WYD 2008: Images and Thoughts

"Sydney: Witness the Spirit" WYD08

Watching WYD 2008 is almost stimuli overload. So much to hear, to see and to imagine. I would love to be there, if I was younger and had more energy. How does the Holy Father keep going? I get tired just watching him!

His message is similar to his message in the United States, love, reconcile, take responsibility and take care of your world. However, it is the faces of the pilgrims that fascinate me. Folks from all over the globe who took years preparing for this event. People who gather together with strangers and leave with new friends. People forever transformed.

The other thing that fascinates me is all of the symbols and rituals, beside liturgy, that touch people in such powerful ways. When I first watched the video on the WYD Cross and Icon I found myself thinking about our Jubilee Cross in our diocese. When I saw the Icon I thought of the icon I bought at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. I though of my love of icons, of how they are made, their history, their veneration and their power. I appreciate the simplicity of some Protestant churches but I would miss the symbols that serve as gateways or focal points of prayer.

Yep, World Youth Day, I love it.


WYD08 - Journey of Cross & Icon