I'm not even sure what the last thing I wrote was, but I'll try to give you the whole synopsis starting from now, and heading backwards...
It's about 10pm on Sunday evening. My face feels a bit sunburn, but I think it's a combination of windburn, the cold last night, and the "dry face feeling" after a shower. We just eaten, and showered, and had our evening reflection for the day. Today was the day that the Vigil and Final Mass ended. During our evening reflection, it seemed that everyone had at least one "inspiring experience", whether it was meeting people from "cool places", or experiencing the fullness of the Catholic Faith in a new tradition (Rosary, Confession, Adoration, Liturgy of the Hours, etc.), or the discussions with a religious (Priest, Nun, what have you...), or just the mere experience of witness faith in action (the snapshots that you mind takes and never lets you forgets). Just being in the presence of the Holy Father is quite moving, and it is sometimes an experience that takes months or even years to appreciate the fact that you were "THAT CLOSE" to the Pope. It truely is something that they will tell their grandkids about (unless they become Priest or Nuns , hehe).
On that note, we did get a chance to view the Pope today, during his "drive-by's" prior to the Mass. As you may have noticed on the broadcast, the Pope did a "once-around" on the racetrack. Be it as it may, our seats were only a few feet away from the racetrack, and we were in the "front row (relatively speaking; 100+ yards away)", AND the Popemobile was traveling as a much slower speed, which made for a much appreciated and much more inspiring moment with him.
I think Carrie and I pushed the group physically, a bit more that we maybe had anticipated, because about half of our group started sleeping around 8:30pm (Saturday), on and off, until it was time to go Sunday afternoon (They were ALL awake for the Mass though). I think Pat claims the record for 16 hours (self-proclaimed) of sleep, and boy is he full of energy tonight (poor Mikey).
Some for the blessings that we received (some may call coincidences), was that Toby was on the international broadcast during the Communion Meditation. Additionally, we were located RIGHT NEXT to about 90% of the Spaniards. So, not only were we close to the excitement when Benedict announced the next WYD, but also a couple of us traded our hoodies for the Red shirts (Sydney 2008 on front; Madrid 2011 on back) that they were sporting. I think that besides myself, Carrie, Holly, Lisa, Joe and Katie A. all trading for them (although Katie got a sweet deal by trading her scarf for one, instead of her hoodie). So, these experiences alone were "once in a lifetime", and I'm sure everyone appreciates them.
Now Friday, was the Stations of the Cross day. Unfortunately, I had decided that once Catechesis ended, I was going to take my guitar and music back to the hotel (only 1 stop out of my way), and then hop on the train again to go d-town Sydney to meet the group. Well, a combination of bad directions from the locals (it wasn't intentional, they were very old...), and missing a couple bus times, made a 1.5 hours journey into a almost 5 hours journey. I was able to catch the very end of the Stations of the Cross, where we had, once again, very good seats. Carrie had spent most of the time with the group, and considering they hired professional local actors, and put on a big production, it seemed to be quite inspiring (I wish I could of saw more of it).
About the good seats... I don't mean to toot my own horn, but we are convinced that our stellar seating throughout this festival is a direct relation to the fact that I register so early (group 114, right), in comparison to the +10,000 other groups that ended up registering... My disclaimer is that I may not be able to achieve this every World Youth Day, but it was pretty sweet this time around...
After the "Stations of the Cross", we stayed at the same location for the "Receive the Power Live" concert. Overall, it was well done, but we didn't stay for the entire 3 hours. I only had 2 complaints. First, there was too much talking... I'm all about preaching, and throwing in lines of inspiration. However, there was like 30 mins. or more breaks that completely took away from the energy of the concert. Secondly, they didn't play any of the songs that we knew, except for "Shout to the Lord". Like I said, overall, it was a good production, the sound was good, and I can now say that I saw "Hillsong" live (since they are Australian, and they don't really tour, it was probably a once in a lifetime experience for us). We didn't stick around for Matt Maher (the "Lamb of God" that we do at our 11:00am Mass at St. Albert's, but he's an American, and I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to see him in the states.
