World Youth Day Journal - WYD Mass w/ B-XVI

Sunday, July 20th: Today certainly was a short day. I woke up a couple of times throughout the night and noticed only the moon had shifted. Everything else was pleasant and the wispy clouds still had a presence. Once the four of us were up, we had breakfast. The morning prayer service was well sung (by Benedictine monks if I remember right) but very few seemed to be paying much attention around where we were. Soon after, the Pope flew over in a helicopter, which seemed to wake the crowed up. He landed elsewhere and travelled back to the racetrack in the popemobile. When he arrived he did a lap around the track, which I thought was neat of him to do - although he didn't get close to us. I briefly thought about rushing near the outer track he was circling. As fun as that would be, I'm usually not one to add to "hysteria" - besides, many pilgrims who didn't spend the night were still filing into the raceway and I didn't want to loose our relatively decent spot.

As Mass got underway, we were joined by several others from our large group - young and old. Once again the presentation of the Gospel was done with a tribal twist. Although overly drawn-out, it was still very cool. My favorite part of Mass was watching the Pope confirm 20+ young adults from around the world. How cool would it be to have him put the chrism oil on me? Here's my notes from the Pope's homily:

"You will receive power" has been fulfilled in the Upper Room. Now, for the youth, there will be a new upper room.
The Holy Spirit is the Power and Love of the Church.
Let us pass down our faith like a treasure that's been passed down through the ages.
Are you building your faith/life on a firm foundation?
The Holy Spirit is asking you to prophesy to the world.
The Church needs the power of the youth, all young people.
Those being called to the priesthood/consecrated life, don't be afraid to say yes to Jesus.
With the help of Mary and the Saints, let us go out into the new upper room and receive the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Good News.


After Mass my small group shared our food with the older folks in our group that joined us for Mass. Then we picked everything up and, while different bands entertained on the stage, everyone started filing out of the raceway. I wanted to stay for Fr. Stan Fortuna's performance and was able to get right up close to the stage. It was my first time of getting to see this rapping priest from the Bronx perform live and I enjoyed it. He was only there for a few free-styling songs (way too brief overall). In one of his free-styling moments, he sung to all those trying to leave, reminding us all that we are still carrying Jesus inside of us. Not only are we called to be witnesses to the world, but to each other as well. Fr. Stan implored us with a lyrical beat to stay calm, be patient, and show appreciation for all the volunteers keeping us safe by halting us until it was in our best interest to continue out into the streets and directing us where to go.

After Fr. Stan was off the stage, I only stayed around a little while longer. It took a lot of walking and a little waiting to find a bus that was going back to Central Station. A bunch of pilgrims from Madrid, Spain also got on, so I asked if they were expecting the announcement that WYD 2011 would be in Madrid and they said they expected it - they've known it for a while. I was embarrassed at how little conversational Spanish I could recall when I needed it. Central Station was so filled with pilgrims that they stopped letting people in until the train platforms cleared off. I decided to walk down to Darling Harbor and see if I could run into anyone from my group. I didn't, but I finally purchased some postcards and a souvenir for my sister.

On my way back it started to sprinkle and, while I was on the train, it finally rained. The timing of this absolutely blows my mind. Not only has the weather been pretty much perfect for the entire week of WYD, but Cardinal Pell opened today's Mass praying for rain to end Australia's drought. After all the WYD events were done - and hopefully with some time to clean up - a sign from heaven is given. A light rain. Nothing to end the drought, but we didn't ask for flash-flooding either, did we?

WYD '08 had wrapped up and the next evening I parted ways from the large group (as we had different travel itineraries) and stayed at Mary's place for the next couple of nights. I got to go to the zoo (which is better than Omaha's zoo, but only because of the view and they have the "Australian Wildlife" exhibit), take a two hour train ride northwest to the Blue Mountains, and also see one of the beaches before nearly missing my flight back to America!

World Youth Day Journal - WYD Mass w/ B-XVI