An unexpected letter

This morning I received a letter from His Eminence Sean Cardinal O'Malley, OFM Cap., Archbishop of Boston and Chairman of the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

At the World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, the USCCB had a booth at the Vocation Expo that asked the youth to write a little something about their favorite priest. Apparently one of my pilgrims chose to write about me.

Those His Eminence did not reveal the name of the pilgrim, he did provide the words that were written:

He is a great practical person that has inspired me in his homilies to become a better person. Also any time I have a question about my faith he is never too busy to answer it. On this terrific pilgrimage I have gotten to know him on a more personal level that has led me and him to be closer friends.

I was very surprised this morning to read this letter and very humbled. To which ever one of my fellow pilgrims left these words, Thank you.

Letter to Pilgrims

This evening some of our high school students who did not go to the World Youth Day asked me why I hadn't yet posted the letter I wrote to the pilgrims. I had planned to post it in the morning, but since they asked for it, it follows:

26 July 2008
The Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne

My dear young friends,

May the Lord give you peace!

After the great experience of these past days each of us has much for which we can be thankful and much on which we ought to reflect.

Certainly the days spent in Hawaii were, for many of us, the most enjoyable days of our journey. Indeed, they are days that I treasure and, having driven along many of these same roads yesterday, have already relived with great joy in my heart. I cannot remember having laughed so much over such a time, and for these days I thank you all (a special thank you goes to the boys who travelled in the car and van with me)!

Already in Hawaii we caught a glimpse of the purpose of our setting out on this pilgrimage in our visit to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, the church of St. Augustine by the Sea and in our attempts – with all of the frustrations and disappointments - to track down the Damien Museum (for which I am still searching). At Mass in the Cathedral we experienced the deep and vibrant faith of the people of Hawaii; our faith is called to be that vibrant, too, even back in Effingham!

After our visit to the Dole Plantation some of us spoke with our guide, Tracy. When we told him we were on our way to the World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney he lit up with excitement and gratitude. Such experiences are common to us all.

Yes, our days in Hawaii were the most enjoyable and fun-filled, but were they the most important of our days? They formed the first stepping stones, as it were, of our pilgrimage and set us off on the path to Sydney, the goal and most important part of our journey.

We joined 150,000 young people from across the globe to welcome His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at Barangaroo. As he spoke to us and reminded us of our Christian dignity that we received in Baptism and Confirmation, he urged us, “step forward into Christ’s loving embrace; recognize the Church as your home.” Could the goal of our pilgrimage have been any different than this? No, this is why we set out on the first place.

When we joined the Holy Father again at the Randwick Racecourse for the powerful Vigil that concluded with adoration of our Eucharistic Lord, the Holy Father reminded us that it is nothing less than God himself whom our hearts seek. He said, “God is with us in the reality of life, not the fantasy! It is embrace, not escape, that we seek! So the Holy Spirit gently but surely steers us back to what is real, what is lasting, what is true. It is the Spirit who leads us back into the communion of the Blessed Trinity!”

From the experience of my own life, filled with many longings and desires as it is, especially to be reunited with my dear parents one day, I can testify that what the Pope says, and so many of the Saints say, is true. Whatever the desire of our heart, it can only be satisfied in God.

As we move toward him he runs toward us and embraces us in his love, filling us with his joy and peace, those two beautiful gifts that the world cannot give, though it tries in so very many ways.

Toward the end of the vigil, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit each of us has received in the Sacrament of Confirmation. These gifts, he said, “require only one response on the part of the receiver: I accept! Here we sense something of the deep mystery of being Christian. What constitutes our faith is not primarily what we do but what we receive. After all, many generous people who are not Christian may well achieve far more than we do. Friends, do you accept being drawn into God’s Trinitarian life? Do you accept being drawn into his communion of love?”

This question I make my own and pose it to you: Will you accept the love of God that has been poured out for you? It is my most sincere hope that the experience of these days has led you to experience the love that the Lord Jesus has for you and that your heart has been drawn to his. If not, the entire pilgrimage has been in vain.

