Well what a great start to the JCI journey in 2008! Today being Australia Day and the arrival of the WYD Cross & Icon - the city of Armidale had much to celebrate!Proceedings started this morning at 9am at St Albert’s College where 60 or so gathered for the handover of the Cross and Icon - from the JCI team to the Armidale Diocese.
The Cross and Icon were then processed to various places of interest on the way to the Racecourse. First stop was the University of New England, then St Mary’s Anglican Church, Armidale Hospital, St Vincent de Paul and the 
Reconciliation Fountain in the Beardy Street Mall. Here we spent some time to pray for fresh understanding and respect between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.After lunch we then processed to Armidale Racecourse where a crowd of about 300 were taking part in Australia Day Celebrations. The Message Stick was handed over to representatives from the local Indigenous community. The Cross and Icon were then made available for veneration.
Fr Anthony from the Cathedral Parish (who also has a striking resemblance to the local police officer) had a touching story about this time of veneration. He noticed a few young people approach the cross who were not part of the procession. They spent some time praying with it and were obviously touched by this unex
pected experience. What a great testimony to the significance of these powerful symbols – especially when carried with pride in public places!Dan
1 comment:
Given that it wass Australia Day what a fantastic turn out! The Cross and Icon have generated a great dealof interest now in the Armidale parish where before there was little entusiasm. Well done JCI team
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