WE are all called to be a prophet and to speak God’s word and challenge society, Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane told more than 500 youth in St Stephen’s Cathedral on July 9.
The archbishop was speaking to youth from the Neocatechumenal Way, including more than 45 from Brisbane, who were on a pilgrimage around Australia in preparation for World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney.
Hailed as having enriched the faith of churchgoers and brought others back to the Church, the Neocatechumenal Way is an itinerary of Catholic formation.
Embracing the theme from Psalm 119: “Your word is a lamp for my feet”, the youth, aged mainly 16-25, participated in the various pilgrimage events of morning prayer, sharing experiences, street missions, Eucharist and catechesis.
Pilgrimages undertaken by young people in the past two decades have usually centred on World Youth Days, held about every three years and were introduced by Pope John Paul II.
However, the Neocatechumenal Way has seen an increasing need for youth to have more contact with the experience of a pilgrimage.
A similar event was also held in Adelaide in 2004.
The Brisbane youth, mainly from the parishes of Guardian Angels’, Wynnum and St Ambrose, Newmarket, were joined by other young people of the Neocatechumenal Way from the dioceses of Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Goulburn, Melbourne, Darwin, Broome and Wollongong.
Seminarians from the Redemptoris Mater Seminaries in Perth and Sydney were also present.
The pilgrimage culminated in an explosion of guitars, tambourines and palms on July 9 during a procession to St Stephen’s Cathedral in Brisbane with Mass celebrated by the archbishop.
Before beginning the pilgrimage, the youth participated in reconciliation to help prepare for the five-day experience.
Twenty-six-year-old Ross Hayward of Guardian Angels’ Parish, Wynnum said he wanted to be part of the pilgrimage so he could deepen his experience in his journey to become a Christian.
“I was able to encounter a number of answers about the meaning of my life, and how God fits in with this,” he said.
