Final day in Melbourne

Today marks the final day of our PYE here in Melbourne. Tomorrow morning we are leaving by bus for Sydney. The busses are scheduled to leave at 5:00am, so chances are that I will not have a chance to add another entry for a while after this.

This morning, after a morning prayer led by the group from Argentina we had a facilitated discussion. The two key folks who had been invited were William Cardinal Napier, OFM - the Archbishop of Durban, South Africa and Mr. John Lenders, a member of the state parliament and the minister of the treasury for the state of Victoria.

Mr. Lenders gave an interesting reflection on the tension between brining his Catholic faith into public life and the need to represent the constituency that elected him to parliament. He admits that this is a tightrope and that he struggles with it quite regularly. One question that came to him from the group was also quite illuminating. He was asked whether he ever felt powerless in his exercise of governance. He admitted that though he was responsible for administered a state budget of 37 billion dollars, he often is introduced to programs that could make a real impact in the lives of people, but he is unable to fund them because of limitations in the budget. He said that his having to deal with a budget is little different that the realities of most families - tough choices need to be made and one is often left feeling powerless in the face to things that one wishes to do but can't. The only difference, in his words, is that "there are more naughts (zeros) at the end of mine." Another area of powerlessness that he identified was in the area of rising energy costs. Here in Australia, as in the States, these rising costs have been a real burden for families. Government can do very little. It was good to hear how someone is a position of such power could feel powerless. Rather than making it feel like there is less that someone like me can do, it makes me remember that powerlessness is not an excuse not to try. Everyone can feel overwhelmed.

The Cardinal Archbishop was wonderful. He was so incredibly unassuming and personal. It was rather amazing to have such close contact to a person who was a part of the conclave that elected the current pope! He event told some stories of what that experience was like. Yet at the same time he was there is a simple clerical shirt and red windbreaker. No fancy garb, no suit or coat. Just sitting in a church with about 300 people, answering questions.

In response to a question about leadership he told a story of a porter who used to tell people, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Follow me, I'm right behind you." He spoke of the need to be out front in leadership, to give people a vision and to inspire them to more than they otherwise would be able to imagine. Then, once you have done that, get out of the way and come behind as supporter and encourager, letting others take the lead. A very interesting view of leadership coming from an Archbishop!

In response to a question about prejudice he said that he felt the response of a disciple of Jesus to anti-Catholic or anti-Christian motives was simply to remain faithful to one's convictions. You will show your opponents wrong by the love you show in caring for others. In South Africa, he said, the Catholic Church is out front in the area of treating the many victims of the AIDS pandemic, thus diffusing any latent anti-Catholicism.

Finally, in repsonse to a question about morality he gave an interesting analogy. He noted that most of us present had brought digital cameras on our pilgrimage. He said that if you do not follow the manufacturer's instructions, you cannot get the camera to work. If you somehow manage, the quality of the pictures will be inferior. The same is true of life, he said. God's commandments are like manufacturer's instructions, designed to help us get the best quality results out of life. Such an original and concrete metaphor!

After this discussion we had a final chance to meet in our small groups. I am not sure how good a job I did in facilitating my group, but I certainly did the best that I could.

This was followed by a mid-day prayer led by the pilgrims from Africa. The level of singing, clapping, and dancing was a new high!

This evening we will celebrate a vigil mass with the parish. This will be followed by a farewell BBQ and entertainment. All of our host families will be there. They have been so wonderful and generous with us. It will be good to have a chace to celebrate with all of them.

Tomorrow in Sydney!