It's all about Christ Our Saviour!
The taste of LOVE
And of course the empowerment of the HOLY SPIRIT,
In the HEART OF THE CHURCH
My biggest toast to my host family: The MEIN'S!(Cheers!!)
Our last bbq sizzle together before we depart for a 14 hr coach ride to Sydney.
They so lovingly gave us souvenirs, in our little auzzie bag we received tim tam, koala huggie, a card and lots of hugs from them all!
You won't believe this is what we saw from their back yard!
A very delicious and warm home made dinner made by our extremely talented Josie the Italian cook who made such great pasta and mountains of garlic breads for all of us!
The man of the house, Alvin helps with cooking too..very sweet!
Our evening walk down Southbank..gorgeous isn't it!
We spent a saturday together going for some retail therapy at Chadstone, went for an art exhibition, had some tea by southbank, went to house of prayer for taize and of course head home for a sumptuous dinner!
The thirties exhibition was really inspiring!I lurve the art pieces showcased there and the beautiful dresses by all the finest designer of that era!
Everyone involved in WYD attended a commissioning mass by the Archbishop of Melb at Telstra Dome!Me and Alyssa happily munched on our wedges as we stared in awe at those super ONz pilgrims who never stop singing ever since they stepped into the stadium!
AWww...I completely adore all the little dainty edwardian houses in Melb!
We had a sunday packed with community service where we joined the children of St Patrick church for some fun and games!
Me and Nicole getting hands on with some handicraft.
My completed piece specially dedicated to Josie, Nicole's mummy.
More unity games..
Nothing beats taking train rides throughout WYD!Its convenient, clean and because the journey is so long, we have many beauty sleep in them all.
A rock concert by St Vincent de paul which got us all freezing to our teeth turn blue!But the spirit among the crowd was simply on fire!!
The magnificent St Patrick Cathedral.
Solitude with our only source.God Almighty.
They welcomed us with some cowboy music and lots of dancing the whole night! Me and ant went bonkers dancing, clapping, laughing and giggling our boogies away.
Its a free and easy tour so we see some really serious hard work in the planning of the routes!Thanks Guys!
Valerie(the girl in her green jacket) turns 22 upon the arrival of our trip!
Our lovely ladies..Nicole and Alicia!Guess who is older? Me of course...ahaha..
A big huggy to my dearest girly as we walk hand in hand in the start of our pilgrimage.
We finally arrived in Melb..the train station where we had a week with our host family and had activities around Melb city.
Everyone have been asking me what I have learnt or experienced from the most recent WORLD YOUTH DAY 2008 trip. Initially, I started mouthing negative things such as me falling ill, the food, the cold and so on and so forth I went on whining again and again. But upon my arrival back home on monday, I took some time to seek time with daddy God in ado room and mass. I must say I have truely returned home with new awakening.
All because of one reason. He makes all things possible. He is in all things and I saw His glorious touch in this journey. So many things happened so bear with me as I slowly unveil the story of my very first pilgrimage.
Once we all touched down in Melb, instantly the cold caught us all by surprise! None of us thought it will be that cold and soon we were introduced to our host family upon arrival at St Patrick Church. Valerie and I were allocated to stay with the Meins! A very loving family of 2 couples and their 3 lovely children! They brought us home to their comfy nest where it houses a dog, a cat and also a rabbit in their back yard!
The next few days flew by so quickly with their warm hospitality!Not only did Josie prepared breakfast for both of us, she takes extra effort to pack our lunch and constantly feed us with cookies, chips, cakes and hot chocolate drinks!What made the melb stay so memorable is being around them!
Despite the fact that Alvin, their father is not catholic, and even Josie herself seldom attends church, they opened their heart and home to 2 complete strangers. We shared alot about our lives, our culture, our country and our faith. What touched me most was what happened on the last night we all had together! From conversation of everything else in the world, we started to question our faith. The sharing was so honest and insightful and we ended the night with a group prayer.
The next evening, all of them came to send us off at a bbq sizzle held in church. Despite them being busy, all of them took time and effort to come by even for a few minutes to say their goodbyes to us. At the sending off celebration by Father Pat, there was also a eucharistic adoration and together with me and Val, the Meins knelt on their knees and prayed together for our safety and our encounter with one another.
Isn't it beautiful how simple love can counter everything? Most of them barely knew us or even attend church but because of that one love they had, they came and they left me overwhelmed with gratitude and awe because I knew at that moment when Uncle Alvin came to hug me, he said, "Thanks for coming!", I was so filled with God's love.
One other memorable incident happened when all of us took our seats in the train back home. A man started hurling vulgarities at us and claiming that we jesus people are dumb and stupid. There came a drop of silence as we slowly realized he was talking about us! But amazingly, God sent 2 angels, a couple from auzzie who decided to debate with that man! The conversation between them was so hilarious all of us cracked into laughter and before the man was about to leave, a young man stood up and say: "Free speech does not mean you say bull shit." Surprisingly, that very morning all of us did a morning service for the church and this was the reading of that day.
Mathew 10: 17-22
"Be prepared for people to hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles. But when you are handed over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes, because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.You will be universally hated on account of my name; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved. "
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