The times are a-changin’

The sun rises over the Sydney Opera House (Photo by Musskl Prozz)

MELBOURNE, Australia — Twenty-five hours in the air. Another 10 hours spent sitting in airports. A 15 hour time change, and “three days” spent in traveling. All this was just endured by the Madison pilgrims — but now they have finally arrived in Melbourne, Australia, the first stage in the WYD08 pilgrimage.

“The amount of excitement overrules all of the fatigue that we’ve had,” said Neil Spencer, pilgrim and seminarian for the Diocese of Camden, N.J. His sentiments were echoed by Joe Hanus, who said that he loved his first time on an airplane. “I’m ready to move onto World Youth Day,” he said.

The journey started Monday morning at the Bishop O’Connor Pastoral Center in Madison, where the travelers checked in and celebrated Mass to start the pilgrimage. Msgr. James Bartylla, in his homily, told the group that discomforts and sacrifices experience on the way to Australia are part of the larger mystery of God’s plan.

“The foolishness of God is great than any man’s wisdom,” he said. “The small sacrifices of giving up things like the internet, e-mail, Facebook, can lead us to a greater pilgrimage.”

After Mass, which was concelebrated by group leader Fr. Paul Arinze, chaperon Fr. Eric Sternberg, and Fr. Tait Schroeder, the young people left for Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, where they boarded a flight to Toyko, Japan. This eighteen-hour flight took them across the International Date Line, suddenly shifting the day from Monday to Tuesday afternoon.

After arriving in Toyko, the pilgrims departed for Sydney, Australia, and then to Melbourne, where they were met by their host families from St. Peter Chanel Parish and took some much-needed rest. Excitement is high among the pilgrims, many of which have never traveled outside the United States. Tomorrow, the Madison youth will spend the day in Melbourne with their host families.