Hey, as a post WYD project, my parish (St Mary and St Francis de Sales Rangiora) have been running Theology of the body for teens.

We have had three great sessions and there are 9 more to go. So far it has been amazing! I have been so impressed by both the program (dvds etc) and the young people who have attended.

It is great to see that Wellington is now getting on board with the ICPE Mission doing it!! Well done to whoever got that started!! I highly recommend the program and I know that our whole group of young people does too.

So if you are in Wellington get along to it. And if you are keen to see it in your parish, recommend it to your local Catholic youth team or parish priest!

Meanwhile, check out these great Mp3s on theology of the body for teens…

http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=50

http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=28

http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=12

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I was discussing vocations the other day when something occured to me.

Someone who thinks about their vocation (whether it be married life, priesthood, religious life or a job of some sort) listens. They are looking outside of themselves. The voice we listen to is Gods, the person who knows us and loves us the most. His will is demanding and often requires us to give ourselves. Give ourselves to a family, a parish, a group of people in need or perhaps a life of prayer.

Vocation people are people who listen and give.

The opposite of course, is someone who only listens to themselves. Who only thinks of themselves when they are making life choices. They follow a certain path because of what it can give them (money, relationship, power, family). By their very nature they will be people who take. They will only do something to get something else out of it.

These people are individuals and do not seek to live for the Body of Christ.

What kind of person would you rather be?

I challenge you to look beyond yourselves, to seek Gods will, to serve others. I guarentee that you will be rewarded.

 

Wow, World Youth day has been and gone. The physical pilgrimage is over, but the spiritual effects of it could and should last for years to come, in fact, an eternity.

A conversion is a turning point. A conversion in our faith means a turning of our heart to God. Our world, our friends, our family and ourselves so often have our backs to God. I will repeat myself, a conversion in our faith means a turning of our heart to God.

At World Youth Day I saw conversions. I saw faith, hope and love lit like a fire in people’s hearts. I saw hearts turn, sometimes for the whole week, sometimes for a few days and sometimes for a few hours, but that is all God needs to change our lives.

Pope Benedict urges us to convert our hearts to God every day. If our hearts are not facing God, they are facing something else. It is as simple as that.

I recognised a few different ways that I experienced God throughout the week, but I am sure there are ways in which the Lord touched me that I do not know yet and may not know until all is revealed. I saw God in the gifts and fruits of the spirit that were so evident at WYD. There was so much joy in the crowds and so much hope in people’s faces. However, it goes deeper than the crowds. In my group there were many struggles and many times of happiness that I am sure will bring much good fruit to our parish life. But deeper still was the change to grow in faith personally with my family (brother, sister, aunt and cousin) who attended.

My brother, sister and I attended a few different youth festival events, separate from our group, namely two talks by Christopher West on the Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II. This turned out to be a major converting factor. We came away with a much deeper awareness of the love our heavenly Father has for us and how that relates to our sexuality. The way it impacted upon the crowd, my family and myself was evident after a few moments of Christopher West talking. Definitely google Theology of the body.

If you are ever doubting the love of God and are yearning for a conversion I can give you this advice. Start to seek God. Seeking is essential and can be done through prayer, mass , community and pilgrimage. Ask the Lord to come into your life. Study the Catholic church. One thing I think many people took way from WYD is a love for mother Church. Reject what she rejects (for example, hate, lust, pride) and accept what she accepts (embrace love, joy, CHRIST).

See what she says on key issues that affect young people, things such as sexuality, which can often draw people away from the Church when it is supposed to draw them closer. Alcohol, which promises us a good time, but if abused does not deliver. Obligations such as the mass and liturgy, which people get bored of because they do not realise that to participate in the mass is to participate in the very work of God. Again, google is a great tool to research the church and there are many links on connect to start with.

These are the things WYD pilgrims hopefully came away with, these are things that hopefully they will bring to their parish. The faith is needed in our world; the young people are the church of today.

Know the word.

I really Encourage you to download some of the talks off XT3. They are great and are an awesome way to keep growing in your faith. Listen to them, live them, share them.

Hello everybody and welcome back!

It is hard to write a blog to summarise what an amazing experience WYD was.  I think one of the things I quickly realised is that each individual went to WYD with different expectations and different hopes, and therefore each individual would have come home with very different stories and experiences.  I will tell you a little of how the week went and the atmosphere in the city and also some of what I learnt personally.

As soon as we arrived in the ariport it was obvious that this was going to be big - there were signs and banners up and a definite sense of excitement amongst the pilgrims already there.  We arrived a few days early so just spent the time getting our bearings.  We visited the blue mountains, did a bit of shopping, went to a Portuguese mass, slept on the train - a lot, and tried to prepare for the coming week.

