Pope Benedict XVI will be officially arriving at WYD on Thursday, but in the meantime he’s spending a few days relaxing at an Opus Dei retreat centre northwest of Sydney. In addition to spending time praying, enjoying music, wandering the 25-acre property, and celebrating Mass, the Holy Father took the opportunity to make a few ...

Today there was no major papal event, so we were able to take this time and have some of the regular pilgrim experience – just participate! Catechesis sessions and the Youth Festival started today, and it’s been my most enjoyable day so far. For the catechesis sessions on the Holy Spirit, Pedro and I decided ...

The blog comes from Marilena Berardinelli, a young Toronto based Catholic teacher and WYD08 participant. In the year of the Jubilee Pope John Paul II called the WYD pilgrims gathered in Rome “to be the saints of the new millennium.” In the company of over 2,000,000 other pilgrims, I listened to words of the Holy ...

At WYD, separation from your group is either an opportunity to make new friends or a dangerous precursor to getting lost, which in turn leads to things like hunger and death. I know rationally that it’s not so perilous, but I was still hesitant to leave my S+L colleagues and venture into the unknown. They were walking twelve blocks to the “Big Aussie BBQ” ...

Today I went to the tomb of a saint – well, she is still “just” a blessed, but she’s the first Australian to be elevated to sainthood. She’s a hero for Australians, and she has been chosen as one of the patron saints of World Youth Day 2008. Her name is Mary MacKillop. Beatified by ...

Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 23. Gal. 5:16-17, 22-25; Lk. 8:4-15 We all know that Christ Our Lord is often described as the Good Shepherd of today’s responsorial psalm. We are told that he leads us near restful waters, revives our flagging spirits, enables us to rest peacefully. In developing this image on one occasion, Jesus explained ...

That’s how International Liturgy Group leader Eden d’Souza described participating in the WYD Opening Mass procession. Carrying the Canadian flag, I too shared the experience of walking through the gate into the roaring crowd. I can tell you that it was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life, not to mention one of ...

During the Eucharistic Congress this past June, I had a blog entry called “Mabuhay!”. I was writing about the day we heard from the Filipino contingent at the Congress – they were all screaming “Mabuhay!” when Bishop Tagle from the Philippines came out to give his catechesis.Well, today, I bumped into a lively contingent during ...

Do you know that Australia was first named the “Southern Land of the Holy Spirit”? In fact, that’s what Australia means: “Southern Land” – Austral is southern. Boreal is northern. Learn something new everyday. Is it any coincidence that the theme for this year’s international World Youth Day, hosted in Sydney, Australia is from Acts ...

One of the great things about World Youth Day, which I’m discovering, is that you get to connect with people again. Among the memorable people are Gillian Kantor and her husband David. We were able to have lunch and dinner with them despite their excruciatingly busy WYD schedule. They have been working as volunteers in ...