Pilgrim Blog 24 - Catechesis Session 2

​We caught the Metro to a different station, but we ended up in the same park as yesterday for the second session of Catechesis. To be honest, my heart dropped a bit when I saw we were back in the same field again. The topic for today is Social Friendships. All the catechesis locations are covering the same topic. Some clergy have been feeling ill with flu symptoms, including Fr Sam and Bishop Umbers. So there’s been some scrambling to fill the catechesis speaking slots.
 
Run Order for Rise-Up session 2:

Screenshot by Vincent Cavanagh, 2023

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These run orders have helped us know what to expect. I should have uploaded yesterday’s run order, but it’s too late now. Because this WYD has tried to be as paperless as possible, most information comes to us from the official app. But I would have preferred a souvenir booklet with maps and schedules in it.

Archbishop Fisher (OP) giving the second Catechesis ~ Vincent Cavanagh ©2023

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Archbishop Anthony Fisher is the Archbishop of Sydney. As an auxiliary bishop of Sydney for WYD 2008, he together with Cardinal George Pell and the then auxiliary bishop Julian Porteous, were the episcopal team that made WYD Sydney happen.

He was talking too fast for me to jot down notes easily, but this is what I jotted:

‘Whatever your position is, someone is looking for an ecclesial brawl with you, and maybe with you as well – and you with them.’

‘Hell is both the failure to love (Dostoevsky – 19th century Russian writer) and to be loved (Charles M Schultz – Charlie Brown Comics)’ – only a summary.
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‘Now may this WYD make you all great and Godly lovers, every one of you’.

​Mass was held in the same location as the Catechesis. The Archbishop Fisher presided.

Archbishop Fisher (OP) giving the homily ~ Vincent Cavanagh ©2023

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From the Archbishop’s homily:
‘Our God is no God of Separation: He is a God of Closeness.’


Other Information
We’ve been told to expect a 4 hour walk to the Vigil Site on Saturday, including rest stops. It’s also been recommended that we go shopping for snacks, and especially Hydralyte tablets. These tablets are supposed to ease dehydration symptoms.

Apart from the short time between the Australian Gathering and the Welcome Mass on Tuesday 1 Aug 2023 – when we visited two nearby churches - we haven’t had time to do any sight-seeing, visit the ‘City of Joy’ park, or anything in the city proper.

The City of Joy is where the Vocation Fair, a Chapel, and the Reconciliation Park are. In the city proper are movies, art galleries, talks, museums, relics, the cathedral where St Anthony of Padua was baptised and where relics of St Vincent of Saragossa – deacon and martyr – reside.
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Our catechesis locations have been away from the Lisbon CBD, and by the time we get back, we hunt for lunch, have a brief rest, and then stake out positions for the next visual of Pope Francis or next major event.
 
 
Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
3 Aug 2023, 2.17pm Portugal | 3 Aug 2023, 11.17pm Sydney

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