A rather cooler day...... but that didn't last. By this afternoon it was blisteringly hot again. Wednesday is normally the day of the International Mass but as the underground Basilica can't be used at the moment we had to find another venue. For the first time ever, we celebrated Mass in the parish church and it was lovely. It might have been the first time but there is a strong suspicion amongst many of the organising team that it won't be the last.
Photos of the day can be found here on our flickr site
Wednesday afternoon is the free time when some excursions are organised for those who wish to get out of town and the rest of us can do whatever we want. I took a walk to the Prairie, near the Low Stations of the Cross with Gerald Daly, the assistant pilgrimage director. We came across a rather poignant site, some of the rubbish from the floods that hasn't been completely cleared away yet. So I'm posting a couple of photographs of what you might call, the alternative Lourdes.
Other groups went up to S. Savin for the afternoon for Mass and a Reconcilation in the beautiful parish church. Shelly Victor, a group leader, paused for a brief moment to reflect on the inspiration of Lourdes.
In the evening there was another exodus back to Cite St Pierre for the Rosary. This was led by three of the Diocesan schools who led us a packed hall in what it means to be the ‘light of the world’. Between each decade of the Mysteries of Light there was a prayer and reflection. At the end everyone was given a candle to light and Nelson Mandela’s speech on being great:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
