Thursday, July 17, 2008

Benny-Benny-Benny XVI and tales of nuptials at the foot of the Cross

Shouts of Bennedetto, Viva Il Papa, Benny-Benny-Benny (Aussie Cheer style), and various national cheers and songs filled the air as we streamed from the train station to the Barangaroo this afternoon to see the Holy Father's arrival into Sydney via the Boat-a-cade. Over the next hour the 7 of us who stayed for Catechesis, weaved our way through the streets and horse manure to meet up with Sandra and Rakhi. Finally the Holy Father was going to meet the youth of the world! Upon his arrival there was a short aboriginal dance performed for him, in which the expression on his face was priceless. A short prayer service and his address followed. Here are some tidbits of his address which can be found here :

-You are witnesses of the greatest story ever- in that God became one of us.

-For some of you, it seems like you have come to the ends of the earth. At you age, any flight seems exciting. For me it is somewhat daunting!

-Like the Genesis story, this travel has been light & dark, new land, new animals, & new peoples. And all of this was what the LORD created, and it is good.

-Standing before me I see a vibrant image of the universal Church. The variety of nations and cultures from which you hail shows that indeed Christ’s Good News is for everyone; it has reached the ends of the earth. Yet I know too that a good number of you are still seeking a spiritual homeland. Some of you, most welcome among us, are not Catholic or Christian. Others of you perhaps hover at the edge of parish and Church life. To you I wish to offer encouragement: step forward into Christ’s loving embrace; recognize the Church as your home. No one need remain on the outside, for from the day of Pentecost the Church has been one and universal.

-In many ways, the Apostles were ordinary. None could claim to be the perfect disciple. They failed to recognize Christ (cf. Lk 24:13-32), felt ashamed of their own ambition (cf. Lk 22:24-27), and had even denied him (cf. Lk 22:54-62). Yet, when empowered by the Holy Spirit, they were transfixed by the truth of Christ’s Gospel and inspired to proclaim it fearlessly. Emboldened, they exclaimed: repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:37-38)!

These were just tidbits, it is a great homily and I hope everyone will read it!

As for the nuptials at the foot of the cross (no- no one got married), Rakhi mentioned in her previous post that some of us headed to a Christopher West talk on the Theology of the Body. If you don't know, Christopher West is an amazing speaker, and a couple others from the group had attended a different talk of his on Wednesday night. Tonight the talk was A Love that Satisfies, based on his book.

During his talk he re-stated some of what he had talked about the night before- the difference between Eros (Erotic) and Agape (Divine) love and dove deeper. Some key notes that I took from Christopher's talk:
-A purely spiritual God is more acceptable to the World than a God that had diapers, BO- was human, the Word made FLESH and called us to DRINK of HIS BLOOD.

-God created everything to be true, good & beautiful. The Devil can only twist, distort, & mock the truth-Eros was the first thing he distorted for the human race.

-He used the movie The Truman Show to help us understand some key points about God and the world, which I had not noticed before. Definitely need to get that movie and study it!

-Like the scene in Planes, Trains, & Automobiles, Pope Benedict is telling the world: 'You're Going the Wrong Way' with Eros. Christopher West believes that within his own lifetime, the world will realize this.

-Bishop Fulton Sheen when quoting St. Augustine states: "Do you know what is happening at the foot of the cross??? -Nuptials I tell you! Christ is mounting the marriage bed of the cross!" Christ is the new Adam, Woman (Mary, representative of the Church) the new Eve, and get this....John the MYSTICAL OFFSPRING of the nuptial covenant. The last part of that blew my mind!!

-JP2 and B16 have both said: The future of civilization depends on this-that we come to know and recognize the true & PERSONAL dignity of the human body.

-What the world is really longing for is union with God, but is disguising it with sex.

Christopher West's talks and many other workshops (including the Historical Catholic Apologetics & Myths) have been taped and will be available via podcast on Xt3.com, a Catholic networking website, similar to Facebook.

On top of all these great events, I got to catch up with a few people that I had travelled to Cologne- WYD 2005, notably Mike Mangione, who played with his band at the Christopher West talk and the newly ordained Fr. Phil, SJ. Mike has a new CD -Tenebrae-coming out August 5th so go pick it up and support Catholic music.

Well after a long post and a late night it is off to bed! Thanks everyone for the prayers- keep it up! We will need them for the next few days, which promise to be just as long!

4 comments:

Anna said...

"Nuptials at the foot of the Cross....no one got married...."

reminds me of Rakhi asking "Fr. John could you marry someone on this trip?" and Fr. answering "I'm not allowed....I'm a monk." Haha, good times:)

Anna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Sounds like you're having a wonderful time. I've been sharing the blog with so many of our friends. Thank you for sharing so many details of the days with us. I almost feel like I'm there with you. I wish I were instead of removing wallpaper in the 90+ heat! May God continue to bless all of you on your journey! Love, Linda (Andrea's mom)

Unknown said...

Thank you for all of the updates and stories - what a privilege to keep abreast on all of the WYD activities along with you! Impressive summaries of the Bishop's and Christopher West's talks - thanks for the insight and inspiration:) I'll keep praying that you all grow even closer to the heart of Christ during the next few days - keep praying for us, too:)