You guys are gonna think that I cry all the time. Well I do cry a lot when I'm tired . . . and I'm tired!

I guess I never understood the meaning of "pilgrimage." In the USA, we have the bishops' document on youth ministry called "Renewing the Vision." In that document, our bishops name 8 components to effective youth ministry. Ireland took that document and made it their own by adding a 9th component: pilgrimage! I think I get it . . . or at least I'm beginning to understand.

World Youth Day is NOT a vacation. It an entrance into simplicity and unity. It is a place where prayer is the conversation. It is place to experience the Body of Christ. It is a place to experience hardships for the sake of Christ. It is a microcosm of the Christian life. We are on a journey . . . home . . . to heaven. People of all races, cultures, and language are bound together in Jesus on a journey home. We are cold together, hungry together. We rejoice together, laugh together. We sing together, we love together: each other, the pope, the Church, and the Lord God.

I am about to go out and get a sleeping bag. After our national Mass tomorrow, I will walk with the other pilgrims the 3 miles to Randwick Racecourse. There we will vigil through the night as we await the Eucharist.

I have something terrible to admit to you. I have made fun of the theme song. I'm sorry, but it sounds just like John Lennon's "War Is Over." It's Lennon's Christmas song. If you hear it, you'll know what I'm talking about.

But today I wrapped up the third and final catechetical session with some of the groups from the UK. They are extra-ordinary young people whom I absolutely adore! We concluded today with Mass and the WYD theme was the closing song. I couldn't sing it for crying. The songs asks us to receive the power of the Holy Spirit to be light to the world. The world has gathered. What if those 200 young people from Britain respond whole-heartedly to the Holy Spirit's power? It has come upon them in the sacraments, and the Spirit will continue to fall on them tonight at Stations of the Cross, tomorrow's vigil, and Saturday's closing Mass. My brothers and sisters, we live in exciting times. The power against faith is strong and it is rising strong in the US, UK, and Australia. In the sub-contintent, resistance to Christian activity is strong. In Africa and parts of Asia, radical Islamic hatred of Christianity is strong. But the power of the Holy Spirit is stronger!

Alleluia, alleluia! Receive the power from the Holy Spirit. Alleluia, alleluia! Receive the power to be the light unto the world.

Jesus Christ, You Are My Life