I think this is where my last update left off. However, I did want to talk a bit about our Catechesis sessions, and some of the music stuff that I was blessed to be a part of, as these were probably the closest when it comes to terms of relating to St. Albert's or our other home parishes.
Catechesis was held every morning (Wednesday - Friday), and the schedule consists of the following:
9:00: Arrival time
9:00-9:30: Opening Prayer and Intro, and Celebration music ("Yes, Lord", "Waves of Mercy", etc.)
9:30-10:15: Catechesis; the Bishop (W-Th)/Cardinal (F) talks about the theme of the day.
10:15-11:00: Questions from the Youth to the Bishop/Cardinal about "whatever".
11:00: Liturgy
12 noon: Lunchtime
12:30: On the bus, heading to Sydney
Now, I wanted to mention Catechesis for a couple of reasons.
1) We are so lucky to have our Family Youth Mass at St. Albert's/St. Mel's and any other parish that supports a youth-oriented Mass. Everyday that we played I had at least one local parishioner come up to me and ask me for a copy of the music, or where to find the music resources. The final day, the resounding response from their parishioners was "Thank you, for breathing life back into our parish". It was very flattering, but yet humbling. This of course, wasn't a reflection just on the music, but of the presence and the life of the youth which packed their Church walls.
2) The opportunity to interact with the clergy. I was on cloud 9 every morning, just because I was the music "goto" person, and therefore I needed to meet the presider every day. It was nice to have that honor of being with, and drawing inspiration from their presence and teaching. I think the favorite of the 3 days (even though that they were all good) was the Cardinal on Friday, Cardinal Wilfred Fox Napier, from the Diocese of Durban, South Africa. I'm not going to expound on his talk, but it seemed to be the most captivating, and related the youth the most. He even briefly talked about the Conclave (OOOooo....). And in the moment of another blessing, only minutes into our Saturday morning pilgrimage walk, guess who was going the opposite way of us?? Yep, Cardinal Napier. He didn't stop to talk, but he did recognize us and say "hi".
3) The generosity of a community. This little parish went well above the call of duty to serve all of us visiting. At least 2-3 "senior" members helped us in the coordination and the set-up each day. They literally opened up all of the doors and welcomed us with all that they had. And during the lunch portion each day, they were supposed to distribute the WYD sanctioned meals to all of us. However, instead they brought out a grill and cooked us a nice home-grown meal for us and even set aside a seperate area for the Clergy and invited the leaders (myself included) to eat with the Bishops each day. It was quite an honor, and yet a very humbling experience for myself.
Finally, I was asked by both the Archdiocese of Detroit and the WYD committee to perform in various capacities. The Detroit events ROCKED!!! All of the youth (including our own) had a great time, and was part of the Massive body of hands-raised, voices praising youth. Now, the WYD event was on a smaller scale, but in the same manner, it was an honor to be asked by them, and I was able to meet some pretty involved youth/music people, which of course, was perfect for me. It was such a pleasure to be able to use my gifts and talents in so many different ways during World Youth Day, and I can't help but to thank my parish community for it's continued support. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have been award these opportunities.
And Last but not least, Fr. Ben has been the Confession super-trooper. He worked the "night-shift" of confessions at during the Vigil. He has both served our group, and the Universal Church beautifully. We were very proud to have Fr. Ben with us, and in his Daily Mass sermon to us before we left for the Vigil, he expressed that same pride towards us. His constant crucifix handing out, the buzz of his "GUTS" quote, his relentless administering of the sacraments, and his overall physical determination over his body ailments, has been very inspiring to all of us. He is a true blessing to the Church, and we are truly honored and proud to have him as part of our group.
The next three days will included morning and evening prayers, and Daily Mass, but for the most part is out Australia sight-seeing. Typing this letter took a bit longer than expected. So, I will try to post the pictures tomorrow (Sunday evening in MI). Having that said, my 7 days of internet runs out within the next 24 hours. So, depending on the cash flow and internet need, this may be my last text update, until I return.
Thank you and God Bless,
Brian Walker
