ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE DELEGATION JOURNAL

Sean from St. Ann's: Today we had our first catechetical session, led by Luis Antonio, a bishop from the Philippians. He was entertaining and the rally connected with the youth. His words about the Holy Spirit and putting Christ first were powerful and very thought-provoking. The bishop reminded us that we must reflect the humility of the Holy Spirit and be Christ-like as a light to the world.

At today's Mass at Holy Trinity Church, there will pilgrims from all over, including the Phillipeans, Canada, Australia, and Missouri. What I found fascinating was that as we sang the opening song, "Lord, I lift your name on High," everyone sang together but had different hand motions. This is very much like the way we celebrate Mass. We have different ways of praise and worship, but we all focused on the Eucharist and have the same order of Mass.

Later, this evening, after we had split up into smaller groups by parish, the St. Louis group returned to beautiful Bondi beach for a terrific concert. Once again, there were people from all over, uniting to glorify the Lord. We were fortunate enough to see Matt Maher perform with his band, and their music really inspired the crowd and seemed to unleash more of the World Youth Day spirit. All in all, this day, inspirited by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, was filled with some fabulous faith and fantastic fun.

Theresa from St. Ann's: Today was an early day, but it was worth waking up. We went to Merrylands which is about a 50 minute train rise from Sydney. There we waited for our first catechetical session with other parishes from across the world. While waiting about ten of us approached a Brazilian parish and taught them the "shakey-shakey" dance; everyone joined in and it was amazing. Laughter was our common communication from then on.

Finally, we entered Holy Trinity Church and met a wonderfully spiritual bishop. He was Bishop Luis Antonio from the Philippians and he had a welcoming smile that warmed the whole church. He gave us a talk about the Holy Spirit in our lives and then we rolled right into Mass. Both the talk and the mass were moving experiences for everyone. Lunch followed Mass which brought more cross-cultural bonding. Many of us gathered in a large sit down circle to play "wallaby, wallaby, kangaroo;" similar to the US version of "duck, duck, goose." People were running, laughing, sharing, and simply bonding together for a fun time.

We then had a short Archdiocesan delegation meeting, and then were on our way back to Sydney for more spiritual sessions. We decided to go see Jesse Manibusen and hear him sing and talk. Jesse played his guitar and opened his session with songs about the Holy Spirit as well as some of his popular favorites. He is like a singer/song-writer/comedian/religious speaker all wrapped up in one. I personally liked his session because there was a calm point in his presentation which really gave me the opportunity to focus on the Holy Spirit and the Spirit's role in my life. This time showed me that the Holy Spirit really works through my Mom. She gives me strength at my weakest moments, and she pours out her love for me each and every day, just as Christ does for all of us. Later, Jesse sang a "Happy Birthday" to our youth minister, Karen, for her "23rd (again)" birthday. Everything at this session was amazing.

As the evening was coming to a close, we all made our way back down to Darling Harbour for last minister concerts and sessions. However, we were so tired after dinner, we decided to make our way back to the hotel for a good night's rest.