Pilgrim's Progress Part 4

17th July: Holy Spirit, Soul of the Church
For in one Spirit we were all baptised; and we were all given to drink of one Spirit (1 Cor 12:13)

This morning Martin finds a wooden pole in the Gents. During Sacrament of Reconciliation, Daryl spots an Aussie with cable ties for the flag pole and he asks for some. The Aussie not only gives Daryl the cable-ties but also gives him a wooden pole. So now we have 2 wooden poles. This makes Martin very happy! during the Catechesis, Martin sees that Malawi's flag pole is a tree branch and he gives them one of the wooden poles and the Malawis are also very happy.

Today's Catechesis is straight out of Catechism of the Catholic Church. I've taken notes that fill several pages. What I can remember is that God infuses his breath into our lives. this Holy Spirit is our dynamo. What I see between Martin and the Malawi is the work of the Holy Spirit, soul of the Church, who empowers us Singaporean and Malawi to be sons/daughthers of God and brother/sister to each other.

With our flag pole we're on our way to Barangaroo to welcome the Pope.







My naive friends ask me if the Pope will be coming pass this way (where we were). I laugh and tell them, "No lah. So many people. So many lorongs (lanes). Chances are very slim." The pope finally gets off the boat and into the popemobile. Soon he makes a turn down our lorong. I think my friends wished very hard that day.






We screamed, we cheered. Everyone around us went crazy! It was such a wonderful feeling. I imagine what the crowds felt the day they welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday. I imagine how the crowds felt when Peter and Paul walked past them in the Acts of the Apostles when their shadows fell on the people. The power of the Holy Spirit just filled the whole place. Great Joy filled our hearts! This pilgrim so many years ago disagreed with the Church and her traditions and did not like the Papal figure was now a changed person. I laugh at myself. Years ago I cannot imagine doing something so "idolastic"!, "worshipping this cult figure", "blesphemy". But I know now that Jesus chose Peter to lead his flock and for 2 thousand years this leadership has been passed down from one to the next. I know that the history of the Church is not that clean and perfect. There have been popes who have been less than ideal. But I decided not to judge from the past because I live in the present and I judge in the present. In my life so far I've only known two Popes. Pope John Paul the 2nd won my heart and enriched my faith. It's because of him I signed up for WYD in Cologne only to welcome Pope Benedict the 16th who despite his age has taken on such a heavy responsibility and continues to be an icon of Christian leadership, faithfulness, holiness and humility just as JP2 had been. I cheered heartily for the Vicar of Christ because I cheer for Jesus and the Church he established. Yes the church has not been perfect, but when I see the good the Church has done, I see that has been more positives than negatives.

I am affirmed as the Pope went past me today that the Church is us, we are the Church. We trudge back to the place we now call home, St Ursula's College. We're so tired. We have to wait 15 mins for the train. Sylvester wishes for a train that would not stop at any other station except ours, Kingsgrove. Seems impossible. But the train that comes turns out to be an express train. "No stops. Direct Kingsgrove" Thank you Jesus.

In the college, we find a less-cold place to pray the Evening Vespers. I'm still a cold, hungry and tired pilgrim. But blessed beyond words.

Pilgrim's Progress Part 3

16th July: Called to live in the Spirit.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Catechesis at Our Lady of Fatima was enriching. My body bears the breath of God, the Ruah, the Holy Spirit. the Holy Spirit is the Lord and Giver of Life. Life always leads us into the light, from darkness to light, from chaos to calm and hope and peace. I like these words spoken by the presenting bishop from the U.S. Because it is truth. This is why we should aim to celebrate life and give life, not celebrate death/abortion/wars or allow these things to happen.

this pilgrim is here to see the Pope, to encounter Christ in others, to have a good time but also to change and grow closer to Christ. We are called to change from wandering people to journeying people. There are aspects in my life where I've been wandering around, where I've not made a stand for. Will this pilgrim make a stand for God's creation, for Mother Earth? will this pilgrim make a stand for peace?

