best section in the entire area. Just to our right, directly in front of the altar, were the chairs that were set up for the concelebrating priests. From where we were it was about 50 yards on a straight line up and to the right to the main altar. I could not believe how fortunate we were. It certainly more than made up for the poor seats for the Opening Mass!
One group left very early, took the train into the downtown area and had a short walk. They had the goal of securing a spot for our group within the area reserved for us. One group walked directly from the school, eschewing all public transportation. Another group wanted a long walk and took the train to the end of one of the routes and walked a full 26km. I was in a group that took the train up to North Sydney. Our walk took us across the famous Harbor Bridge and into the central business district.
The crowds were not bad. There were plenty of people to be sure, but because of the multiple routes and people beginning at different times of the day we never experienced the human gridlock that had been a part of the walk on Tuesday. Not only was the walk pleasant and view tremendous, I was surpised at how much the experience touched me on a spiritual level. There were a few places set up along the way as prayer stations, and we also prayed other prayers as we went. I felt very connected with the tradition of pilgrimage and found it a very helpful preparation for the upcoming celebrations.
Once we arrived in the area people entered by various gates depening on what had been alloted them on their admission ticket. We had gate 14, section A, area 4. We had to walk down the full length of the racecourse on the east side to find gate 14 was the final gate. Once we entered we followed the signs and got slightly confused. It seemed that we were being directed toward what was labeled VIP entrance. The very helpful volunteers looked at our tickets and told us that we were headed correctly! A little further on and we discovered that we were about to enter a restricted area and had to go through a special security screening not unlike that at an airport (x-ray bags, walk through a metal detector). After than it was still a long walk until finally we found our area. The early group had done well. Within A4 they had the corner nearest the altar area. And A4 was literally the best section in the entire area. Just to our right, directly in front of the altar, were the chairs that were set up for the concelebrating priests. From where we were it was about 50 yards on a straight line up and to the right to the main altar. I could not believe how fortunate we were. It certainly more than made up for the poor seats for the Opening Mass!
Songs of Passion
Just about every afternoon and evening there are “Youth Festival” events taking place throughout the greater Sydney area. They included forums and collquia, concerts and film screenings, visual arts exhibits, and more. For many people these events are the highlight of WYD. A lot of the concerts are given by people of national and international standing. People like Matt Maher and Fr. Stan Fortuno were among them. On Wednesday evening the Passionist parish of St. Brigid hosted an event entitled, “Songs of Passion”. Each of the various Passionist pilgrim groups, supplemented by both the parish grade school and high school, presented songs and dances from their home countries around the theme of the Passion of Christ. The United States group aquitted itself well with two songs and provided the back-up singers for a Passionist priest from Melbourne who is also a song-writer.
Catholic Schools in Australia
The Catholic Education Office of Sydney hosted a reception for executives in Catholic education on Wednesday evening in conjuction with all the WYD activities. One of my bosses is the Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, so she had asked me to attend and represent her. She also wanted me to give her personal grettings to the director in Sydney with whom she had studied when they both were working on their doctorates. I had sent in my RSVP and received the information I needed, so Wednesday evening I was off to the reception.
I was a little surprised when I got there to discover that I was the only non-Australian who had responded affirmatively to the invitation! I had the chance to meet a who's-who of Australian Catholic education. The director of every diocesan office was there, as were the members of the national board. They were all very curious to see and speak to this Yank (as they call people from the United States) who was in their midst. All were very friendly, and all spoke of the impact WYD was having on their home dioceses. Many from outside Sydney said how much their people appreciated playing host to pilgrims during the Days in the Diocese that preceded the days in Sydney. One of the more touching stories involved a group of pilgrims from Africa who arrived by plane in Sydney knowing that they were supposed to go to Adelaide. They thought it was a suburb of Sydney and not the capital city of the state of South Australia, about 800 miles away. The good people of Adelaide took up a collection to get them there and back. All of them were impressed with the openness of the young pilgrims and said how much hope and encouragement it gave them to see them. They are convinced that the Church in Australia will benefit from this.
I was impressed with some of the old fashioned formality that it appears is still very much in style in Australia. At one point the head of the Sydney school board was invited to come and make a toast. He gave a couple of minute speech and then said, “I bid you all, charge your glasses if that be necessary.” He paused for a moment for people to make sure they had something with which to toast and then, raising his own glass said, “To Catholic education everywhere.” Everyone in the room responded by raising their glasses and repeating, “To Catholic Education everywhere!” They then drank. There was no clinking of glasses as in the United States. It reminded me of something from out of a movie.
