the calm before the storm

It seems there was a little of nothing and a lot of everything in the weeks prior to WYD. In mid-June, with one week of retreats to go, I got to catch up with Sarah and friends for her birthday - we had dinner in Newtown, which is the area I lived in last year, and would you believe one of my old classmates from Sydney Uni walked right by the restaurant where we were eating! I was so excited: he was one of the few people who I actually knew from class. Because the University of Sydney is so big, and the classes are mostly lectures, it was hard to make friends. It’s funny though because I realized that even though it might be nice to see those old acquaintances every now and then, I probably won’t ever go out of my way to catch up with them. People come and go from our lives: only the ones that matter will remain. Those are the people who become like family.

One day, a spiritual director for the team, Fr. Rob Stewart, who is a Capuchin Friar (an order of St. Francis), took us to see The Abbey at Jambaroo, which is a convent for Benedictine nuns. We were shown a bit around the grounds and were introduced to their way of life. The interesting thing about these nuns is that they take the three vows that almost all religious take of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but they also take a fourth vow of stability - they stay in the same place, at that Abbey in Jambaroo, Australia, for their entire lives. It is a beautiful place they live - a place of great peace and serenity. They spend their time in prayer, and the intentions they have taken on are the intentions of the world. It’s quite a heavy task they have in their care, wouldn’t you say?!

We hosted the Capuchin Friars for dinner that evening, which was lovely, of course. Who doesn’t want holy men eating dinner with them? The boys on team are quite possibly going to join these holy men next year - they are looking at entering the Capuchin order, and will move down to Melbourne in January, I think, to begin the process.

The next evening we hosted another little dinner party, this time for our spiritual directors, of course Fr. Rob being one (I think he was just mooching off us for food!) and Fr. Michael de Stoop, who I thank for my introduction to CYS.

I was a bit exhausted after those two dinners, followed by two retreats, but to relax and rejuvenate, Sharon, Cecilia, and I went to the Blue Mountains for the weekend.

It was a nice weekend away. We spent that Friday night up at Sharon’s house in Katoomba, and then on Saturday, I met up with Jenelle and spent all day with her and her family. I hadn’t seen them since I was newly arrived in the country - almost one year before! I suppose there will always be changes to observe but on the whole they are still the lovely people I remember them being - and of course they were lovely hosts. I don’t get to see Jenelle too much but when we do catch up, we talk for hours! She called me a few weeks ago to break some big news to me: she and her boyfriend of 5 years are engaged! I was told to pencil in a trip back to Australia sometime in 2010. I’m on it.

On Sunday, I met back up with Cecilia and Sharon for Mass and then a lazy day rolling every which way around the mountain town of Katoomba, going on little bushwalks and stopping at a “cult café” about 3 times. “cult café” = a café started by a cult that serves really good and cheap food…no religious beliefs are forced or induced upon entry or purchase of meal items. Although there was some funny tasting Brazilian spice/energy supplement in some of the lattes. If I can remember what it was called I shall warn you to avoid it. It’s an acquired taste…

I suppose it was then that the calm before the storm enveloped us. Monday, June 23, brought a surprise Theology on Tap which was filmed and reported on by Ray Martin. WOW! (Yeah, I don’t know who Ray Martin is either…) We went out to a school to promote WYD and do the Jesus Chant….we got a bit sick of doing that thing, because that Thursday we spent the entire day traipsing all over Sydney performing it for a camera: one of the tech-savvy guys on the team was attempting to produce a video of our little demo from different angles at various famous points in the city. I’m not sure how the final product turned out, but the fact that we haven’t seen it leads me to believe it may or may not have gone so well.

We were also recruited to help stuff showbags for Mary MacKillop Place - I may have mentioned before that Mary MacKillop is currently in the process of canonization, and when that comes through she will be the first Australian saint. Her final resting place is a beautiful complex on the north side of Sydney Harbor, and this was one of the pilgrim destinations during WYD, so of course they needed to have plenty of merchandise packed and ready to sell!

The last Friday in June brought some very special dinner guests to the house: the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia from Nashville, Tennessee! Of course you’ve heard me talk about these women before, the beautiful, radiant women they are - it was so wonderful to have them over for dinner! Everyone really enjoyed the night. I gave Southern cooking my best shot by making oven-fried chicken, homemade mac ‘n’ cheese, homemade buttermilk biscuits, peas, green beans, and a big salad, and Leoni contributed by making a recipe we found called “Nashville Fudge Pie”, which was so yummy! It turned out pretty well…at least I should hope it did - I spent 4 hours in the kitchen! The dining room looked really lovely as well - Penitito decorated it with the flags from the house. There was of course an Australian flag, a Guatemalan flag, a Samoan flag, and an American flag, newly shipped in from Mom - o and I served the Reese’s and Hershey’s bars she sent as part of dessert as well! They stayed for night prayer with us, and as we sent them off, everyone was sighing with full tummies how great a night it had been. Then a bunch of us sat around and watched an American football movie - it was such a great night for all the US citizens in the house! (just me? Ok….I’m allowed to be selfish once in a while, right?)

