1236 What did you had when you had no hope of getting to WYD? Ask the Solomon Islands!
austraLasia #1236
austraLasia 1236
What did you had when you had no hope of getting to
WYD? Ask the Solomon Islands!
GIZO (East Solomon Islands): 31st August 2005 -- and you
thought WYD was over and done with. Just one more story. Many
far-flung nations made it to Cologne, and little ones at that. But for
some even littler places, it just wasn't possible. Gizo Diocese,
Solomon Islands, was one such. Perhaps they'll make it to Sydney in
'08; they're neighbours of a sort!
But if you can't get to Cologne - or Sydney - then you do it at
home, and that's what Gizo youth did. Gizo is Dominican territory, not
Salesian, by the way. And it's a real mix of cultures: you have many
from Kiribati to the north (pronounced KIRIBAS; the -ti is 's' in that
language), and just as many whose background is more associated with
PNG to the west, plus the many different groups that make up the
Solomons themselves, further east. The youth began with a Kiribati
welcome on 17th, followed by a Mass next morning and the blessing of
the WYD Cross (theirs might be stronger than the original at the
'other' celebration in Cologne - that one broke while being man-handled
on the Rhine). Then with Cross, Statue of Mary and Bible, the youths
all processed to the Maneaba which is the large ceremonial thatched hut
in Kiribati custom - and there they saluted the Vatican, WYD and
Solomon Islands flags. Then followed days of catechesis on leadership,
Eucharist, youth in SI society, plus many other important reflective
themes, opportunity for Reconciliation, prayer, meditation,
singing....Cologne without the cold weather!
Gizo diocese is made up of many islands, so the events moved from
island to island, from Gizo to Cannan and to Noro. Then the final mass
and feasting and entertainment around three huge WYD cakes prepared by
the Catholic mothers of Noro.
The youths reflections on this indicate they they were no less
moved spiritually than their half a million other counterparts on the
other side of the world: "I felt like a new plant growing in very rich
soil", "I'd like to be the star that would lead other youth to Jesus in
my community", "I know now that the Church looks to me to be the living
salt and true light of my community".
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