I heard a very interesting story while I was at the reception. While I was speaking with one gentleman I asked him how it was that Catholic Schools in Australia came to receive government funding. He told me that it had not always been that way, but was something that began only 40 years ago. The story goes that Catholic schools were struggling financially in a very deep way in the mid to late 60s. The departure of many women religious who had been essentially a free teaching force put a great strain on things. There was one diocese in particular in which there was a school whose bathroom did not pass the state health inspection. The state told them they needed to upgrade the bathroom, but the diocese said that they did not have the funds to do so. The state threatened to close the school as a result. The bishop then decided that he was going to close every Catholic school in the entire diocese and send a letter home to all the parents telling them to present their children to the nearest state school for enrollment. The state schools of course paniced, knowing that they did not have near the resources necessary to accept such a sudden influx of students. The state approached the bishop and asked him to reconsider his decision to close all Catholic schools. From the negotiations that followed state funding of Catholic schools began. That first year the Catholic schools received a state grant of $12 per elementary student and $18 per high school student. Today in the state of New South Wales the Catholic schools receive a state grant of $6500 per elementary student and $8000 per high school student. This state funding accounts for 85% of the budget for the Catholic Schools.
All-in-all it was a very interesting evening.
I was a little surprised when I got there to discover that I was the only non-Australian who had responded affirmatively to the invitation! I had the chance to meet a who's-who of Australian Catholic education. The director of every diocesan office was there, as were the members of the national board. They were all very curious to see and speak to this Yank (as they call people from the United States) who was in their midst. All were very friendly, and all spoke of the impact WYD was having on their home dioceses. Many from outside Sydney said how much their people appreciated playing host to pilgrims during the Days in the Diocese that preceded the days in Sydney. One of the more touching stories involved a group of pilgrims from Africa who arrived by plane in Sydney knowing that they were supposed to go to Adelaide. They thought it was a suburb of Sydney and not the capital city of the state of South Australia, about 800 miles away. The good people of Adelaide took up a collection to get them there and back. All of them were impressed with the openness of the young pilgrims and said how much hope and encouragement it gave them to see them. They are convinced that the Church in Australia will benefit from this.
I was impressed with some of the old fashioned formality that it appears is still very much in style in Australia. At one point the head of the Sydney school board was invited to come and make a toast. He gave a couple of minute speech and then said, “I bid you all, charge your glasses if that be necessary.” He paused for a moment for people to make sure they had something with which to toast and then, raising his own glass said, “To Catholic education everywhere.” Everyone in the room responded by raising their glasses and repeating, “To Catholic Education everywhere!” They then drank. There was no clinking of glasses as in the United States. It reminded me of something from out of a movie.
I heard a very interesting story while I was at the reception. While I was speaking with one gentleman I asked him how it was that Catholic Schools in Australia came to receive government funding. He told me that it had not always been that way, but was something that began only 40 years ago. The story goes that Catholic schools were struggling financially in a very deep way in the mid to late 60s. The departure of many women religious who had been essentially a free teaching force put a great strain on things. There was one diocese in particular in which there was a school whose bathroom did not pass the state health inspection. The state told them they needed to upgrade the bathroom, but the diocese said that they did not have the funds to do so. The state threatened to close the school as a result. The bishop then decided that he was going to close every Catholic school in the entire diocese and send a letter home to all the parents telling them to present their children to the nearest state school for enrollment. The state schools of course paniced, knowing that they did not have near the resources necessary to accept such a sudden influx of students. The state approached the bishop and asked him to reconsider his decision to close all Catholic schools. From the negotiations that followed state funding of Catholic schools began. That first year the Catholic schools received a state grant of $12 per elementary student and $18 per high school student. Today in the state of New South Wales the Catholic schools receive a state grant of $6500 per elementary student and $8000 per high school student. This state funding accounts for 85% of the budget for the Catholic Schools.
All-in-all it was a very interesting evening.
Catechesis
At the heart of WYD activities lies the daily catechesis sessions held throughout the city. The word catechesis comes from a Greek word meaning “to echo” and the early Christian community adopted it to describe the process of passing on the Christian faith. In our Catholic tradiition, the chief catechists are supposed to be the bishops. Unfortunately, in day-to-day activities most bishops have very little time to spend in that kind of direct teching and faith formation. The business of adminstration takes so much time. So, it was with great excitement that I looked forward to these catechetical sessions that are led by the bishops themselves.
