Australians hope to "Rewire" the Church following World Youth Day

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). This is the theme chosen by Pope Benedict XVI for the celebration of World Youth Day in Australia next week, the official days of which run from Tuesday, July 15, to Sunday, July 20.The excitement of World Youth Day as young people from all over the world begin their long travels to this beautiful country.

Tomorrow we send off one of three province groups heading there. These participants are 35 in number and come from various province works and ministries. They will join up with another group of 31 pilgrims led by the Salesian Sisters to form one unit.

The Salesian Korean apostolate (RYC) will form a second group of 40 Korean-American pilgrims with some connection to the RYC Center in Stony Point, NY. This group is scheduled to depart on Saturday.

A third group of Vietnamese-American pilgrims have already arrived in Australia, after spending almost two weeks on a mission trip in Vietnam. There they offered medical assistance and youth ministry programs to three communes in the Mekong Delta and two villages in the Central Highlands. Other Vietnamese-American pilgrims coming directly from the United States are joining them in Australia, to comprise a group that numbers 81. Let's pray for these groups as well as the thousands of young people from all around the country and the world who will gather for this wonderful event of grace!

And so all eyes will be on Sydney next week as the the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, arrives to greet the youth. No one will be more exited than the people of Australia. The leaders there have a lot riding on this week and hope to make the most of the grace of this moment. The following is a story from the Catholic News of Australia:
The National Office for Evangelisation is launching a new program Rewired to help welcome young people back to parishes following World Youth Day.
The Director of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference's National Office for Evangelisation, Marita Winters, herself a veteran of three World Youth Days, said the week would spark a deeper awareness of faith in many young pilgrims and perhaps in some young people who for one reason or another were not able to make the pilgrimage, an ACBC statement says.

"As the Body of the Christ, we all want to be able to tap into that level of excitement and raised spiritual awareness that is so often a feature of World Youth Day, and to translate it into a deep and lasting connection with the life of the Church," Ms Winters said.

"The National Office for Evangelisation has developed a Catholic program for evangelising young people, called Rewired which provides parishes, schools and other Church groups with an easy to use resource to help welcome young people in the period immediately following World Youth Day, and into the future."

The Rewired resource can be run by youth leaders over six sessions and provides an environment for young people to reflect, share and grow in their faith.

"Rewired is for young people deeply immersed in their faith as well as those who haven’t had much to do with the Church at all," she said.

"It is an opportunity for young people in a parish, school, or on a university campus to invite their peers to look at their faith and tradition in a welcoming environment. It is also a useful tool for a parish which wants to start a youth group."

One of the ways that they intend to reach out to the youth is through technology and their very own social networking site! Recently His Eminence Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, Bishop Anthony Fisher, Coordinator of WYD08, Michael Rocca, Group Managing Director, Telstra Networks and Services and 100 youth launched World Youth Day's social networking site (Xt3.com) at the Telstra Experience Centre. Let's pray for this project and for all the efforts of the Church to reach out to the young!