WYD Day Eight early recap

A praise and worship team from Michigan performed before and after Mass during Bishop Sheridan's World Youth Day catechesis session on July 18 at Sydney Convention Center. (Herald photo by Bill Howard)

Stations of the Cross are beginning soon, and access is so tight that many media are watching it from the media center. From what I understand, many of the bishops are watching it from the convention center.

We began this morning by attending Bishop Sheridan's final catechesis session. He drew another impressive crowd in a larger theater (about 500 of 850 seats were taken) and spoke about how, now that we know (from prior catechesis topics this week) what the Holy Spirit is and how the Spirit works in our lives, we are all charged with a mission to take the Gospel to the streets. The crowd -- which included delegations from the U.S., Australia, Sri Lanka, Africa, England and Tonga -- were very receptive to his 30-minute talk and responded with an outstanding hour-long Q&A that had to be cut off for Mass despite several more hands in the air. I must say, Bishop Sheridan really shines during Q&As, strolling around the stage and passionately answering questions. The crowd was quite taken with him. I know our own cathedral ocassionally has him over for informal Q&As; more parishes should take advantage of it.

The first few questions were directly related to church teachings on the Holy Spirit, but it quickly broke out into a free-for-all, with questions ranging from how to discuss with a friend if you've had a vision of Christ to an explanation of the church's teachings on women's ordination and homosexuality. I will be posting the audio shortly.

Because the group did not have tickets to the Stations, it became a free afternoon where they could break out and watch the Stations from whatever posts they saw fit. Because the pope is watching the Stations from St. Mary's Cathedral, many media are sticking to the media center and watching it on screens set up around the room (I'll post a picture of what the media center looks like). After the Stations, our group is reconvening for dinner in the harbor and then the youth will break off again to attend various concerts and activities taking place. There is so much to do and see here, it's almost sensory overload, but in a good way. It is awesome to see so many Catholics fearless about expressing their faith publicly.

One good bit of news from yesterday, the transit strike that was threatened did not materialize, at least not where we were at downtown. While this week has been a very holy experience and I walk the streets each day in a real peace and awe of the universal church, I have to admit that there is a commercial aspect of this that has become a little offsetting... you go to many restaurants and stores and see that their prices are marked over with much higher price tags. And there have been little inconveniences that have challenged our peace... for example, the WYD sleeping bags we ordered for the vigil/closing Mass event -- red with a big, gold papal cross -- did not arrive as advertised. It was if they ran out of time sewing on the crosses and just sent a bunch of people blank red sleeping bags. I know the purpose of the bag is to sleep in it, but if we had known we were going to get ripped off, we would've just brought our own and saved $50. Not to end on a sad note, we are turning this into a positive. Because many of us don't feel like cramming a regular sleeping bag in our luggage, some have decided to donate their bags to local churches to give out to the homeless after we depart. So, to get back to the beginning of the post and Bishop Sheridan's talk, the Holy Spirit is always working and it is such a great feeling when we feel dialed into it. The sleeping bag idea also reinforces the importance of community and the great ideas that can come when everyone is experiencing something together. I tend to be pretty independent and sometimes have to resist the urge to build a wall around myself during challenging times. This week, I'm reminded that the more we interact with each other, the easier it is to stay on the right path and to be dialed in to the Holy Spirit working in and among us.

Today's headlines:
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: "Shining His Light" (with a huge picture of the pope traveling in his popemobile at night); Inside major headline: "Pope warns against the lure of false idols."

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: "Holy Sea" (with cover shot of popemobile in a throng of people, flags and confetti at Barangaroo). Inside major headline: "Holy Father Speaks: 'We must fight violence and greed'"

THE AUSTRALIAN: "Grey day turns heavenly as Pope takes first big outing."