Catechesis was held every morning from Wednesday through Friday. The schedule was the same each day: songs and prayers to open the day for about a half hour, a half hour of teaching by the bishop, forty-five minutes for questions and answers with the bishop, a short break, and daily mass presided over by the bishop. There were themes selected for each day, taken from the overall theme of this WYD, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” Wednesday the focus was on life in the Holy Spirit, Thursday was centered on the belief that the Holy Spirit is the Soul of the Church. Finally, Friday was to conclude with the topic of the Holy Spirit as the principal agent of mission.
These catechesis sessions took place in dozens of locations throughout the city in multiple languages. It happened that the parish church on the complex where we were staying was an English site, so we did not have far to go in the morning! All of the people staying at the two schools were there, as were many other people – a total of about 800 pilgrims. The three bishops that were assigned to our center were an auxiliary bishop from Detroit, the bishop of Canberra (the capital city of Australia), and an American cardinal now working in Rome at the Apostolic Penitentiary (the Vatican office that deals with issues of penance and indulgences).
The first bishop was fine, but not overly exciting. The tone he took was a little bit off, more suited for a talk to middle school students that the age group actually in front of him. The best part of the time with him was certainly the Q&A. Most young people do not get a lot of face time with bishops. Think about how many times you have actually seen a bishop in the flesh. They generally come out to parishes once a year for Confirmation, and that is about it. If there are any questions, usually it is they who are doing the asking. So it was really a special opporunity for many of the pilgrims to get to ask their questions face to face and get an answer. Some of the questions came in relation to the talk, but some clearly were questions that had been bothering people for some time, so it was nice for them to get a chance to ask them.
The Australian bishop the second day was absolutely marvelous. He showed great command of the format, giving an exemplary talk modeling a wonderful understanding of catechesis. He did not resort to mere moral exhortations or pious platitudes. He took some real substantial parts of the faith and began to break them open. Speaking on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church he used a powerful image. He said that those who look at the Church from the outside as non-believers see in the church only a corpse. That is because they see the body (made up of people) but not the soul – and a body without a soul is only a corspe. The soul of the Church is the Holy Spirit, and to see its enlivening power you have to look with eyes of faith. His homily during mass was also a model homily, taking our lives as we were experiencing them on this pilgrimage and breaking them open in light of the liturgy. It was wonderful.
Given that, the bishop on Friday was a bit of a dissapointment. He did not really directly address the topic he was supposed to. He spoke very slowly and quietly, without much seeming energy or passion. He tended to ramble, and his homily was nearly indistinguishable from his catechesis – both in length and content.
Overall, however, I felt the catechesis sessions to be very postive encounters. The overall organization of them seemed well thought out. I am grateful for them.
Catechesis was held every morning from Wednesday through Friday. The schedule was the same each day: songs and prayers to open the day for about a half hour, a half hour of teaching by the bishop, forty-five minutes for questions and answers with the bishop, a short break, and daily mass presided over by the bishop. There were themes selected for each day, taken from the overall theme of this WYD, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” Wednesday the focus was on life in the Holy Spirit, Thursday was centered on the belief that the Holy Spirit is the Soul of the Church. Finally, Friday was to conclude with the topic of the Holy Spirit as the principal agent of mission.
These catechesis sessions took place in dozens of locations throughout the city in multiple languages. It happened that the parish church on the complex where we were staying was an English site, so we did not have far to go in the morning! All of the people staying at the two schools were there, as were many other people – a total of about 800 pilgrims. The three bishops that were assigned to our center were an auxiliary bishop from Detroit, the bishop of Canberra (the capital city of Australia), and an American cardinal now working in Rome at the Apostolic Penitentiary (the Vatican office that deals with issues of penance and indulgences).
The first bishop was fine, but not overly exciting. The tone he took was a little bit off, more suited for a talk to middle school students that the age group actually in front of him. The best part of the time with him was certainly the Q&A. Most young people do not get a lot of face time with bishops. Think about how many times you have actually seen a bishop in the flesh. They generally come out to parishes once a year for Confirmation, and that is about it. If there are any questions, usually it is they who are doing the asking. So it was really a special opporunity for many of the pilgrims to get to ask their questions face to face and get an answer. Some of the questions came in relation to the talk, but some clearly were questions that had been bothering people for some time, so it was nice for them to get a chance to ask them.
