Firm in Faith – The teaching begins!

Today marked the first of 3 consecutive days of Catechesis (a teaching that helps us to understand more about our faith). The topic’s are set down by the Pope and delivered by bishop’s from around the world. We chose to venture to the Basilica de Nuestra Senor de Atocha to listen to Archbishop Mark Coleridge from the archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn in Australia. His catechesis was engaging and he presented a challenge to all pilgrims to turn wanderings (where the destination is unknown) into journeys (where the destination is known) and that this journey should always be towards Christ. Archbishop Coleridge was pleased to the pilgrims from Sandhurst with our t-shirts bearing Bishop Joe’s trademark saying, ‘God Does Not Make Rubbish’. Archbishop Coleridge was a dear friend and class-mate of Bishop Joe and preached the homily at his Funeral Mass.

Wednesday night meant only one thing! Off to see Fr. Rob and Jason play their only open concert at WYD. We made the trek out to Alcorcon and were joined by approximately 600 other pilgrims, including other Aussies, Maltese, Germans, Canadians and Spanish (a special mention to the pilgrims from Talavera who came along for a second catch-up in as many days!) Everyone partied hard with the mosh-pit constantly growing in size with each song Fr. Rob and the band played!