Sunday morning we attended Mass concelebrated by the Holy Father with more than 2,000 Bishops and priests and 400,000 young people. During his homily, Benedict XVI quoted the words of the poet Gerard Manly Hopkins - found on the front of St. Anthony High School - that all of creation is “charged with the grandeur of God.”

Reflecting on the power of the Holy Spirit, the power that is love, His Holiness said:

Yet this power, the grace of the Spirit, is not something we can merit or achieve, but only receive as pure gift. God’s love can only unleash its power when it is allowed to change us from within. We have to let it break through the hard crust of our indifference, our spiritual weariness, our blind conformity to the spirit of this age. Only then can we let it ignite our imagination and shape our deepest desires. That is why prayer is so important: daily prayer, private prayer in the quiet of our hearts and before the Blessed Sacrament, and liturgical prayer in the heart of the Church. Prayer is pure receptivity to God’s grace, love in action, communion with the Spirit who dwells within us, leading us, through Jesus, in the Church, to our heavenly Father. In the power of his Spirit, Jesus is always present in our hearts, quietly waiting for us to be still with him, to hear his voice, to abide in his love, and to receive “power from on high”, enabling us to be salt and light for our world.

As he encouraged each of us to accept this love, this power, the Successor of Saint Peter posed a question to us:

What will you leave to the next generation? Are you building your lives on firm foundations, building something that will endure? Are you living your lives in a way that opens up space for the Spirit in the midst of a world that wants to forget God, or even rejects him in the name of a falsely-conceived freedom? How are you using the gifts you have been given, the “power” which the Holy Spirit is even now prepared to release within you? What legacy will you leave to young people yet to come? What difference will you make?

I pose these same questions to each of you and I urge you to accept the gifts of the Spirit and make good use of them.

In all of this we witnessed the reality, as Pope Benedict has said before, that “the Church is alive. The Church is young.” Yes, there are people like you in every part of the world, youth filled with energy and hopes and dreams, just as yours. There are youth who have experienced the love of God and seek to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. I hope and pray that you will be numbered among them.

We heard in the first reading for the Feast of Saint James the words of the Apostle Paul: “everything indeed is for you” (II Corinthians 4:15). I make these words, too, my own and I address them to each of you. Everything indeed is for you. All of the efforts of these past many months, of planning and guiding, of entertaining and leading, has been for you.

Now that everything has been done for you it is now up to you to take the experience of the World Youth Day 2008 and internalize it, reflecting upon and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you and shape you. I know that for many of you the experience of these days was personally very moving, but that you are yet reluctant to share your interior experience of these days with others. The Holy Spirit desires to make you his witnesses to the ends of the earth by filling you his power, his love; won’t you let him use you?

As I write to you I should also like to personally invite each of you to join the Dead Theologians Society. It meets on Sunday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the upper level of the parish center. If you enjoyed the experience of WYD you will enjoy the DTS. DTS will resume meeting on August 17th.

This coming October 4-6 I will be the Spiritual Director of a Great River Teens Encounter Christ retreat held in the Gem City and my home, Quincy. I made my first TEC retreat in July of 1995 and that weekend changed my life for the best. I have since served on nearly a dozen additional weekends, witnessing each time lives touched by the deep love of God. I would be more than happy to bring any of you on this retreat, as well. You can find more information at www.greatrivertec.org or simply ask me.

Please know that I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of these days with you and that I will treasure them always, reflecting on them in my heart, keeping each of you in my prayers. If I can ever be of any assistance to you, you need only let me know.

As I look forward to seeing you again in just a few days’ time, I leave you with these words of the Holy Father: “Do not be afraid to say “yes” to Jesus, to find your joy in doing his will, giving yourself completely to the pursuit of holiness, and using all your talents in the service of others!”

Peace and Joy,

The Rev. Daren J. Zehnle

Over heard

I visited the British Lolly Shop this morning to pick up another Dr Pepper and over heard two Sydney-siders discussing the weather. As expected, it is a rather dismal day out, chilly and rainy.

