How I experienced World Youth Day in Australia

Sorry this is so long overdue! This covers much of what I encountered in my first World Youth Day. Enjoy!

Dear Friends,

First off, we would like to thank you for all your support – both financial and spiritual. Prayers were greatly appreciated and were indeed needed throughout the trip. It is difficult to describe the immense graces we have received. The Holy Spirit has truly been alive in every person present during both the trials and joys of our pilgrimage.

We have been home for a little under a week now and are slowly working off our jet lag. A 14-hour time difference certainly does take a toll on your body! Going back to when our trip began, our excitement (both good and bad) was apparent even before we arrived in Sydney. We nearly got lost on the way to Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Praise God for GPS! Fortunately we arrived on time after making a couple of wrong turns.

In the airport, while we were waiting to board the plane, our musicians started us out with some praise and worship music. It was so incredible to see the effect it had on those around us. I mean, imagine a group of young people singing praise and worship in the middle of a bustling Detroit airport!

Once we arrived in Los Angeles, CA, we met up with the rest of our group from the Diocese of Saginaw that was to be with us for our pilgrimage during WYD. Then, something amazing happened. We were able to celebrate MASS in the corner of our gate at the airport! It was such a great experience. Talk about evangelization! There were 70 of us – including 3 priests and 2 Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia.

The Mass was said to be the “real” beginning of our pilgrimage. After Mass concluded we boarded our plane for what seemed like an eternity to the ends of the Earth. Approximately 16 hours later, and after a lot of Dramamine, we arrived in Brisbane, New South Wales in Australia. It was incredible to see the lines of people holding signs for pilgrims who they were to pick up. Everyone was so welcoming! It was especially neat to hear the Aussies say “G’day,” and we heard several times, when worried or in a fix, “No worries!” (A common Aussie phrase).

We were faced with more trials of lost luggage, broken luggage and missing items in transit. But, through God’s grace everything worked itself out. We arrived in Sydney, where we then took a two hour bus ride to Kiama, our home for the next week. We were all split up into groups of two or three, and sent to stay with host families for the week. We both had wonderful families taking care of us. It was such a blessing to have after such a long trip!

Each day we had mass in the church in Kiama, at St. Peter and Paul’s (part of the Diocese of Wollongong). We then headed off for various activities each day. We were able to see and learn about the local aboriginal culture of Australia, we met and gathered with many other pilgrims from different parts of the world that were also staying in Kiama, and saw many of the local sights including Minamura rainforest, the beach, Saddleback Mountain, and a nature park (we were both able to pet kangaroos and koalas!). We also attended an Aussie Festival and had mass with the Bishop of the Diocese of Wollongong along with over 500,000 other pilgrims! The greatest thing though, was to see God working and lighting the fire of Christ in us as pilgrims, our host families, and the community in Kiama.

The second week of our pilgrimage, we traveled by bus, back to Sydney, where we stayed in Olympic Park. This was a series of huge buildings that had been made exclusively for the 2000 Olympics held in Sydney. We stayed in the Olympic Dome, sleeping in what could be compared to as four football fields put together, with thousands of Pilgrims from around the world.

Every day after mass and Catechesis, we took the train (their public transportation system (very similar to the New York Subways, except above ground) into downtown Sydney. We attended various events and activities. We visited the Cathedral of St. Mary’s and were able to see several saints’ tombs as well as have Eucharistic Adoration in the crypt of the Cathedral. We also saw Darling Harbor and the Sydney Opera House, Hyde Park, rode a ferry, attended a Vocations Expo, heard talks on Pope John II’s Theology of the Body presented by Christopher West, and were at the Papal welcome at Barangaroo (Yes we saw the Pope, one of several times!).

On Friday of our last weekend in Australia, began the most exciting days of our trip. We watched a beautiful display of the Stations of the Cross being acted out in multiple places across the city. Saturday was the pilgrimage walk to Randwick Racecourse. We walked for miles, and eventually arrived for a beautiful night of conversing with other pilgrims, and witnessing Christ. That night we had a candlelight vigil with Pope Benedict XVI (so cool!) and spent a very chilly night under the stars catching a bit of sleep. Sunday was the official World Youth Day. We had an amazing mass with the Pope, who gave a tremendous homily, and announced that the next WYD would be in Madrid, Spain!

After Sunday we walked back to Olympic Park where we would spend the next three days before catching our flight to get back to the States. It really was a blessing to have some time to reflect as a group and re-cap on what we’d experienced over the past week. We continued to have mass each day, Daily prayer, and opportunities for Adoration, Anointing of the Sick, and Reconciliation, and praying the Holy Rosary, as throughout our entire WYD experience.

