Some final recollections

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Matthew 13:16-17

This whole pilgrimage has been both a privilege and a blessing, and I'm all too glad to have participated. We've been considerably busy these past few days, and I don't even have any handwritten journal entries to share, so I'm going to tell you about the last few days as best I can.

Where did we leave off? The Day of the official Papal Arrival was really memorable. Our Catechesis that morning featured an American Archbishop, pity that I don't recall his name at the moment. He often encouraged us to be "a pencil in the hands of Christ," to help write the story of salvation, correct? I think that was what he said. Jesse Manibusan was losing his voice because of all the concerts he'd been doing, so we gladly assisted him once more. We got introduced as "Jesse and his friends from California!" hahaha. And MAN, he has some cool handshake things that we need to show you. I actually have a video of this mind-blowing experience.


After another nice Mass, we headed off to the city to try to secure a good spot to see Big Papa. However, a train announcement told us that Barangaroo (our intended destination) was FULL. So we tried going to the Sydney Opera House instead because at least the boat-a-cade and the motorcade were passing by. Ugh, long story here. Crowded, blah blah blah. We got an okay glimpse of Big Papa coming by in the Popemobile. After it was all done, we headed to Adoration, which took place in a section of the Opera House itself. It was wonderful, and lots of people were there, including a multitude of Sisters of Charity; one was kind enough to give me a candy to help suppress my coughing. This is where my day ended, because we decided I should head to St. Ursula's early to get some rest on account of my illness. Hopefully Raj and/or Angela will post about the rest of that night, because I can't remember what they told me about it. hahaha. Well, not a lot.

Friday, I can't recall what exactly happened during the day, but I know we tried to get a spot early for Stations of the Cross. I didn't even get to see everything, but the little of it that I saw was very theatrical and vivid. It was also very inspiring to remember and honor the stations with so many brothers and sisters. A concert with Hillsong United, Matt Maher, and others followed right after, but I couldn't get fully into it (though I wanted to) because I still wasn't feeling well. It was enjoyable nonetheless.

Saturday, we wound up celebrating Mass with a large gathering of Americans. Matt Maher was there yet again, and we met up with Father Brian. The walk to Randwick Racecourse (the site of the vigil and the Final Mass) was quite a spectacle and also quite difficult, especially since I was still sick. Once we finally got to the field of the racecourse, we snuck in as close as we possibly could to the front. Luckily, we blended right in with the Filipinos who were already there and didn't mind us coming over. We killed some time until the Vigil started, and man, you had to be there. The sheer number of candles lit across the field and in the stadium seating was astonishing. Matt Maher was on stage at some point either today or Sunday before Mass, and the poor guy's voice was shot from all the appearances he'd been making.

We tried to settle in early to get some sleep, but people were being rowdy. Some even came by at inappropriate hours of the night, yelling, "wake up, pilgrims, wake up!" After morning broke, the Final Mass started. Beautiful as ever, with a great homily by Big Papa. I couldn't follow everything he said (hopefully it's online somewhere), but I remember him asking us, "What will you leave for the next generation?" And so as we're always sent off after Mass, we left the place, this time to the sounds of Father Stan on stage. Made me wish I hadn't missed him at Praise Party years ago. You know how there's horrible traffic jams in the Philippines? We got stuck in a traffic jam... of people. That took a while, and then we had to make the same long walk as in the beginning.

Eventually, we packed up our stuff from St. Ursula's. Only then did it begin to rain, though the forecasts said differently. We left, and we had our first, real meal for at least a week, while at my Auntie's house: kare-kare. We felt so much better after that. Then we stayed with Raj's cousins for a few days in Melbourne. They're really nice too, and JB is hella like an Australian Mikey. We did a little bit of sightseeing and chillaxing, visited both St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral during those two days. Now we're back home, and somehow I'M STILL SICK. Stupid virus or whatever won't go away.

You've probably noticed this was a pretty objective entry. Boring, right? Yeaaah. I plan to post some "Final Reflections" to cap off my writings on this blog. It'll be some really meaty stuff that I hope will provoke something within you, too.