One of the gentlemen remarked how lowsy the weather was and the other replied, "The pilgrims have taken the good weather with them." It seems so.

Yesterday afternoon there were still scores of pilgrims running around the streets of Sydney, but this morning their numbers seem to have decreased significantly. We depart this afternoon.

After purchasing a Dr Pepper I took the escalator down to the Fudge Shoppe where I purchased a good amount of confectionary treats for a very good price.

Now I hope the rain lets up a bit so we can take one last meander through the city.

Drawing to a close

In just over twenty-seven hours time we will depart this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit to return to the United States of America. As is often the case with my travels, I don't really want to leave.

Australia is a beautiful country and the Sydney-siders are very friendly and helpful. Plus, the winters aren't bad at all!

There are, however, a couple of things I miss from home:

1. the ban on public smoking, and
2. free WI-FI.

The bright side, for me, is that before returning to Illinois I will be returning for six days to the land where my heart has settled: Hawaii. My fellow pilgrims want to stay with me during my stay in Hawaii, but such will not be possible, as enjoyable as it would be (and I mean that in all seriousness).

I am mostly packed already, having remaining basically my Mass kit and a few other necessities.

I ask your continued prayers for our return journey, and especially for me. The weather here has been cloudy and raining, and it seems it will be the same tomorrow; my fingers are feeling it, though, thankfully, my knees are not. Nevertheless, a nine hour flight is a daunting prospect under such conditions. Please seek the intercession of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, patron saint of those with arthritis.

A little pilgrimage

As previously said, yesterday we took a little pilgrimage to the Shrine of Blessed Mary MacKilllop in North Sydney.

From our hotel we walked to the train station and took the train to North Sydney, from which we intended to walk to the Shrine. I called the Shrine yesterday morning for directions but something went wrong. Either I missed part of the directions or they were wrongly given.

This caused no small bit of consternation from the pilgrims, but after a quick stop at a parish we walked by we were on our way to the Shrine, back the way we could just come.

Every pilgrimage has its own difficulties and opportunities to embrace the Cross of Christ. Little pilgrimages are no different.


We were greeted at the Shrine very warmly and led into the church. A larger group was at the tomb so we sat down and prayed, waiting for our opportunity to visit the tomb.

When the larger group finished they sang the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary in very simple but moving tones. I’m going to have to look for it. We joined them in the prayer and afterwards visited the tomb.

Blessed Mary MacKillop was born in Melbourne in 1842 and she died in Sydney in 1909. Her motto was something like this: “Never see a need without doing something about it.” Would that we would follow her words!

The holy card that we were given also had a quote from Blessed Mary, one that seemed most appropriate given the frustrations of our journey to her tomb:

Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them cheerfully, remembering whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid, love one another, bear with one another, and let charity guide you in all your life.

After praying at her tomb we continued along to the giftshop where I purchased a book on her life.

To get to the giftshop it was necessary to pass through a courtyard in which a group of Sisters apparently used to sing and play musical instruments:

Still in Sydney

Our original pilgrimage plans called for us to depart Sydney for Melbourne this past Monday morning, to return to Sydney Friday in time to catch our flight to Chicago through Honolulu.

I was concerned with these plans from the time we made, simply because the drive to Melbourne itself would take up a full day easily. That would mean that we would spend basically two days driving to be in Melbourne for two days. I wasn’t sure if I could do that. It turns out I wasn’t the only one with these concerns.

My group from St. Anthony’s – minus one – chose Sunday evening to remain here in Sydney until Friday. The group from St. Mary’s – with whom we have been journeying – chose to continue on as planned and safely arrived in Melbourne.

This required a few logistical needs which were, thankfully, easily seen too.

Those of us in Sydney have spent these past few days both resting and site-seeing. Monday we walked across the Sydney Harbor Bridge (not of us climbed the bridge). Tuesday we went to Bondi Beach. Yesterday we went to the Shrine of Blessed Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first Blessed. Today and tomorrow we’ll be taking very quiet days of rest and free time to wander about.

I think it’s safe to say that we’re all a bit tired and in need of a break.