Getting back to the US was certainly an adventure! After another 16 hour flight from Sydney, were we had a 1 ½ hour delay in Fiji, we arrived in LA only to miss our connecting flight back to Detroit. After a lot of conversing with the airlines, they put us up in a Hotel for the night (which only amounted to 3 or 4 hrs for some of the pilgrims!), and split us up on four different flights to get us back to MI. So two days later than our scheduled arrival back home, we made it! Our pilgrimage was over, but the spirit of our journey continues to thrive inside of us.

Every day we are growing in our faith and are lit inside with the glory of God. We’ve had a few reunions of the pilgrims, and hope to have more to grow together in our faith journey. We can’t wait to share more with all of you in person, and are increasingly thankful for all of your support and prayers.

Please keep an eye on the bulletin for an announcement as to when we will be doing a presentation about our pilgrimage. We would love to see all of you there to relate our experiences and show some great pictures.

God Bless you All! Much Peace and Love in Christ Jesus,

Christina and Sheri Krotzer

Australia Mints Youth Day Coins

PERTH, Australia, JAN. 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Legal tender in Australia now includes two coins bearing the face of Benedict XVI -- commemorative gold and silver coins marking the July World Youth Day event.Sydney will host the 23rd World Youth Day from July 15 to July 20.

The Perth Mint last week released the coins commemorating the event.The 1-ounce gold proof coin and 1-ounce silver proof coin depict the Pope and the World Youth Day logo and inscription. The design appears in color on the silver coin.WYD'08 Chief Operating Officer Danny Casey said he believes the limited mintage coins will be popular among both Australians and international visitors. With a mintage limited to no more than 1,000 gold coins and 25,000 silver coins, they are expected to be sold out quickly.

Recommended retail price for the 1-ounce gold proof coin is $1,750 Australian dollars (US$1,545). The silver coin is priced at $89.50 Australian dollars (US$79).

"For many pilgrims and proud Australian hosts, WYD08 will be one of the most significant events in their lives," Casey said. Both commemorative coins are available worldwide and issued as legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965. They can be purchased from the Perth Mint Web site.

On a Cold Winter's Night: WYD Preparation Day #1

The weather outside is frightful, but WYD is so delightful!

Although the evening was covered with a fresh shower of snow, all were warm inside the Church. Well, almost all.

WYD Pilgrims learn about the spiritual importance being beggers at the Lord's table: being able to receive from the Lord all that He wishes to give us; standing before the Lord and asking for what we need.

Brad: "I think this begging idea is covered in the Code of Canon Law."

Stacy: "I bet Sydney is really warm now."

Rose: "I can't believe it's Advent already."

Jenny: "Is anyone else cold?"

"Fr. Will! I didn't know there would be studying involved! But I love learning about the saints"

“SPE SALVI facti sumus”—in hope we were saved, says Saint Paul to the Romans, and likewise to us (Rom 8:24).

The following is a little gem from Pope Benedict's new encyclical, Spe Salvi. As usual we are so blessed to have this amazing Pope teach us in such beautiful ways with words that are life-giving.

I'm at least two-thirds of the way through the encyclical so far, and it thrills me and challenges me in almost every paragraph.

I think it's particularly poignant for those going on pilgrimage because it points to the hope that pilgrimage embodies: we are not just walking aimlessly, but towards a goal and with a purpose. We are journeying with one another to meet Pope Benedict and all the Catholic youth of the world. Ultimately, though, we are journeying to Sydney to seek the face of the Lord. It is our hope that we will meet Him face-to-face and be transformed in the encounter.

Enjoy the following paragraph as a taste of the good things to come. It is contained in the section, "Prayer as a School of Hope," and has to do with the size of our hope and God's dream for us.

33. Saint Augustine, in a homily on the First Letter of John, describes very beautifully the intimate relationship between prayer and hope. He defines prayer as an exercise of desire. Man was created for greatness—for God himself; he was created to be filled by God. But his heart is too small for the greatness to which it is destined. It must be stretched. “By delaying [his gift], God strengthens our desire; through desire he enlarges our soul and by expanding it he increases its capacity [for receiving him]”.

Augustine refers to Saint Paul, who speaks of himself as straining forward to the things that are to come (cf. Phil 3:13). He then uses a very beautiful image to describe this process of enlargement and preparation of the human heart. “Suppose that God wishes to fill you with honey [a symbol of God's tenderness and goodness]; but if you are full of vinegar, where will you put the honey?” The vessel, that is your heart, must first be enlarged and then cleansed, freed from the vinegar and its taste. This requires hard work and is painful, but in this way alone do we become suited to that for which we are destined[26]. Even if Augustine speaks directly only of our capacity for God, it is nevertheless clear that through this effort by which we are freed from vinegar and the taste of vinegar, not only are we made free for God, but we also become open to others. It is only by becoming children of God, that we can be with our common Father.

