The Cross is COMING!! The Icon is COMING!!

The Cross is COMING!! The Icon is COMING!!We all have crosses in our lives, and it is only in embracing those crosses that we can come to know Christ and ourselves in a deeper and fuller way.

We are never going to have a life without crosses, so let’s embrace our sufferings and our problems, and unite them to Christ’s suffering and Christ’s Cross.And Mary, gift to all of us: never has it been known that anyone who has fled to her protection, asked for her help, or sort her intercession, was left without help.

The Icon of Mary is a perfect companion to the cross, so let’s ask Holy Mary, Mother of God, to help us carry our crosses.Take the opportunity to think about the Cross and icon, and realise that we NEED Christ and Mary in our lives. Then go and SEE and TOUCH the Cross and Icon with your hands, and let them touch your hearts

Freaky Facts

Hey everybody!!
Hope your preparations for World Youth Day 2008 are going smoothly.
I have been recently looking over the Australian and New Zealand WYD websites and found some curious facts that I’d like to share with you – some of them are rather amazing!!

SYDNEY(2008):

• 1000 pilgrim groups have registered already, representing 65,000 pilgrims and the registration has only been open a little more than 50 days (released on the 28th April).
• This works out at 23,000 pilgrims from the US 15,484 from Australia and significant numbers registered from Canada, Germany and the Philippines
  NOTE: these statistics will have changed already by now..

COLOGNE(2005):

• 1.2 million people attended the Final Mass
• Pilgrims came from 197 different countries
• The oldest applicant was an 82 year old woman from Cologne
• Around 420 litres of Communion wine was consumed over the week
• 2.8 million hosts were received for all liturgies.
• There were12,000 mobile toilets and urinals in total,
• 5,000 tonne of food
• 6 million meals
• 3,000 kilos of coffee
• 1 million sets of compostable cutlery
• 900,000 bread rolls per day and
• a WYD radio channel with live stream on the Internet.

Incredible aye!! I especially like the ‘1 million sets of compostable cutlery’!!!
Just shows again how big this is going to be…

Ok that’s all for now, good luck and God Bless

- Sarah

My journey thus far

My journey thus far has been extremely exciting and I am anxious for what lies ahead. New experiences and opportunities have been gifted upon me, and I am so grateful to have been given these chances to meet new people and open myself up to my own personal and spiritual journey. More so, I have been humbled and overawed by the excitement and passion that others have towards World Youth Day 2008. I believe that this is the true essence and work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has the power to do great things. In my journey thus far a sense of community has become apparent. As many of you may begin your fundraising, group gatherings, parish meetings, or the like – you too may have witnessed the Holy Spirit working amongst you. WYD 2008 is doing more than bringing together the youth; but also families, parishes, and communities – and this is so moving to witness.

The Cross and Icon reach our shores shortly, and to me they are an accumulation of the journey that we are on at present as pilgrims. I encourage you all to make sure you take the time to attend an event, and go witness the Cross and Icon in your town. Become familiar with the schedules of the events in your community, and get ready to share with them and your fellow young people the excitement and passion of World Youth Day.

Get connected, witness the power of the Holy Spirit, and enjoy your journey!

God Bless,
Soifua ona o Iesu Keriso.

Check out the Naki getting into the Aussie spirit!

WYD AUSTRALIAN THEME DINNER

On the 28th of April an enthusiastic group of young people from North Taranaki parishes gathered together to serve up a Three Course Australian Themed Dinner for 140 guests in the hostel dining room at Francis Douglas Memorial College.

This was all part of the fundraising effort for the World Youth Day trip and everybody that went really got into the Australian spirit. The Inglewood parish transformed the hall for the evening into something out of a Banjo Patterson poem. Even the menu had an Australian flavour, and guests were serenaded throughout the night with the smooth sounds of a didgeridoo.

Scott Corboy, Thomas Dravitzki, and Ben Schaare organised an Australian Quiz which was participated in with good humour, by the diners, and kept everybody on their mental tiptoes. There were allegations of match fixing however, as in a controversial outcome, a Melbourner took out the event. Other entertainment on the night included a live didgeridoo performance and a storyteller, The Black Crow, entertained the guests with her tales of the “Dream Time.”
As a fitting end to a stellar evening, all the guests were invited to stand and join in the singing of the “Australian National Anthem” – Waltzing Matilda.

The dinner was catered for by the St. John Bosco Fundraising Group and to pay for the spread, guests were simply asked to make a donation. We were thrilled to raise almost $1500 from the evening. This is a superb start to our fundraising efforts.

Thanks must be given to all the people who organized food and the hall behind the scenes, to the “waiters and waitresses” who worked hard all night, and to the guests for having such good senses of humour and such generosity.

We hope to see you all at our next fundraiser...

Jane