Father! Over here, Father!

At the closing Mass for World Youth Day 2008 I was privileged to distribute Holy Communion to a few of the thousands of faithful gathered for the Mass. It was a tremendous experience.

As the Holy Father prepared to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation, one of the Masters of Ceremonies and his assistants directed the priests who wished to distribute Holy Communion to proceed from our seats to receive a ciborium with hosts to be consecrated. These contained far too few hosts, at least for the section to which I was taken.

As I distributed Holy Communion, I was surprised not by the number of people who came forward, but by the order in which they approached.

As might well be expected, as I began to distribute Holy Communion the faithful came forward in whatever manner they could, circling around one another as they attempted to move away from the rail after they received so that others might come forward. There was the usual jostling and even a few outstretched hands, a beautiful gesture of their desire to receive the Lord.

But after a few moments the faithful organized themselves in two lines, just as they do in churches throughout the world. This amazed me, and pleased me. It demonstrated for me the reality that people, by nature, desire order and not chaos. It also showed that people have a reverence for our Eucharistic Lord that involves order and chaos.

It didn’t take long for me to distribute each of the consecrated hosts in my ciborium and as I returned to the altar I was deeply moved. Walking along the aisle, many of the faithful - thinking my ciborium full - called out to me, “Father! Over here, Father!” Their desire for the Eucharist led them cry out in longing. Would that it were this way in our parishes!

My heart broke because I could not give the Eucharist to them. I wanted to direct other priests to them, but none were near (others later were directed to these sections).

Pictures from an interview

One of the boys was kind enough to post two pictures he took of my at one of the many interviews I gave at WYD 2008:

Papal quotes

Sandra Magister has done us the great favor of compiling some of the Holy Father's most poignant remarks made during his visit to Australia for the World Youth Day 2008.

More pictures

I've posted pictures from the Mass with the U.S. Bishops, the Youth Vigil, and the Closing Mass of WYD 2008 (more and more).

I'll soon be making plans to attend WYD 2011 in Madrid, Spain.

I'll post more reflections when I have a bit more time to compose something worthwhile.

The voice of the shepherd

In his book Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI says of his first predecessor Saint Peter:

This is how he comes to the sheep “through Jesus”: He takes them not as his own – Simon Peter’s – but as Jesus’ “flock.” It is because he comes through the “door,” Jesus, it is because he comes to them united with Jesus in love, that the sheep listen to his voice, the voice of Jesus himself – they are not following Simon, but Jesus, from whom and through whom Simon comes to them, so that when he leads them it is Jesus himself who leads.1

Has this not been the experience of these past few days here at the World Youth Day 2008? Indeed it has.

Whenever one sees Benedict XVI or hears his voice one cannot help but see that he comes not in his own name but in the name of the Lord.

Last night, flipping through the channels some of the boys stumbled upon a documentary on the life of then Cardinal Ratzinger. I was in the room – an “L” shaped room - away from the television and the boys at the time busy with other things paying little attention to what was going on about me. They stopped on that particular channel, apparently – as I soon learned - to do a little experiment of sorts. After just a few moments I said, “It’s Papa,” and moved toward the television so that I could see. Sure enough, it was.

The boys wanted to see if I could recognize Pope Benedict XVI simply by his voice. They were surprised that indeed I could. They said, “You knew his voice even when he spoke in German!”

My response: “Of course I did; he’s Papa.”

The experience of these past few days has not been that of listening to and following after Joseph Ratzinger, but rather of listening to and following after Jesus Christ, who used Pope Benedict XVI – the humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard – as his instrument to teach us and lead us in the ways of faith. This Pope Benedict XVI has done well.

Throughout these next few days here in the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit we will be reflecting on the words that the Holy Father spoke to us. We know that the purpose of a pilgrimage is to embark upon not only a physical journey but, more importantly, a spiritual one and to return home changed. His Holiness reminded us that he who is baptized and confirmed has been changed forever. It is my great hope that together we will come to a deeper understanding of this foundational reality of the Christian faith to return home changed as witnesses to Christ filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

If we return in this way the World Youth Day 2008 will have been a great success.