To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness. When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well. In prayer we must learn what we can truly ask of God—what is worthy of God. We must learn that we cannot pray against others. We must learn that we cannot ask for the superficial and comfortable things that we desire at this moment—that meager, misplaced hope that leads us away from God.

We must learn to purify our desires and our hopes. We must free ourselves from the hidden lies with which we deceive ourselves. God sees through them, and when we come before God, we too are forced to recognize them. “But who can discern his errors? Clear me from hidden faults” prays the Psalmist (Ps 19:12 [18:13]). Failure to recognize my guilt, the illusion of my innocence, does not justify me and does not save me, because I am culpable for the numbness of my conscience and my incapacity to recognize the evil in me for what it is. If God does not exist, perhaps I have to seek refuge in these lies, because there is no one who can forgive me; no one who is the true criterion. Yet my encounter with God awakens my conscience in such a way that it no longer aims at self-justification, and is no longer a mere reflection of me and those of my contemporaries who shape my thinking, but it becomes a capacity for listening to the Good itself.

Five Rules to a Successful Pilgrimage

Five Rules to a Successful Pilgrimage

1. Don’t complain;
2. Don’t complain;
3. When you see a bathroom use it, whether you have to or not;
4. When somebody offers you something, take it;
5. When somebody asks for something you have, give it to them.

These rules come via Franciscan Father Stan Fortuna, who offers these to all World Youth Day pilgrims and all other pilgrims. World Youth Day (WYD) is an international event for young adult Catholics to gather with the Pope to celebrate faith and culture. St. Mary’s will send twelve CMU students with Fr. Will to join seventy pilgrims from the Diocese of Saginaw to Sydney, Australia next July.

The first two rules are essential. They remind us of the Israelites who complained against God when they were on pilgrimage to the promised land. They complained about the food and about wandering in the desert for so long. Complaining did not bring them closer to God. Rather it made their suffering worse. The WYD pilgrimage can get brutal. There can be long lines, bad weather, long hours of waiting for buses, mistaken directions, missed programs, hard floors to sleep on, bad food, bathroom shortages, etc… There is so much chaos that it is easy to get overwhelmed by it all. Normally 400,000 pilgrims join the five days in a single city for this event, and it all ends with over 1 million persons sleeping out overnight and then celebrating Mass with the Pope the following morning. There are lots of opportunities for inconvenience, irritation, and frustration. In all of this we are called to surrender to God. God is working through all the frustrations to prepare us to taste more intensely the joy of resurrection. When we suffer these things together through faith, we are inspired to endure it and even make fun of it, and to experience the joy of solidarity. Suffering with God and each other can bring joy and fulfillment. Real pain is suffering alone and without faith. Pilgrims learn these truths.

Suffering makes the last two rules easy because our hearts are softened to the needs of others. There is a true bond of communion created through shared suffering and the needs of others become opportunities for joy and freedom. There is a free giving and receiving of gifts. Is not this what the Christian life is all about? Let us remember these things once again this Thanksgiving weekend.

Walking to the Father's House

We human beings need a friend, a brother who takes us by the hand and accompanies us to the "Father's house" (John 14:2); we need someone who knows the way well. And God, with his "superabundant" love for us (Ephesians 2:4), sent his Son not only to point it out but to become himself "the way" (John 14:6).

-Pope Benedict XVI

Homily at the Mass for Deceased Cardinals and Bishops of the Past Year, November 11, 2005

Pope Benedict: "Road Trip to U.S.!"

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI will make his first visit to the United States as pontiff next year, and plans to visit the White House, ground zero and speak at the United Nations, the Vatican's ambassador said Monday.

Benedict will travel to Washington and New York from April 15 to 20, speak at the United Nations on April 18 and visit ground zero on the final day of his trip, Archbishop Pietro Sambi said.
The pope will visit the site of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York to show "solidarity with those who have died, with their families and with all those who wish an end of violence and in the search of peace," Sambi said.
The visit will take place on the third anniversary of Benedict's election to succeed Pope John Paul II, who died in April 2005.
An official welcome reception for Benedict will be held at the White House on April 16, Sambi said. The pontiff will celebrate two public Masses, first at the new National Stadium in Washington on April 17, and again at Yankee Stadium on April 20.
He will also hold meetings with priests, Catholic university presidents, diocesan educators and young people.
"The pope will not travel much, but he will address himself to the people of the United States and the whole Catholic Church," Sambi said.