Howdy Pilgrims

We were treated for a special treat after Mass when we visited Formosa yesterday. A group of
World Youth Day Pilgrims were sharing their story of how they had travelled to Australia in Juy and carried on to Fiji for a service project afterward.

They told us how the theme for the event was taken from Acts 1:8 "You will recieve power whent the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses." The theme seems somewhat prophetic, because on Sunday this small group stood in front of hundreds of people sharing stories of how they were able to energized bythe Pope and by each other, how they experienced God's providence through the hospitality of their hosts, and how they relied on God to overcome minor hardships and sickness during their travels.

The pilgrims have already been witnesses to the people of Australia where the papal mass was the largest gathering of people in a single place in the history of Australia. Now they will be witnesses at home to their family, friends and others in their parish.

I pray that everyone who participated in WYD 2008 will have many opportunities to share their faith and their experiences from their pilgrimage. No doubt the memories will be with them forever, my memories of World Youth Day 2002 are as clear as ever, and I only had to travel a few miles rather than flying half way accross the world.