1 Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, trans. Adrian J. Walker (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 277.

A new sitcom?

Throughout these past days I’ve been travelling with another priest of my Diocese, Fr. Chris. Together he and I have had several experiences fitting for a sitcom. Here are two.

Back in Cairns we went shopping for various odds and ends that would be necessary for the pilgrimage, especially upon our arrival in Sydney.

When happened upon a store that sold mobile telephones and, needing a few, we decided to pop in look at their rates. The store front was glass, as was the door. Together Fr. Chris and I both approach the door and stop before it waiting for it to open as glass doors so often do. We stood there looking at the glass door. The glass door didn’t move. We stood there looking at the glass door, rather dumbfounded. The glass door didn’t move. Finally we noticed the sign on the door that said, “PUSH.” We then felt like two stupid Americans travelling in a foreign land.

Yesterday here in Sydney after the conclusion of the Papal Mass, Fr. Chris and I walked to our van (we weren’t about to walk through a crowd of 500,000 people to get back to the hotel). Upon arriving at the van we placed our vestments in the back and proceeded to the front. We opened our doors at about the same time and, without saying a word, both looked inside, closed the doors, and crossed the front of the van to open the opposite doors. He, the driver, and I, the passenger, first went to the wrong doors. Again, we felt like two stupid Americans travelling in a foreign land.

Ah, the stuff of life from which good sitcoms are born!

In the news again

The Crescat informed me that we've made the news again, this time in Honolulu:

HONOLULU (CNS) -- Hundreds of pilgrims from the U.S. mainland stopped in Hawaii on their way to World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia, and whether they stayed one day or several, they made the most of their island visit. Twenty-five people from the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., led by Father Daren Zehnle, were the first. They were in Hawaii July 3-7 and stopped by the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu for Mass July 6. Afterward, wearing shell leis given to visiting Massgoers, they took photos by the statue of Our Lady of Peace before heading to Waikiki to hike Diamond Head, a volcanic crater that is one of Hawaii's most famous natural landmarks.

More pictures

I've managed to find a way to upload my pictures at the mall now. All I needed was my USB flash drive. It's too simple.

Here are pictures from the Aquarium and the Wildlife World and from the Welcoming Ceremony at Barangaroo (I love that word).

In just a few minutes we'll be leaving to collect a few minivans for next week's venture down to Melbourne. I'll be driving one and am not quite sure yet what to think about turning (they drive on the left side of the road). St. Christopher, pray for us!

This afternoon we'll be returning to Barangaroo for the Stations of the Cross.

Keep your prayers coming!

Papal message at the Welcoming Ceremony

The Holy See has published the text of the Holy Father's message to the youth at yesterday's Welcoming Ceremony in Barangaroo. It is well worth a read!

On the Papal Arrival

Yesterday morning a couple of the boys and I went to what is called “Paddy’s Market.” In effect, it’s a place filled with lots of vendors peddling odds and ends, mostly clothing, jewelry, cheap stuff and fruit. Only one store caught our eye, one that sold aborigine boomerangs and other artworks. I bought two boomerangs and two wooden vases. I also bought a carving of the Nativity at one of the other shops.



At 11:00, the pilgrim group made our way back to Barangaroo to await the arrival of the Holy Father. It was amazing!

We arrived about two and a half hours prior to the scheduled arrival of the Pope (who left at the end of the welcome ceremony ten minutes later than scheduled). Most of the pilgrims took the extra time as an opportunity for a bit of a rest.

Il Papa set sail from Rose Bay on what was termed a "boatorcade." It was truly impressive to watch on the jumbotrons. Not only was the sea filled with police boats of every kind, but no fewer helicoptors patrolled the skies.

During his inaugural homily, Benedict XVI said, “The Church is alive. The Church is young.” He was quite right.

Young people from every continent and seemingly from every nation filled the harbor area and the sounds of singing and dancing came from all directions.

