Pilgrimage to Panama WYD 2019!!

Today's readings reminded me of one of our English catechesis sessions given by Bishop Edward Burns on the theme 'Here I Am Lord!' First Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8 'Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.   Gospel: Luke 5:1-11 "Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him... Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." But firstly I'll backtrack a bit to explain what 'catechesis' was! This is the typical schedule for World Youth Day: So between the opening mass and the vigil, there are 3 mornings of catechesis ...

15th January 2019 ONLY ONE MORE DAY!!! Tomorrow I will be gathering with the other NZ Pilgrims in Auckland, and the next day we will be leaving for Panama! I am officially packed (the lightest I've ever packed with a 9kg bag + carry on!) but I don't think the reality of all this will kick in until I'm actually in Panama... I haven't had much time to prep more for WYD because I've been away on holiday, but there were a few moments while I was away where I couldn't help but think about what it might be like. My family (all 10 of us!) went tramping around the beautiful Lake Waikaremoana, and stayed in a house in Thames in the middle of the bush, exploring the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula. And there were moments where I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty and grandeur of Gods creation. Here are some of them!! (I promise this will all tie in eventually!) From the biggest waterfalls and lakes... .....to the most beau...

17th December 2018 It's almost Christmas! And with adjusting to being back home in Wellington again, preparing for Christmas, and having to sort out presents for 10 people - I have 7 younger siblings 😅- and spend time with family again...it has been pretty busy!  So it's been at the back of my mind, but I still haven't posted again (so this one is quite long to make up for it!), and I haven't been preparing as much as I should be for WYD - which is now only ONE MONTH AWAY!! But God has still been using this time to help me prepare, without me even trying, or even knowing! Mary's 'yes' to God is the scriptural theme for WYD 2019, and it keeps popping up during my days, especially in the lead up to Christmas (which I guess would not have happen without her 'fiat')! NB: I just pictured Mary riding round in a Fiat....if you're confused that is not what I mean! 😂 Fiat is Latin for 'let it be done,' and we use it to describe Ma...

15th November 2018 Tonight we met again, this time with all the Christchurch WYD pilgrims! Meet Fr Alister, Maddy and Jack (the triplets on the right of the picture 😂 - long story to do with having to do a million takes of our intro video - if you really want to know see the videos at the very bottom of this post).  And Genevieve and I (the twins on the left 😂), who've been in Christchurch for the last year, but are actually going back to Auckland and Wellington soon so will be joining in our own Diocesan preparations.    Tonight, Fr Alister lead us in some 'pilgrim prep' and we talked about how we can prepare spiritually for WYD,  through things like praying with the scriptural theme of the event, praying for our host families in Panama, other pilgrims, our sponsors and financial supporters, the NZ pilgrims and ourselves.  We also started thinking of ways to promote and share our journey to WYD with those around us.  Here's ...

25th October 2018 Tonight we had our first official World Youth Day (WYD) prep meeting for Christchurch! We came into the office all tired and ready for bed, and were greeted by a very energetic Sinead (who isn't even going to WYD but seemed more excited than all of us...it's OK, we're just internally excited 😬).  We started off with a quiz about Panama, the host country for WYD this year, and we all failed pretty badly! We learnt about what a Pilgrimage actually is, and how this journey will be spiritual - not just a chance to be tourists for a week. We talked about some ways to prepare for WYD, and how we all need to go tramping with heavy packs ASAP... And we also agreed that although we are small in numbers, it will be a very enjoyable and interesting pilgrimage!! (what with Jack trying to 'poke the pope,' Fr Alister (our pilgrimage chaplain) boiling in black, Gen breaking out of prison, and me hot wiring the pope mobile). And we en...