The Australian bishop the second day was absolutely marvelous. He showed great command of the format, giving an exemplary talk modeling a wonderful understanding of catechesis. He did not resort to mere moral exhortations or pious platitudes. He took some real substantial parts of the faith and began to break them open. Speaking on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church he used a powerful image. He said that those who look at the Church from the outside as non-believers see in the church only a corpse. That is because they see the body (made up of people) but not the soul – and a body without a soul is only a corspe. The soul of the Church is the Holy Spirit, and to see its enlivening power you have to look with eyes of faith. His homily during mass was also a model homily, taking our lives as we were experiencing them on this pilgrimage and breaking them open in light of the liturgy. It was wonderful.
Given that, the bishop on Friday was a bit of a dissapointment. He did not really directly address the topic he was supposed to. He spoke very slowly and quietly, without much seeming energy or passion. He tended to ramble, and his homily was nearly indistinguishable from his catechesis – both in length and content.
Overall, however, I felt the catechesis sessions to be very postive encounters. The overall organization of them seemed well thought out. I am grateful for them.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
World Youth Day officially begins
Tuesday morning got off to a bit of a rough start. At about 6:15 in the morning I was awakened by a long and sustained extremely high pitched sound. After a few seconds I heard theperson lying near me ask, "What is that!?!" We both got up and began to search around the room in the dark for its source. It seemed to be coming from inside the room, but we could not find it. More and more people were beginning to stir. Finally Erica woke and located its source, a malfunctioning travel alarm clock that was inside someone’s bag. She began hitting it, trying to get it to stop, and the sound fluctated but did not stop. Finally, another person took it from her and succeeeded in taking out the batteries, mercifully ending the noise that had gone on for at least three full minutes. By the time it finally ended, the only person in the room not awake was the owner of the clock, who did not move the entire time.
A little later in the morning, after we were up, dressed, and had eaten some breakfast things looked a little better. A group of us headed first toward the local post office, walking through the neighborhood to get there. It is quite an interesting neighborhood. It is quite mixed. We passed Greek stores and restaurants. The local Anglican church has mass in Mandarin Chinese. There are Vietnamese noodle shops right next to fish and chips stands. One of my favorite store names was "After-a-fashion recycled clothing store" The post office here in Australia is rather more full service than those in the States. It resembles a small Staples. In addition to selling stamps and dealing with shipping, they sell phones and phone cards, all sorts of office supplies, technology items like flash drives and external hard drives, and children’s books. One of the nicer things that they had were pre-paid post cards. They actually cost less than an international post card stamp and have some very nice designs. They include some specifically designed for WYD. We discovered them after I had bought 20 stamps. They actually let me return 1o of them and refunded my money! The staff there was incredibly polite and patient with these clueless Americans.
From there we were off to the train and headed back toward High Park. Three of us took some time to tour the Barracks museum off the corner of the park. It is a wonderful little museum and we could have spent even more time there. It is, in its own words, a musem about itself. The building was originally constructed to serve as a convict barracks in the early nineteenth century. (Many of the early Eurpoean immigrants to Australia were not so willining immiigrants. England used to send convicts to Autralia rather than put them in jail!) A few years after the transportation of convicts to Australia ended it became an immigration station for unattached women. They were permitted to live there while they sought suitable employement and a place to stay. Later, it became a home for elderly and poor women. It was converted to serve as a part of the court system. Finally, in the 1970s it became a museum. Different parts of the building are preserved in different stages of its history, to give a glimpse into each of the services it has rendered to Australia. One of the more interesting things I learned was that the transportation of convicts to New South Wales began in part because of the inability to send them to the American colonies following those colonies declaration of independence. I seem to have forgotten that part of our nation’s history that some of those coming to the new world did so as a result of criminal sentences!
We experienced the first major logistical snafu at noon on Tuesday. As a part of our pilgrim registration we had paid for several meals. We had been given meal tickets as a part of our packets on Sunday night. The books stated that lunch on Tuesday could be picked up in several locations. When we went to one of them, in Hyde Park, there was no place set up at all. After a few inquiries to some volunteers we learned that of all of the distribution locations mentioned in our books, only one was actually up and running for the day. It was not near us at all. We stopped at McDonalds. I felt a little guilty about doing something so American when we were in a different country. It was fast and familiar, however. It was also cheap because every pilgrim had been given discount cards to McDonalds since they are one of the official sponsors. They have an ad in the program book with a map showing all the McDonalds in the area!
