World Youth Day
July 15-20, 2008
Sydney, Australia
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you;
and you will be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8)
This would be the second World Youth Day Celebrations with Pope Benedict XVI – the first was in Cologne, Germany. It will be a six day event just like all the other WYD Celebrations with an expected crowd of 500,000.
I suddenly remembered the WYD Celebrations I was involved with. The first one was in 1995 when Pope John Paul II arrived in Manila who hosted the event at that time. I was able to see the Pope on the “Popemobile” which had him enclosed behind bullet proof glass windows.
The second one was in 2002, a year later my family and I arrived here in Toronto. I was thrilled to be part of the event as a volunteer through the kindness of one of the faculty members in my high school back in those days. I wasn’t just able to almost complete my hours of community service – which was required in order to get my Ontario high school diploma – but I was able to find the best place to socialize with people from around the world who have been gathered and united in this city in Christ. It was a moment of realisation on my part that being part of a community is a great thing. You find people who have the same interests as you and you find out who you are and what inspires you to become a better person being blessed by this event.
This year’s event focuses on the Holy Spirit. It’s interesting that the Catholic Church have focused on this. A lot of Catholics do believe that the election of the Pope, the appointment of the leaders of Catholic movements and a lot of the things that happen within the Catholic faith – even within the lives of Catholics – are all inspired by the Holy Spirit and this event is making this heard and acknowledged among the youth.
Hoping WYD 2008 will be a success and a blessing to Australia.