Wandering around Barangaroo looking for souvenirs and food, I stumbled upon a group of the Missionaries of Charity. They astounded me with a gift they handed out to priests: a second class relic of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta!

Because we were present so early we found good “seats” right up against the rail but these were quickly lost when the Holy Father arrived. When he did the “aisles” that were mostly barricaded off flooded with pilgrims – many of them not very polite – who wanted a picture with the Pope no matter what.

The happy side of this is that some of our pilgrims managed to be pushed to the very front of the lines and took some truly excellent photographs and were deeply touched. I think they now understand why I love Benedict so much. Though I was greatly disappointed - and even a bit more - but the kids were thrilled to be so close. I have my time right at the rail in Washington; I keep consoling myself with this thought.

It was so good to see His Holiness and to hear his voice again! My heart lifted and my eyes watered at his arrival. Papa had come.

He preached quite a while today – a bit more than I thought he would - but the homily was very good. The summation: "Jesus is close to you! Feel his healing embrace, his compassion and mercy!" I can’t wait to hear what he says on Sunday morning.

Benedict XVI urged us to “step forward into Christ's loving embrace; recognize the Church as your home. No one need remain on the outside.”

Reminding us that Jesus “is not far from any of us,” His Holiness noted that “Christ offers more indeed” than the secular world, that “he offers us everything.”

It is this message that I hope falls on fertile soil in the hearts of the youth that have come me. Please continue to pray for them, that they might open themselves ever more to the immense love of God and his divine will for their lives.

After the Pope departed, our group split up so that we might return to the hotel more easily. As you can well imagine, the crowds were immense and everywhere. Singing continued. Dancing continued. Shouts and yells abounded. It was glorious!

Yesterday

Yesterday morning we took things rather slowly and celebrated Mass at 11:30 a.m. After Mass, we split up into various groups for the afternoon.

Two of the chaperones and I made our way to the Sydney Aquarium, after a brief lunch.

Nearly the first exhibit in the Aquarium featured - to my great delight - the platypus far better than the zoo. At the Aquarium, the platypus tank was well-lit, but not enought to hurt the platypus' eyes.

Happily, the platypus was not only awake but moving around. It is a strange looking creature and almost rather ugly. They're also very swift, at least in the water. I was able to take several pictures and even a couple of videos.

The rest of the exhibits at the aquarium were pretty standard (we saw a barramundi which I had for dinner a few nights ago) save two: the seals and the oceanarium.

Each of these exhibits were made up of two glass underwater tunnels through which you could see the sea creatures swimming to your left and right and even above you! The seals talked with each other and looked at you as they swam around you, playing with each other and with you. Up above the seal tunnels you could watch the seals playing on the rocks. One of them - clearly an entertainer - climbed up a ramp and went down it like a slide.

The tunnels of the Oceanarium were breath-taking. Fish of all colors and sizes, sharks and stingrays swam all over. You could look them in the face and even see their undersides. It was simply amazing!

As I journeyed through the two tunnels I couldn't help but recite of the propther Daniel: "Seas and rivers, bless the Lord. You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord."

Half-way through the aquarium we bumped into two of the boys who somehow bypassed the seal tunnel. The other two chaperones continued onward while the boys and I went back to the seal tunnel. We never found the ladies again near the aquarium (but they made their way safely back to the hotel).

After the aquarium we returned to the hotel to drop off a few things and so I could don my cassock to go in search of a picture with a koala.

To do so we went to Wildlife World. It is filled with native Australian creatures of every kind, from insects to reptiles to marsupials. On the roof were the koalas.

In New South Wales it is illegal to hold a koala, both for the animal's safety and for the human's. We were, though, able to pet a koala; they're very soft.

The Australians are very nice people and are perhaps not the shrewd businessmen that many Americans are. A picture with a koala cost $20 and you could buy additional pictures for $5 each. The boys and I - at the photographer's suggestion - took one group photo and three individual photos. When choosing the pictures that we wanted, we chose only the three individual photos and paid for them all at once, for a grand total of $30 (only $10 each). That's a deal I don't think we could have found back home.