We met the rest of our American group by the Opera House at 1:00 to begin our walk to the site of the opening mass. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were headed in the same direction. Very patient volunteers directed us, but soon we were in the midst of a human gridlock. People generally seemd to keep in good cheer. It was fun to see the flags of so many different contries all around. Groups broke into spontaneous songs and cheers all over the place. While some in the group seemed to find the experience difficult, I was pleasantly surprised that I was more patient than I would have expected. It took us over and hour and a half to walk about a mile.
Once on site it was rather chaotic as well. This was the one food site that was open, and many in our group had not eaten at all. Food tickets had to be submitted in groups of six and packets of six meals were handed out. They stood in long lines awaiting food. At one point they were slowed when a bank of microwaves that were heating the meat pies that were a part of the meals broke down.
By about 4:00 we had all made our ways to the areas assigned to us. This was an outdoor venue. I am not sure what it normally is, but it seemed to be a huge paved open area. We were sent to an area well away from the stage. We were so far away, and there were towers with speakers throughout, tht the stage and altar were not visible whatsoever. There were large video screens set up, so that it what we were able to watch. The screen nearest us was in the oppostie direction of where the altar was actually located, so we spent the entire mass facing away from it!
I must admit that I was a little disappointed by the experience. While I had approached the mass at the Telstra dome in Melbourne with some trepidation and been pleasantly surprised, I had approched this mass with relatively high expectations and been let down. I did not feel as connected to the event and it was harder to feel like an active participant in the liturgy. The groups around us were not as attentive. While not openly disrespectful, there also was a constant low buzz of converstation with people still moving about. While we had been given liturgy aides in our packets, most of the people did not sing for most of the songs. It felt very much like we were watching a performance. That was quite disappointing. I was surpised at communion time. We had been told that there would be communion stations out in the crowds, and indeed there was. But they appeared so quickly, and we were so far away from the altar, that I had to conclude that either the host had been pre-consecrated at another mass, or they had been consecratred from afar, since there is no way they could have gotten to us from the altar. Also, no matter which was the case, they had clearly been consecrated in their plastic bags. The bag had been dropped into a ciborium, and the communion minister was reaching in through a hole that had been ripped in the bag.
Once mass was over, there was a concert. It was also time for us to try to collect our dinner. It was the same drill, submit tickets in groups of six. I was one of those who had this task and I headed out, the rest of the group staying put. It was quite a distance and by the time I got to the distribution site there was a tremendous crowd. There was not really a line, and as people received their food packets they had to fight they way back through the crowd to get out. As I eventually drew nearer, it was quite a scene. People were crowded against a row of tables, holding out their tickets, in the hope that the poor frantic volunteers would choose to give them a precious food packet as one became available. It did not make for the most Christian of behaviors in some folks. It was over 2 hours standing in such madness before I was one of the lucky ones and could return to the group. They were quite happy to see me, not only because I had food but because they had begun to worry about what had become of me.
After eating we left the venue. What had been an hour and a half walk earlier in the day took less than 20 minutes. The trains were wonderfully efficient, and we even had a seat. We got back to the school a little after 10:00.
Catechesis sessions begin on Wednesday. I am looking forward to them.
A little later in the morning, after we were up, dressed, and had eaten some breakfast things looked a little better. A group of us headed first toward the local post office, walking through the neighborhood to get there. It is quite an interesting neighborhood. It is quite mixed. We passed Greek stores and restaurants. The local Anglican church has mass in Mandarin Chinese. There are Vietnamese noodle shops right next to fish and chips stands. One of my favorite store names was "After-a-fashion recycled clothing store" The post office here in Australia is rather more full service than those in the States. It resembles a small Staples. In addition to selling stamps and dealing with shipping, they sell phones and phone cards, all sorts of office supplies, technology items like flash drives and external hard drives, and children’s books. One of the nicer things that they had were pre-paid post cards. They actually cost less than an international post card stamp and have some very nice designs. They include some specifically designed for WYD. We discovered them after I had bought 20 stamps. They actually let me return 1o of them and refunded my money! The staff there was incredibly polite and patient with these clueless Americans.
