Holidays are over, back to work!

Well, if those were the holidays, then I've had 'em! Yes its back to work! Do you know this is my first Summer holiday in over seven years... Why? you ask...
As the Diocesan Coordinator for Youth Ministry we ran a Summer Camp for young people in our Diocese during January. Now that I am no longer with the Diocesan Youth Ministry I get to have January off! At first it felt a little weird and I was eager to get back to work. But now that I am actually sitting at my desk, I wish I were still on holiday.
There were a couple events that happened during that time which I'd like to briefly blog about. The first being the Feast of the Epiphany; the finding of the infant Jesus by the Magi and their presentation of some very strange gifts. I mention this because, their story was the inspiration for the theme of WYD 2005 in Cologne. "We have come to worship him" was their request to Jesus' parents. A focal point for the WYD 05 celebrations was the venerated Cathedral in Cologne; the Dom as the locals call it.
Tradition holds that the relics of the Magi are enshrined in that very Cathedral.
I remember not being very impressed by the Dom, having seen it in many photos, postcards and the like. That was until I exited the train station adjacent to the Cathedral and looking up to those famous spires and being absolutely awestruck not only by the sheer size of the Cathedral but by the detail its architects and builders had rendered to the building.
Entering the Dom with four other companions from our little parish Church in Otara we gazed upon the gold gilded reliquary encasing the Magi. At that moment, World Youth Day gave to us its truest expression. "We have come to worship him!" Whether or not the Magi relics were actually enshrined really didn't matter to us. What did matter was that five young people from Otara followed their faith and sacrificed, and fundraised, and did all that was necessary to travel to the other side of the world to 'worship him'
The second event also celebrates someone travelling to the other side of the world. Arriving on the 10th January 1838, Bishop Jean Baptiste Francois Pompallier sailed into "God's Furthest Outpost" bringing with him the treasures of our Catholic tradition- the Sacraments. This year marks the 175th anniversary of that event and on the 13th January we celebrate the anniversary of his first Mass; the first on NZ soil.
For me, these two events capture the essence of these World Youth Days; that people are prepared to go to the ends of the earth, to follow their faith and worship the Lord.