Plain sailing all the way!

Tomorrow Fai Fai and the rest of the team will be on their way to Sydney, where they will take part in World Youth Day 2008.

For the past months Fai Fai, being one of the coordinators, has taken part in organizing and conducting workshops and seminars preparing the young members for the event. It being her first experience in helping to coordinate an activity of international significance, she has devoted a lot of time and effort to the preparation work. Now what is left is packing up for the 17-day tour. Warm clothes are necessary as it is winter in Australia and they will have to spend at least one night in the open air. The problem is that they cannot carry more than what a backpack can hold as they are occasionally obliged to travel on foot for hours. It is thus going to be a great challenge to young people accustomed to material convenience and to well being taken care of.

But it is also an experience well worth all the discomfort and difficulties. In the first place, they are going to meet hundreds of thousands of youngsters from all over the world. They can thus benefit from multi-cultural enrichment, making happy memories with people whose paths would never cross theirs otherwise. Most importantly, they are going to attend a valley mass conducted by Pope Benedict XVI, who will speak to the throng of an estimated 225,000 pilgrims including young adults, priests and deacons. All in all, it’s said to be a microcosm of what life is with Jesus Christ, thus a once-in-a-lifetime experience to all craving for the Lord.

This year’s theme is “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). I pray that the Holy Spirit will strengthen the faith of these young pilgrims and enlighten their minds with innovative ideas so that they will be able to contribute more to the development of Christian work when they return to Macau.

Best wishes to you all, young pilgrims! Plain sailing all the way!

Please click the logo for more information about World Youth Day Sydney 2008