• Creativity in Cold Lentils
• Recovering Hope
• Truth Is A Two-Way Street
• Our chance to stand in solidarity
• Human Rights: a common meeting place?
• The Heart of God
• Dare to Dream
• Learning to Listen
• Finding meaning in the experience
• Towards An Understanding of Home
• Silence
• Peregrinasaun Haksolok Hamutuk
• Peace
• The Big Show
• Weakness and Strength
• United in Peace
• The Ring
• ACUSA
• People as seeds of hope and change
• Being Grateful
• In the midst of 250,000 people
• UN World Habitat Day
• Praying The Rosary
• I Want To Make A Difference
• How Fragile we are
• The Challenge of email
• Being Socially Responsible
• Thirsting for Knowledge
• The Lord is my Shepherd
• Archived Thoughts of the Week
• An Idea

I’ve always had uneasy feelings towards putting on ‘The Big Show ’ to trumpet one’s religious beliefs. It was my niece who pulled me out of the somewhat negative attitude I had to certain aspects of WYD. She has a faith well grounded in her involvement with social justice groups in the Church, so she isn’t coming out of a ‘jump for Jesus’ model! At least her enthusiasm for the occasion helped me peer through the fog of rhetoric to see that over those three or four days something good happened to Sydney and some good things happened to people in Sydney. Even the trains ran on time!

The reality is fundamental change doesn’t happen through spectacular events nor did WYD necessarily confront the real issues facing the Church. Maybe that wasn’t its role in this context. Nor does true conversion take place when one is on a ‘pharmacological’ high that such events can generate. For some, no doubt, it was a life-changing event but for the rest it will become a cherished memory that doesn’t impinge too much on one’s daily realities.

However there are times when we need the big occasion, the liminal experience, of the big show to keep us going. Peter, James and John needed the Transfiguration to sustain them. In a time of fear and uncertainty the disciples in Jerusalem were given Pentecost. We were given WYDSYD ’08 to remind us that each of us is united in and belongs to something that is far bigger and greater than any one of us, Pope and bishops included.

In that week, despite the flaws and occasional hiccups, it felt pretty good to be a Catholic!!!

• Jack Evans,
• Chaplain,
• Strathfield