What is World Youth Day? It's a celebration of the youth in the Church (geared towards the teens on up to the mid-30 age range), but is frequented by all ages. Although your dioceses may (or may not) celebrate it locally every year, it's only every 3 years (roughly) that it's celebrated as a pilgrimage to one, varying location. Toronto, Canada hosted it in 2002. Cologne, Germany in 2005. And in 2008, the beautiful metropolis on the harbor: Sydney, Australia hosted the largest event in the history of the "Land Down Under." Although a relatively small crowd compared to other World Youth Days in the past, this pilgrimage was larger than the Olympics in 2000 for Sydney!
My travel itinerary was different than the rest of the group I registered with as I was a late registrant. The group was gathered by Fr. Paul Strittmatter, a Jesuit at St. Patrick parish in Dunlap, IA (and two other surrounding communities). I left Thursday, July 10th and returned Friday, July 25th. This first post will conclude with my reflections on those days leading up to the start of World Youth Day:
The more I travel, the more surreal the traveling gets. The more I land in a new country, the less real it seems. Each airport seems like the last and each city doesn't immediately stand out as its own. Maybe I was just overly sleepy this time...or maybe it was because I was traveling alone... At least one thing doesn't get old: Flying. I still love everything about flying. The g-force from the take off; watching the land get smaller and smaller, seeing it from a new perspective; flying at the same level with the clouds and then rising above and seeing the sun shine on the tops of them; the turbulence; the landing and slowing down as quickly as possible. I love it all - except the sore neck from constantly looking out the poorly placed windows. I even enjoy the layovers.
July 10: My route to Sydney, Australia for World Youth Day took me from Omaha, to Denver, to San Fransisco, to an overnight stay in Honolulu, Hawaii. Let's pause here. I stayed in Hawaii. How did that happen?! Unfortunately, I was too tired to effectively think straight about enjoying it properly. We landed before the sun went down, but I never got to a location to watch it set. I got to the hotel about 8pm local time (after about 9.5-10 hours of flying) and fatigue started to set in. Hunger kept me going but it wasn't enough to ask smart questions like, 'how can I get to Waikiki?' Oh well, what I did eat was local and tasty. I am sad I didn't get outside of Honolulu because, aside from the palm trees, it seemed like most other cities I've been to. I admit it is an unfair assessment because of my tiredness and limited time.
July 11: I overslept by 30mins but still enjoyed a typical American continental breakfast with several servicemen and their families - there seemed to be a big conference, or something, for the Army. I did get to enjoy the Hawaii skyline (sans the skyscrapers to muck it up) while at the terminal and then it was onto an airbus for a 10 hour flight to Sydney. I got to watch 'National Treasure 2' and enjoyed it, much like I did the first one. It's just a fun movie.
July 12: I arrived in Sydney, Australia about 4pm local time - and luckily customs let me in! My passport expires in November because I first got it when I was a Junior in high school. Needless to say, the picture barely looks like me anymore. I had a smaller forehead back then and no beard. At any rate, it's winter time in Australia so the sun was already lowering when I arrived, but I still didn't get to see it set. I immediately found my ride but we stayed and chatted as we waited for two others to arrive as well. My first Australian meal was a toasted croissant from the airport. Traveling to our sleeping quarters, a Jesuit boarding school, I got to see, off in the distance, the Opera House all lit up in the dark sky/harbor!
July 13: This morning I woke before the sun rose. Still tired, I debated getting up to wait for the sun rise. Luckily, I did. So quite (except for the cool birds), so peaceful, so beautiful.
This Jesuit school was one of the hosts to the Magis program and coincidently had received the WYD Cross and Icon the day before. Sunday morning we had a jubilant, multicultural celebration of the Mass with these two staple WYD items. I wish I brought my camera that morning. I even watched as they packed up the Cross and Icon and carried them off to their next pilgrimage location. No fanfare for their departure, just a neat and humble experience altogether. Later that night they held a multi-cultural event like I've never experienced. Almost every country was give time to presented a skit, traditional or modern song/dance, poem, etc. With traditional clothing warn by most, it was a learning experience that allowed me to truly appreciate the beauty of culture and the importance of knowing where you come from. I praise God that there are moments like these that let the Univeral Church come together as a shining example of its unity.
1 comment:
Marcus your blog is wonderful!! God bless you! I will send it out soon through the mail too. God bless you for sharing with us. What a grace, Teresa
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