I recall the Village Space by Catholic Mission Australia which we had attended the morning before (15th July). It was such a moving experience. We felt as though we were part of the stories being dramatised. They were real stories, real experiences being re-told to pilgrims. Pilgrims who don't know anything about Ugandan child soldiers, the devastation of coal mines, uranium mines and nuclear power plants and the struggles of the indidgenious people. Yet I felt a sense of helplessness. These things and many more other issues seem beyond me. I don't even think we can change a small place like Payatas. What is this pilgrim to do when we hear about food shortage in the world? crazy weather conditions? nuclear power plant to be set up in the neighbouring country? and so on? Do we continue to shrug our shoulders and we wander around as tourists enjoying what the world has to offer for the moment? or do we set off on a journey for the truth?

to set off on a journey we have to leave behind what's familiar and not know the destination and the power that enables us to do this is the Holy Spirit. I think of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have gathered into Sydney. The same Holy Spirit who empowered the disciples at Pentecost has brought us here as One Church.

with Patrick Fox after a radio interview with SBS




The Homily during Eucharist:
We are called to be witnesses. But I cannot be a witness unless I have seen or heard Jesus (we have seen the Lord). During this World Youth Day, who have I seen, who have I heard?

Mary hears Angel Gabriel and says "yes" to God. but everything goes wrong for Mary! interesting right? and true too... yet Mary doesn't complain. We must sruggle with the ways of the Lord. When we see the meaning then we are not caught in the misery of the world but we see Jesus. We are called to be contemplatives... seeing and praying... to become more missionary.

Bishop Eugene Hurly's message at Act Today, Change Tomorrow
The call of the beloved need not make sense to us. But it is His call that we can commit ourselves to. How do we judge the reality of life? God calls us to love. Our reality of life is to response to love and Real life is made of experiences we have day by day.

At Asian Youth Gathering
With Fr Thomas and Turkmenistan youths


with Marie Mondu and Domninica, PNG


with Bishop Cornelius, Brunei and Bipul, IMCS


Today Martin makes a wish... He wants 2 flagpoles. actually he only needs one but he decides to try God and just ask for 2! We've been moving about for a week with our flag and we have no flag pole!

Pilgrim's Progress Part 2

14th July 2008 Monday 7am. Place: Bathurst (in a college sports hall)

Head still throbbing. Many pilgrims still all around me but less noisy cos they're all sleepy too. Forget about using the toilets! several hundreds queuing.. not worth it. I decide i'll wait till 5 mins before mass when the toilets are empty.

Commissioning Mass begins (my 2nd one so far). I guess this is for missing the Commissioning in Singapore.

It's a relief to know that Singapore is scheduled as the 1st batch to leave for Sydney. like typical kiasus, we're quick to chope a bus, the seats and dump our luggage into the luggage van. We're on the road to Sydney with Ricardo, Anna, Kelly (from Mayland) and about 40 other Venezuelans. I learn that there is never a dull moment with Venezuelans. We sang, we clapped, we cheered all the way to the train station. (about an hour's ride). After all "Yo Vine Para Amara Dios" (I came to love God)

We got to the train station (can't remember the name) and once more the 6 of us continued on our journey to Sydney. It was exciting and at the same time a little anxious because we did not know what to expect next. We found our way (thanks to Location IC, Martin) to Kingsgrove, St Ursula's College. Btw, i was still hungry though the headache was almost gone. It was almost 5pm and we were starving as our last meal was breakfast.

At this point of the trip, we felt all alone in Sydney but it's also from here that we began to see how Abba Father takes care of us every step of the way. I made a wish the previous night in Bathurst. I shared with Mayb how I wished that in Sydney we would not have to share rooms. It would be quiet just Mayb, Debbie and I. hehe

Now in St Ursula's College, Mayb and I were taken to the classroom we would be staying in. God answered my prayer! It was only Mayb, Debbie, Angela *from california and me! Great! thanks God!