From there we were off to the train and headed back toward High Park. Three of us took some time to tour the Barracks museum off the corner of the park. It is a wonderful little museum and we could have spent even more time there. It is, in its own words, a musem about itself. The building was originally constructed to serve as a convict barracks in the early nineteenth century. (Many of the early Eurpoean immigrants to Australia were not so willining immiigrants. England used to send convicts to Autralia rather than put them in jail!) A few years after the transportation of convicts to Australia ended it became an immigration station for unattached women. They were permitted to live there while they sought suitable employement and a place to stay. Later, it became a home for elderly and poor women. It was converted to serve as a part of the court system. Finally, in the 1970s it became a museum. Different parts of the building are preserved in different stages of its history, to give a glimpse into each of the services it has rendered to Australia. One of the more interesting things I learned was that the transportation of convicts to New South Wales began in part because of the inability to send them to the American colonies following those colonies declaration of independence. I seem to have forgotten that part of our nation’s history that some of those coming to the new world did so as a result of criminal sentences!
We experienced the first major logistical snafu at noon on Tuesday. As a part of our pilgrim registration we had paid for several meals. We had been given meal tickets as a part of our packets on Sunday night. The books stated that lunch on Tuesday could be picked up in several locations. When we went to one of them, in Hyde Park, there was no place set up at all. After a few inquiries to some volunteers we learned that of all of the distribution locations mentioned in our books, only one was actually up and running for the day. It was not near us at all. We stopped at McDonalds. I felt a little guilty about doing something so American when we were in a different country. It was fast and familiar, however. It was also cheap because every pilgrim had been given discount cards to McDonalds since they are one of the official sponsors. They have an ad in the program book with a map showing all the McDonalds in the area!
We met the rest of our American group by the Opera House at 1:00 to begin our walk to the site of the opening mass. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were headed in the same direction. Very patient volunteers directed us, but soon we were in the midst of a human gridlock. People generally seemd to keep in good cheer. It was fun to see the flags of so many different contries all around. Groups broke into spontaneous songs and cheers all over the place. While some in the group seemed to find the experience difficult, I was pleasantly surprised that I was more patient than I would have expected. It took us over and hour and a half to walk about a mile.
Once on site it was rather chaotic as well. This was the one food site that was open, and many in our group had not eaten at all. Food tickets had to be submitted in groups of six and packets of six meals were handed out. They stood in long lines awaiting food. At one point they were slowed when a bank of microwaves that were heating the meat pies that were a part of the meals broke down.
By about 4:00 we had all made our ways to the areas assigned to us. This was an outdoor venue. I am not sure what it normally is, but it seemed to be a huge paved open area. We were sent to an area well away from the stage. We were so far away, and there were towers with speakers throughout, tht the stage and altar were not visible whatsoever. There were large video screens set up, so that it what we were able to watch. The screen nearest us was in the oppostie direction of where the altar was actually located, so we spent the entire mass facing away from it!
I must admit that I was a little disappointed by the experience. While I had approached the mass at the Telstra dome in Melbourne with some trepidation and been pleasantly surprised, I had approched this mass with relatively high expectations and been let down. I did not feel as connected to the event and it was harder to feel like an active participant in the liturgy. The groups around us were not as attentive. While not openly disrespectful, there also was a constant low buzz of converstation with people still moving about. While we had been given liturgy aides in our packets, most of the people did not sing for most of the songs. It felt very much like we were watching a performance. That was quite disappointing. I was surpised at communion time. We had been told that there would be communion stations out in the crowds, and indeed there was. But they appeared so quickly, and we were so far away from the altar, that I had to conclude that either the host had been pre-consecrated at another mass, or they had been consecratred from afar, since there is no way they could have gotten to us from the altar. Also, no matter which was the case, they had clearly been consecrated in their plastic bags. The bag had been dropped into a ciborium, and the communion minister was reaching in through a hole that had been ripped in the bag.
Once mass was over, there was a concert. It was also time for us to try to collect our dinner. It was the same drill, submit tickets in groups of six. I was one of those who had this task and I headed out, the rest of the group staying put. It was quite a distance and by the time I got to the distribution site there was a tremendous crowd. There was not really a line, and as people received their food packets they had to fight they way back through the crowd to get out. As I eventually drew nearer, it was quite a scene. People were crowded against a row of tables, holding out their tickets, in the hope that the poor frantic volunteers would choose to give them a precious food packet as one became available. It did not make for the most Christian of behaviors in some folks. It was over 2 hours standing in such madness before I was one of the lucky ones and could return to the group. They were quite happy to see me, not only because I had food but because they had begun to worry about what had become of me.
After eating we left the venue. What had been an hour and a half walk earlier in the day took less than 20 minutes. The trains were wonderfully efficient, and we even had a seat. We got back to the school a little after 10:00.
Catechesis sessions begin on Wednesday. I am looking forward to them.
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