Everywhere I've gone with the kids I haven't failed to give them food. Yesterday was no exception.

As we were leaving Wildlife World we stumbled upon something that none of us had seen before but that we each loved: a french fry vending machine.

With our curiosity peaked, we simply had to give it a try. In just 100 seconds, the machine cooked your fries and gave them to you in a nice plastic bowl. You could even get ketchup or BBQ sauce with them. When we tried them we decided that they needed salt, which happily came with the ketchup. We just might try to get some in Effingham.

Somehow after dinner we had several meals left over so one of the boys decided that we should look for homeless people to give them to. We'd seen a few when we arrived in Sydney but were unable to find any last night.

We then went to the Vocations Expo to look for rosaries and spent quite a while at the U.S. Vocations booth where we ran into Bishop Silva of Honolulu. We thanked him for the wonderful stay we had at the St. Stephen Diocesan Center and he kindly took a picture with us.

After buying a few rosaries, we called it a day.

More pictures

I've posted some pictures from around Sydney and more, Sydney's Cathedral of St. Mary, the Blue Mountains and the Opening Mass for World Youth Day 2008.

Some of the kids have posted the following pictures of me:

Meeting Quincyans in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu.

At Mass in the Cathedral of St. Monica in Cairns, Australia.

Meeting George Cardinal Pell after Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Sydney.

At Sydney's Zoo.

God will not fail us: Cardinal Pell's homily

Zenit is kind enough to provide a transcript of the powerful homily delivered by His Emincence George Cardinal Pell at last night's opening Mass of the World Youth Day 2008.

A few snippets:

Earlier in this Mass I welcomed you all to this World Youth Day week and I repeat that welcome now. But I do not begin with the ninety-nine healthy sheep, those of you already open to the Spirit, perhaps already steady witnesses to faith and love. I begin by welcoming and encouraging any one, anywhere who regards himself or herself as lost, in deep distress, with hope diminished or even exhausted.

Young or old, woman or man, Christ is still calling those who are suffering to come to him for healing, as he has for two thousand years. The causes of the wounds are quite secondary, whether they be drugs or alcohol, family breakups, the lusts of the flesh, loneliness or a death. Perhaps even the emptiness of success.

Christ’s call is to all who are suffering, not just to Catholics or other Christians, but especially to those without religion. Christ is calling you home; to love, healing and community.

And:

Secular wisdom claims that leopards do not change their spots, but we Christians believe in the power of the Spirit to convert and change persons away from evil to good; from fear and uncertainty to faith and hope.

And:

Our task is to be open to the power of the Spirit, to allow the God of surprises to act through us. Human motivation is complex and mysterious, because sometimes very strong Catholics, and other strong Christians, can be prayerful and regularly good, but also very determined not to take even one further step. On the other hand, some followers of Christ can be much less zealous and faithful, but open to development, to change for the better because they realize their unworthiness and their ignorance. Where do you stand?

Whatever our situation we must pray for an openness of heart, for a willingness to take the next step, even if we are fearful of venturing too much further. If we take God’s hand, He will do the rest. Trust is the key. God will not fail us.

And:

Don’t spend your life sitting on the fence, keeping your options open, because only commitments bring fulfilment. Happiness comes from meeting our obligations, doing our duty, especially in small matters and regularly, so we can rise to meet the harder challenges. Many have found their life’s calling at World Youth Days.

To be a disciple of Jesus requires discipline, especially self discipline; what Paul calls self control. The practice of self control won’t make you perfect (it hasn’t with me), but self control is necessary to develop and protect the love in our hearts and prevent others, especially our family and friends, from being hurt by our lapses into nastiness or laziness.

WYD 2008 news links

Cardinal Pell celebrates World Youth Day Opening Mass with over 140,000 people

World Youth Day Opens in Sydney

World Youth Day: Fight your fat egos, says Pell

In Pictures: Pilgrims gather for opening Mass

Cardinal Pell Kicks Off World Youth Day

Generation Y Forgot to RSVP

Fight our fat relentless egos: Pell tells pilgrims