Back in Bathurst Mayb wished for a simple meal, rice and soup. The people in Cowra
were great and we loved their BBQ. It was always hotdogs and we love hotdogs. But I guess we had one too many. When we arrived at St Ursula's College, our hosts were whipping up a great cookout meal... hotdogs and bread... we really like hotdogs.. but this pilgrim needs rice and hot soup. After snacking on a hotdog each we made our way out and found a Malaysian chinese eatery. Mayb had her wish come true. Rice and hot soup!

There were many pilgrims at the College too. The pilgrims from the Singapore Youth Ministry Office were there too. So we were happy to meet them. There were about 60 indonesian students too and ICPE pilgrims from India and other countries. However there were only 3 bathing compartments/wooden cupboards. Each wooden compartment had 3 shower heads. 2 compartments were reserved for the ladies and the guys had to make do with 1 compartment. thankfully we had heaters but the guys didnt on the 1st night. Even then it was cold in Sydney and the warm water wasnt that warm as there were too many people showering so the water couldn't heat up in time for each pilgrim's shower.

Opening Litury
place: our lady of Fatima parish (next to the college)
parish priest: Fr Remy.
Let Your Light Shine

Night time:
The classrooms didnt have heaters. I had on 3 tops, 1 woolly sweater and 1 winter jacket.. and 2 pants for the nights. it was cozy in the sleeping bag but I'd shake from the cold every time i had to come out of the sleeping bag.


15th July Opening Mass at Barangaroo. Singaporeans would say it as "bar-rung-gar-roo"
Lots of walking, many pilgrims. It was crazy. at one point there was such a massive jam on the road to Barangaroo we were stuck for almost 2 hours. the meal packs were bad. We had meat pie which is supposed to be an Australian favourtite. But i highly doubt Australians would agree with the meat pie we got. We missed dinner as it was too much of a hassle to collect it in Barangaroo. This was the start of World Youth Day week. We left when the Mass was about to end to avoid the human crush. In the process, I fell and scraped my knee. Ouch! I hate bleeding.






We rushed because we were trying to get to St Mary's Cathedral.

This was what I recall from Cardinal Pell's sermon at the Eucharist. Jesus is our shepherd who searches for the lost sheep (hmmm i'm reminded of the 1000 sheep and what would Will do if 1 went missing???) Jesus welcomes the the lost sheep. Those suffering and in pain, Jesus offers healing. Jesus the shepherd calls out to all who are suffering especially those without religion (or deny God) to love, healing and community. In Ezkiel, there is the place where the desert is of dry bones. Autralia is a country which has been suffering a severe drought for several years (that explains the high food prices??). But where there is life there is hope. we are always able to act and choose. We believe in the power of the Spirit to connect people's hearts because God's forgives.

You know, the 1st day out in Sydney as a pilgrim wasn't that great! I wanted to bail out of the cold clasroom-cum-bedroom and hop into a nice hotel. I fell and scraped my knee and it hurts and I hate pain. I didnt like the crazy human jam at Barangaroo. I can imagine how the Jews felt as they left Egypt! one big exodus-cum-human-jam. I'm in a cold and dry place. I miss my warm humid Singapore. and did I mention I'm hungry? But something clicked in me during the Eucharist. Maybe it was the sermon. Maybe it was recieving Jesus once more during communion. I felt the desire to continue on the journey to the Cathedral.

St Mary's Cathedral
As we predicted the Cathedral was quiet except for several other like-minded pilgrims (smart-fellows). We had the cathedral to ourselves :)
Met an ultra cool dude. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. http://www.3op.org/frassati.php
His words struck me: "to live without a faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for the truth, that is not living, but just existing."
I think that this is especially true today for young people who live in 1st world countries, who have "everything" and yet their hearts are empty.

