Tuesday

My trip began before I expected it to. What I mean by this is that as soon as a stepped on the train I spotted two of my friends. They were travelling with their brother and sister solely to see the Pope. They are not registered pilgrims but the pull of WYD was too strong. Then after much gum flapping I settled into my seat. I overheard a conversation between two other pilgrims. How do you spot a pilgrim? Well they are normally overly excited, dog tagged and carrying a very bright backpack. These pilgrims were discussing an article in the paper referring to Australia as a religiously bare country. One of the ladies was saying that in third world countries there is a lot of faith because these people are grateful for everything they have. Yet in Australia we have grown up with everything and this is why we don’t appreciate our world through our faith. I thought this was a good point until I arrived in Sydney. Literally thousands of people flocking around the screens showing the opening mass. People walking past in their daily lives were stopping to watch and marvelling at the people who were having a moment with their beliefs right in the middle of Darling Harbour. It was the spiritual meeting the monotonous. It was also amazing to see Cardinal Pell address the pilgrim congregation in 5 different languages.
On another note I know how the Chaser team from ABC felt when they ‘accidentally’ snuck into APEC. Today despite no pilgrim accreditation I managed to get through four of the five check points leading into the main ground of the opening mass. It was guilt and a large security man in a yellow jacket which convinced me to return to the big screens. To see pictures of my adventures so far view the slide show on my page.