We had catechesis training the following day (even though it was Saturday!) but we were given Sunday and Monday off, so I caught up with a few girlfriends, and spent the night at Jovina’s. Where else do I go when I need to get out? Monday was very relaxing as I spent half the day reading on the beach…even though it’s winter, the sun still shines bright! That night I went to a fundraiser called Taki Taki - it was a last effort to raise money for Tongan pilgrims to come to WYD. The night proved to be really fun! Trivia, prizes, videos, performers….one of the trivia questions was “How many stripes are on the US flag? 13 or 15?” About half the room, mind you, said 15 and were therefore eliminated. That was the half of the room that was not standing by me, haha

We jumped right back into our preparations, which included some stressful music rehearsals, and with only 14 days before the big event kicked off, I was both anxious and ready for it all to be over! From a volunteer side of things….

That Wednesday we took the evening to all sit down together and watch the final State of Origin game - you may remember my last experience with the sport of Rugby League, and the knowledge that was bestowed upon me - which means I did somewhat enjoy this display of manly power…but NSW lost, which means there were a lot of unhappy people in the room. It was reminiscent of the feelings after the 2007 Superbowl, as I sat among the people of Chicago. A sad day indeed.

The 3rd of July brought a very wonderful event held on the campus of Notre Dame which was entitled “Love and Life - Live it!” and you might imagine it was fittingly named as it was hosted by the Sisters of Life from the Bronx! They shared the evening with us, telling us about their charism, the work they do, and some beautiful stories from their ministry. It was a special evening because just the day before, the body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Italian man who is also on the road to sainthood, was present in St. Benedict’s Church, which is at ND. He was one of the WYD patrons, and it was a beautiful and marvelous thing to have his very incorruptible body in our midst. The next day was his feast day, also a very special day in my own heart, the 4th of July, and attending his Mass, celebrated by the Cardinal, with his body on the side, it was all I could do to keep the tears welling up - his story is really incredible. We could all learn a lot from the example of Pier. Not to mention the fact that this man was quite attractive. Jovina reckons he’ll be the patron saint of good-looking people, haha!

So you might be wondering, besides attending a Mass in celebration of a dead, good-looking man, what else I occupied myself with on our nation’s independence day. Well that day was spent at a school which we do quite a few retreats for - it is an all girls high school, and that day was their school’s special celebration day (last day of term). They had a Mass, a few performances, a talent show, a beauty pageant, a really nice lunch, and of course, the reason we had to go, a little peek at the Jesus chant. We were in quite high demand for that!

I went from there to the Mass, and after Mass, as many Americans as we could gather went on the hunt for something American to eat for dinner. The little party included: the four Dominicans from Nashville, two Bazillian seminarians from Texas, Alana, myself, and Paul, who is from Paris. He just came because…because he wanted to. I think he’s a big fan of America. Well, and he lives in the same house as Alana, so that way they could go home together. Which, by the time we found somewhere to eat (we settled for pizza at a Turkish place) and then made our way to the train station, it was so late, and I was going to have to wait so long, alone, for a bus, I just went home with Alana and Paul as well! It was actually really nice spending time with them, and riding the train home with the Sisters as well. I was quite happy with the celebration!

Alana and I slugged around for most of that Saturday and then went down to the city, where the first physical signs of the approaching WYD were beginning to appear. The WYD superstore, located in Hyde Park and aptly titled “WYD on HYDE” opened on Saturday, July 5th, and so Alana and I took a bit of a gander around the store, only to be slightly disappointed with the somewhat strange range of apparel the company must have thought would sell. In the end, some of it did and some of it didn’t. Just as I suspected. It was exciting anyway to finally see a huge tent go up in Hyde Park, the center of Sydney, as the approaching WYD drew near.

For me, WYD began to sink in the next day. I met Jovi for coffee before Mass and as we walked into the Cathedral, we were stopped in our tracks by the heavenly sight of 47 Sisters of Life in perfect rows, kneeling in prayer. How special it was to see so many beautiful women, adorned in habits of blue and white, filling the pews of St. Mary’s. The Cardinal, who celebrated the Mass that morning, was certainly happy to see them - he only mentioned them three times during the celebration! Afterwards they filled the front steps as picture after picture was snapped of these faithful women. It was quite a sight to see.

After parting with a few friends and spending time with a few others in the WYD store, I got a call from the Dominican Sisters asking if I’d like to meet up with them, as two more Sisters had also arrived that day, on the same plan as the Sisters of Life! What a place the airport was to be! After a bit of discussing and planning, I found myself on a ferry over to Manly to meet the Dominicans for lunch and a stroll around the beach. Then I headed back to the city with them and exhausted, parted ways and went home to sleep. We had another big week ahead, and it wasn’t even WYD yet.

Stay posted, there’s more to come!