But let's not look at others. What about this pilgrim? Am i just existing here in Sydney? What are my struggles so far? What am I here for? Do I want to journey on as a pilgrim or enjoy Sydney as a tourist?


Btw, we (mayb, Debbie and I) have developed C.O.S - crush on Saint! hehe

Pilgrim's Progress Part 1

World Youth Day was a unforgettable experience despite the physical discomforts a encountered along the way.

When we arrived in Sydney on the 9th of July, the weather was 8 deg celsius. It took awhile to clear customs. Every bag was personally checked at the the customs section. Sydney airport did not seem equipped to handle the thousands of pilgrims expected to arrive in the next few days. When we finally got out of the airport, it was already dark and pretty cold. We managed to get on an airport shuttle. We checked in, found a reasonably priced Thai eatery to have dinner. In Australia, each meal is about AUD$10. .Tired from the flight we trudged back to our 6 bed heater-less dorm. By Midnight (singapore time 2am) we were fast asleep.

We had to wake up early on 10th July, 6am (singapore time 4am) to get to central station and board the countrylink train to blayney by 645am. Thankfully were only 6 it was easy to move about even with all the luggage. We each had roles. Martin was the IC for location... "find the place and lead us there". He found the way to Central Station quite easily and sooon we were off for Days in the Diocese. The train ride was fairly pleasant. We were able to buy toast for breakfast and slept alot. We arrived at Balyney at 1130am on schedule and was greeted by Jim who drove us to Cowra where we recieved a warm welcome from the parishioners of Cowra. With us in Cowra were Americans and Zambians (not Zimbabweans, terence! haha)


May and I were soon on our way for homestay with our host Rebecca husband Will and 2 adorable boys, Flyn and Elliot. We will never forget our homestay experience! For starters, we were going to live on a really large farm about 1300acres of land which had 1000 sheep (and 1 black sheep! haha). I'm not kidding... we would have no prpblem sleeping at night! just count 1000 sheep.. hehe

Baa


Baa-baa-baa


Baa-baa-baaa x 1000


The farm has a pretty cool name: RainTree Farm. I enjoyed being away from the city. It was quiet and peaceful on the farm. What amazed me about my hosts was how D-I-Y they were and simple too. Rebecca is a potter so the family doesnt buy plates, cups, dishes etc. It's all homemade. Rebecca works in her pottery studio, a shed on the farm close to the house. Will makes his own jam and bakes his own bread. He also brews his own beer. He feeds the sheep every morning and checks on the barley which he'll harvest this December. He also has his own dark room studio on the farm. The couple are having an exhibition of their pottery and photography this September. I am excited for them.

Me at the wheel!






The days in Cowra flew by. Before we knew it, it was time to head for Bathurst to meet other pilgrims in the diocese before heading off to Sydney. But before we left, there was a commissioning Mass celebrated by Fr Owen. We planted a tree too. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone. We felt at home already. We made many friends. It was really cold in Cowra but the people warmed our hearts.

Cowra's parish: St Raphael's


This pilgrim has to get to Sydney.


Terence lost his head


with Fr Owen


Rebecca, Flynn and Elliot



We arrived in Bathurst after a couple of hours on the bus, 13th July. We were ushered into a supersized hall. Pilgrims from the U.S (Maryland and Wisconsin) Sweden, India (200 pilgrims!), Zambia, Mexico (1), Venezuela, Congo, hmmm and about 20 other countries??? We lined up our bags according to country. and this would be the place where we would be sleeping! It was still cold in Bathurst and very crowded. So crowded I was getting a splitting headache. I had to adap to be with all these people in one hall. We only had lunch at 4pm. there was a stall selling sandwiches. by 11pm, I was hungry (the stall had closed), very tired, very cold. It was crowded and noisy. Somehow managed to find a spot and wormed by way into my sleeping bag... Head was throbbing and would throb all the way to Sydney! sigh... this was it... a taste of pilgrimhood.