By Kari Quist
Our journey began on Saturday, December 7th at 4:30am in the pitch-black car park at Holy Family. From there our pilgrim group of twenty-two teenagers and eight leaders would make its way to the airport to catch a 7am flight to Perth. Given the early hour, our young people were surprisingly energetic and excited whilst most of the leaders struggled to keep their eyes open. We navigated the airport without a hitch and while we waited to board, I began to notice something unusual about our group. Whilst most other pilgrim groups around us were divided into small groups of two or three ours had formed a circle and everyone was singing together. One of the things that I appreciated most about our group of young people was that they cared about one another, had a lot of fun together, and they were open to forming new friendships throughout the whole trip.
Our first day in Perth was tough because everyone was exhausted and unexpectedly, we had to wait quite a few hours until our hotel rooms were ready. However, despite the setbacks our group remained cheerful and that night we were able to join over 1000 other pilgrims from Melbourne for Mass at the Perth Cathedral. The second day was when the youth festival actually began. At the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre we met 6000 other young people from across Australia who were there to learn more about their faith and deepen their relationship with Christ. One highlight from the first day was the welcome and the call to rebuild the church from Archbishop Timothy Costello. Throughout the festival our young people were able to pick from a variety of talks that covered a huge range of topics relevant to young Catholics. I heard from many of our youth that the Eucharistic adoration at the end of the second plenary was their ACYF highlight. It was beautiful and amazing to be in a silent room with 6000 other people all of whom were worshiping Christ. The final day of ACYF offered more enlightening workshops and exciting music. We then all walked in one massive group to the site for the closing Mass. I think that it was encouraging and inspiring for our group to see the witness of over 6000 people who had gathered together to worship God.
After ACYF we had a day and a half to relax and debrief as a group. We spent most of Wednesday at Adventure World so that everyone could have a break from the intensity of the past three days. That night Fr Daryl celebrated Mass with our group. It gave us the opportunity to reflect on all that had happened and to thank God for the ways he had guided us through the week. On our final morning together, we had an opportunity for our pilgrims to acknowledge and appreciate one another. There was a lot of hugging and very few dry eyes amongst pilgrims and leaders.
I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to help lead this excellent group of young people. They were a delight to be around and radiated so much joy and love. I was humbled to witness the power of the Holy Spirit working through each of them and to see how their faith deepened. I know my own faith was strengthened through this experience and seeing God working in them. I am also deeply thankful for the support of all of the other leaders (Christian, Nerida, Fr Daryl, Joe, Tess, Alice, and Ezekiel), the parents, and the Holy Family community. We could not have had this transformative experience without your help, so thank you!
Merry Christmas!