On Tuesday when World Youth Day officially began I went with my family to the Papal soccer tournament.  There were two teams entered from New Zealand and although neither of them got a place I know they both had a good morning.  There were teams from all round the world: Canada, Australia, France, Brazil, Croatia and more.  The teams were all made up of WYD pilgrims.

The major events of the week: the Opening mass, the Papal arrival and the Stations of the Cross, were always on in the afternoon.  All of these events were incredible.  The opening mass was the first opportunity we got to experience the sheer number of pilgrims who had gathered together.  This was led by Cardinal Pell.  It was also our experience of WYD food..!  It was pretty good though, and quite cool to think that everyone of the thousands of people was also eating the same food as you.  A huge logistical task which worked incredibly well.  The Papal arrival on thursday again was spectacular.  I think there were even more people at this event and we laughed to see there even were people watching from the office buildings surrounding the area.  I was overwhelmed with the amount of love felt towards the Pope and to look at his smiling face he clearly felt it too.  The Stations on friday afternoon was one of my favourite times.  I watched from Darling Harbour as a group of actors performed the story and was moved with sadness along with the thousands of others also watching.  It was a really special time and as they lifted ‘Jesus’ up onto the cross the sun was setting across the city and it was a beautiful image.

The last two days which including the pilgrimage to Randwick racecourse and the final mass with Pope Benedict were an impressive climax to the week.  I really enjoyed sleeping out under the stars and there was something extra special about being there with hundreds of thousands of others, who believed in the same God and were united by the same Holy Spirit.  The Pope flew in by helicopter and again gave an inspiring liturgy to all the pilgrims who listened attentively the whole way through. 

I really enjoyed the three catechesis sessions.  Here are a few things which particularly stood out for me:

• We as Christians have to say No to things that go against our faith and stand up for what we believe, and therefore stand up for God
• It is the small, everyday, ordinary things which make the difference
• We all have a very specific job in this world; we are all part of a machine which operates if everyone does their little bit
• The Holy Spirit is God’s love in person
• Our faith is deeply personal but not private
• I/You are a beloved daughter/son of God, in whom He is well pleased.
• We all need to work for the unity of the Church; there is One church, One body of Christ
• The Spirit of God is a bond of unity between christians.
• The Holy Spirit is the spirit of creation.

Please send me a message if you are curious about any of the above and I am only too happy to explain what it meant to me and how the Bishops taught us.

It was definitely sad to be leaving World Youth Day, and has been strange to come back to ‘the real world’.  The challenge now is to carry on the WYD legacy within our day-to-day lives and not forget the things we learnt.  The feeling within Sydney all week was inspiring in the sense that all of the pilgrims were excited and full of energy to praise and glorify God.  I really felt the unity within the church and it is really comforting to know that you are not alone.  As Bishop Michael Evans said, you cannot be a Christian all by yourself without having anything to do with other Christians.  Its crucial to our lives to be involved and immersed in community with fellow believers.  World Youth Day was an amazing opportunity to be refreshed and encouraged and I know we all came back with the fire of the Holy Spirit burning that little brighter.

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One of the most amazing things being here with pilgrim from all over the world is that it give the Church such an amazing sign of HOPE!  In my small group from Kavanagh College, I have, Josh Ahdar, Alex Devereux, Sam Jones and Matt Clark.  On the first full day in Sydney, one of the first things we did was visit the Cathedral.  Each member mentioned the feeling of “goosebumps” as they felt such a strong presence of the Holy Spirit and an amazing sense of pride in belonging the the Universal Church.  Each person also commented that seeing so many young people gave them the strength to celebrate their faith and be strong when speaking to others.  Wow!  From what I have seen so far, every pilgrim here is gaining the same amount of strength and confidence.  Yee-ha!  There is so much hope!!!!

Amazing!  4000 kiwis gathered together celebrating our faith, each diocese, our fantastic bishops and our awesome country!  Yesterday’s Kiwi gathering was something I will never forget!  I was so proud to be a Catholic, a Kiwi and a person from the Dunedin Diocese. 

A big WELL DONE to all of the organisers.  Everything went so smoothly.  Each of the bishops were very impressed and proud of their young pilgrims and looking forward to when we return to NZ and the legacy of this great event.

A wee note to Bishop Colin, Dunedin’s fantastic bishop - We love you greatly and are so proud to belong to your diocese!  You were awesome at the Kiwi Gathering!  Thanks so much!

