We left Mildura this morning, removing the Cross and Icon from the Church in the middle of 8am Mass! It certainly made for an interactive homily. First stop for the day was Red Cliffs where the parishioners had gathered early for Mass to welcome the Cross and Icon and pray the Rosary. Families and parents with older children venerated together as the Rosary was softly prayed.
We traveled onto to Ouyen where a First Communion and Confirmation Mass had just finished. The candidates eagerly assisted us to take the Cross and Icon out of the trailer and into the Church. A toy Malee lamb and a model of a vanilla slice were presented as symbols of the community.
We then proceeded onto Hopetoun, to Lake Lascelles where the community had gathered. Lake Lascelles is totally dry; it hasn’t had water in it for about 10 years. It was quite a poignant place to take the tree of death which became the tree of life. We prayed for new life, new courage and new hope in the region.
We arrived at Horsham in the afternoon. There was a great group from St Brigid’s College WYD Committee who very enthusiastically carried the Cross through the streets of their town. When we arrived at the Church, it wasn’t full but the number of young adults impressed me. As Alice said, Pope John Paul II wouldn’t have known where the Cross would be on the 21st of October 2007 when he sent it out in 1984, but he did know the young people would be there with the Cross. In Horsham they certainly were!
We traveled onto to Ouyen where a First Communion and Confirmation Mass had just finished. The candidates eagerly assisted us to take the Cross and Icon out of the trailer and into the Church. A toy Malee lamb and a model of a vanilla slice were presented as symbols of the community.
We then proceeded onto Hopetoun, to Lake Lascelles where the community had gathered. Lake Lascelles is totally dry; it hasn’t had water in it for about 10 years. It was quite a poignant place to take the tree of death which became the tree of life. We prayed for new life, new courage and new hope in the region.
We arrived at Horsham in the afternoon. There was a great group from St Brigid’s College WYD Committee who very enthusiastically carried the Cross through the streets of their town. When we arrived at the Church, it wasn’t full but the number of young adults impressed me. As Alice said, Pope John Paul II wouldn’t have known where the Cross would be on the 21st of October 2007 when he sent it out in 1984, but he did know the young people would be there with the Cross. In Horsham they certainly were!
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