Hidden Away: World Youth Day Sydney 2008

Okay, after so many months, my World Youth Day photos are finally up on the blog.

10 July 2008 - 21st July 2008

3 reasons why I signed up for World Youth Day Sydney.

1) I will not be young forever.
2) I wanted to experience something out-of-this-world.
3) I needed a break from my regular life.

~Brisbane – Days in the Diocese~

We stayed at Pedua College – it was a nice school for boys. The kids were having their winter holidays, so the school was left all alone for us.

We slept in classrooms and in our sleeping bags.

We had thermal sleeping bags so it was really quite warm at night. The only problem was that we had to pass this really open-air big basketball court to get to the bathroom upstairs. It didn’t really help that Australia was experiencing one of their coldest winters ever. Even Brisbane was freezing. So it was pure torture to wake up early in the morning and step out into the winds.

Of course the first thing we did when we arrived was to check out the little town of Kedron.

(The water cooler reminds me of a toilet bowl)

And tried out the food.

Shopping was obviously a must.

I think one of the most spectacular features of WYD is the fact that every nation and every tribe can gather together to worship. At Pedua, we stayed with the Namebians, Syrians and Philippinos, amongst others. Not to mention that since I signed up with to be part of the St. Mary of the Angels’ Singapore Contingent, we stayed with the International Franciscan community. Our Singaporean Franciscan friars were there too. There was quite a mix of spiritual sessions and relaxation, really. We had prayers, Mass, and then we had concerts and food.

Singapore - St Mary Contingent

Brisbane events.

See the backpack the girl is carrying in the background? That's the pilgrim backpack. The streets in Australia were packed with everyone carrying the exact same bag!

So during that week, people were just walking on the streets like this, all carrying banners and flags, singing and yelling.

Me and Bishop.

Me and Archbishop.

Cathedral of St. Stephen

Father Vince, from the Jesuit order of priests.

Off to Sydney for World Youth Day itself!

Pasta stall!

We had homestay in Sydney. So we were all split up and sent to people's homes (like foster children). Diane and I stayed with a family of 4 at Bondi. Bondi beach is beautiful!

Everyday we will gather at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi for mass and catechisis.

One thing they have, that we don't. Altar girls!

On the way to Barangaroo for Opening Mass.

Opening Mass!

Somehow, this picture reminds me of National Day.

Pilgrim food. And no... its not curry.

Franciscan Gathering at Bondi Beach - Come to the Waters

I have a photo taken with Cardinal Napier!

Lame moments with the camera.

Brother Desmond OFM and myself.

Heh. The police boys actually posed for me. How cool is that?

"Pick up your cross and follow me..." - The IHM group actually brought the cross over from Singapore and carried it all over Australia.

Guess who we bumped into? Father Brian!!

And Sister Jessica!!

Official Arrival of Pope Benedict XVI.

His Holiness, Papa Benny - in his popemobile.

St. Mary's Cathedral

Stations of the Cross

Sister Anthony from the Missionaries of Charity.

My 9km walk across Sydney

We walked for 6 hours straight and finally reached our destination. We camped out in the open, in winter. Thank God it didn't rain, though showers were predicted. Divine intervention? So anyway, we woke up for final mass celebrated by the Pope. We were part of the 500,000 people crowd.