Mary Joseph Aubert (19 June 1835 - 1 October 1926) Christened Marie Henriette Suzanne

You may have noticed that on the Kiwi WYD prayer cards we have: Mary Aubert, pray for us!

As you may know, she is currently being put forward to be considered for beatification.

BUT!  DID YOU KNOW? 

• While training to be a nurse in Paris before nursing in French Army Hospitals during the Crimean War, she was a fellow student of Florence Nightingale.
• In her early twenties, she had a course of lessons from the famous Hungarian composer/pianist.
• She often went to St. John Vianney for confession and spiritual direction.

These were only a few of the amazing things that Mary Aubert did before leaving France for NZ with Bishop Pompallier.  She was a real super star for the early Church in NZ.

Please pray for her cause!!!

Mary Aubert, pray for us.

Most of the group leave for Sydney tomorrow!  We are all prepared at looking forward to it.  Today, I attended the Youth mass in Oamaru as the pilgrims from that parish were farewelled by the parishoners and Fr. Wayne Healey.  It was a wonderful occassion full of enthusiasm and prayer.  The singing was fantastic and there was an awesome atmosphere of support and excitement.  Well done Oamaru!

If you are in Dunedin and you would like to keep up to date with the happenings of the pilgrims from New Zealand and especially from the Dunedin diocese, pop into the Cathedral and have a look at the display.  You could also check on the fantastic WYD websites and, of course, this great “connect” site.

If you have not joined up with the very popular website - www.xt3.com - Do it now!  Look up my name and add me as a friend so that you can view some of the cool photos of the Dunedin Diocese pilgrims.

Days in Diocese has been a true blessing to our diocese here in Wellington. I missed the first few days as I was overseas for a family bereavement. Wednesday night dinner in Lower Hutt with our visiting Vancouver pilgrims, and the great showing of community unity and joy at Te Papa are few examples of how we have been blessed with memories that will linger in our church for years to come.

I was very humbled to have been able to attend Nelson’s event for their visiting 64 Irish pilgrims last night. The serene atmosphere at the mass celebrated by Archbishop John Dew and the joyous energy at the dinner and dance was a memory that I am forever grateful for. The event reminded me of the true essence of life - that where there is laughter, love, and joy within a community, there is God working amongst them.

I’m off to pack now, leaving for Sydney this afternoon - God’s blessing on all of you who are travelling - and with a grateful humble heart I thank all of those who have done so much to make Days in Diocese for us all such a momentous time. We will take you all with us, and ask that you keep us all in your prayers.

Soifua ona o Iesu Keriso.

Its 2:43 in the morning right now and we are just about to leave for our plane!!

When I sit and think back on the past year it is amazing how fast it has gone.  It is hard to believe what we have been working so hard for, and looking forward to for so long, is only a few days away!

Sometimes I wonder whether I am really prepared for the kind of amazing experience this will be.  It makes me a little nervous because everyone has talked about how incredible, moving, educating, and life-changing World Youth Day will be, and my only personal hope now is that I will be physically, emotionally, and spiritually ready.

I am most comforted by the thought that although this year has been busy and has gone fast, it to, has been part of my preparation.  From my very first encounter with the World Youth Day Cross and Icon in Wairoa last July, until today as we count down the last month, the time has been part of the journey.

As the year has gone, my understanding of pilgrimage has grown to such an extent that keeping this idea in mind on a day to day basis helps me to see the world and my life that little bit more clearly.  It helps me to keep my life in proportion with the bigger picture.  I have learnt that pilgrimage doesn’t just apply in the relatively small context of World Youth Day, but more importantly it applies in the greater context of ones life.  This past year, and my life, is a journey in preparation towards something greater.

I expect that World Youth Day will be intense.  People, activities, learning; there will be so much to take in, so little I want to miss.  I hope that nothing major goes wrong and that the organisers can enjoy the experience as well.  I hope that I can spend time with my family and our faith and love will grow firmer together.  I hope I will be confident enough to take the step or start the conversation with a stranger and potentially new friend.  I hope God feels honoured by the huge gathering of people in His name.

For every person you meet, or talk to, or even smile at, you can potentially change their life.  The small steps like this can simply change a persons’ day or be the turning point to choosing a better life.  Such an event as World Youth Day, could, and will cause immense changes both on the small and large scale for many days to come.  We cannot control what these changes will be but we can change our attitudes to be open to the possibilities and to let God work through us.  That is all He asks.  To live our lives as He instructed and to be open to the opportunities He gives us.

I am nervous, excited, relieved, apprehensive, thrilled, and hungry, for this experience and can not wait to see what God has in store.