Editorial: The power received

Ben Emmel, second from right, poses with friends and fellow pilgrims at Manley Beach in Australia

The pilgrimage to Australia for World Youth Day 2008 is now over and completed, and I’m sure at this moment most of the young people are still trying to figure out the best way to recover from the exhaustion brought on by the journey. I for one am fighting off jet lag, as my brain tells my body that it is indeed 3AM like Sydney.

Advisory: Overnight vigil and closing Mass

Due to the World Youth Day overnight vigil and closing Mass July 19 and 20, Journey of Faith will not be updated until the end of the weekend. Updates will continue on Relevant Radio, however, so please listen for the latest news of the Diocese of Madison pilgrimage to Australia, the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for your understanding.

Editorial: One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Faith

The Madison seminarians gather at the train station before heading into Melbourne, Australia. (Catholic Herald photo by Ben Emmel)

The pilgrimage to World Youth Day has been an incredible experience so far. The graciousness and generosity of our hosts here at St. Peter Chanel has been invaluable to the pilgrims — the people have truly opened up their homes and lives to us, giving the Madison youth a Days in the Dioceses experience like no other.

Editorial: ‘What is God whispering to you?’

A view of the Sydney Harbor featuring the famed Opera House. (Photo by Matthew Field)

by Ben Emmel

It is only six days until the 75 pilgrims from the Diocese of Madison board the first of several planes that will eventually take them to Sydney, the site of World Youth Day 2008. The bags are beginning to be packed, the excitement is high, and soon the Wisconsinites will be able experience the culture of a foreign country — Australia, known as the Land of the Southern Cross.