Day 4: Stations of the Cross

The day started early once again, and we got dressed quickly in several layers to try to beat the freezing cold. After the usual steaming hot cup of coffee with Alma, the younger girls woke up and the family surprised me with a birthday party, complete with chocolate cake and strawberry jelly (translation: jello). It was so nice of the Sukkars – I couldn’t believe it! They barely knew me and already they were throwing surprise parties.

Alma dropped us off at St. Joseph’s as usual for our final day of Catechesis. There were three things on the schedule for the day: the bishop from Bangladesh was to deliver the homily and celebrate Mass, it was tattoo day (we were all instructed ahead of time to wear our WYD08 tattoos provided in the backpacks somewhere visible), and banner day! For banner day we had to arrive a little early and decorate a banner for our group/parish to carry up in the procession during Mass. Celeste and I took great pride in putting together our “group of two” banner for St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church. I wish more parishioners had been able to be there. (Yes, that is our banner above. Check out my amazing artistic abilities! Hm - I've always been a better musician...)

As soon as Mass was over, we headed to our assigned site at Barangaroo to watch the Stations of the Cross. Because they closed Barangaroo early, we had to arrive a couple hours before Stations began. Meanwhile, we spread out one of our emergency blankets and I took notes for this travel log while Celeste dutifully wrote postcards. A couple guys from Perth were cruising around and introduced themselves. They hung out with us for a while and stuck around for Stations. (Below: the train filled with pilgrims and a couple smooshed citizens)

I found it fascinating to chat with more University students from Australia. After we got over THE QUESTION, I was able to ask them a couple questions about themselves and about their career prospects. One of the fellows was a student in medical school, and I made a comment about medical school paying off in the end. He corrected me and said that, in fact, truck drivers and miners with no secondary schooling at all make much more than doctors and other professionals.

I have heard that Stations were quite moving, but unfortunately we were situated so that we could neither see the stage at Barangaroo nor the large screens set up “for our convenience”. Out of the venues in Sydney, Barangaroo was by far my least favorite. It was just a wide flat concrete space on the harbor, with freezing cold wind coming off the water. I suppose that the flatness of the space was good for fitting more people, but it was horrible if you wanted to see anything at all.

(Above: Celeste digs into mystery stew, which we later found out contained lamb) When Stations were finished and the crowd thinned a bit, Leste and I pushed our way up towards the stage and laid our blanket down again for the “Receive the Power” concert. Thankfully, the cousins were able to meet us at this point. The concert was headlined by Hillsong (apparently popular in Australia, although I admit I wasn’t too impressed), speakers Sam Clear and John Pridmore, and (of course!) MATT MAHER! You just can’t have too much of Matt. (Below: Matt Maher at the "Receive the Power" concert)

As soon as Matt finished playing and before the concert was over, we all headed back to the train to go home. Celeste and I found ourselves traveling with a group of eight very rowdy Germans singing auf Deutsch at the top of their lungs all the way back to Belmore. I was happy to have an opportunity to practice some of my mean German-language skills.