We traveled the Oporto Metro station and walks to venue. It looked like an Asian residential area as we passed by many Chinese locals and shops. By the time we arrived the Church was already filled with people, there were Chinese pilgrims from Hong Kong, Canada, Mainland China and Macau. The church was so packed we had to sit on the floors of the aisle, and even then there were still pilgrims streaming in.
We bumped into the family we met on Sunday again and they very kindly squeezed together to offer me a seat. Lucky for us the day was starting out with clouds and a light drizzle. It was not too hot in this non-air-conditioned church.
Bishop Tong was giving a talk on the theme "To Root and build in Christ".
His main talk is based around John 3:16 "God so Love the World..."
God's love for us is unconditional and because of this His love can change people. We need this change in order to root and build in Christ. If we are to be disciples of Jesus we must be like the Vine and the Branches. We must have three As.
To Accept Jesus into our Lives, accepting he is the vine and us the branches.
To Adjust our lives accordingly to his calling, pruning the unwanted and dead branches.
To Achieve the fruits of His love, if we do as God asks of us, then we will all bear good fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Mass with the Bishop.
Just as it was 12pm all the bells in Madrid started to chime. It is Madrid's welcome to the Holy Father! Every clapped and shouted "Benedicto!"
To my greatest surprise the exit hymn was 'Give Thanks'!! Turns out this is not just an Auntie Paula favorite afterall!
There is the welcoming ceremony at Cibeles in the evening at 7.30pm.
Once the Mass ended we took the metro to see if we can get a good spot. By the time we arrived most of the good viewing sides has been taken, therefore we decided to go to the back and so have shade and a fence to perch on for a higher view once the Pope passes by on his Pope Mobile.
Us at Cibeles. We are just around the corner from the stage.
It started getting really packed by 4pm. There was a man on stage setting a very cheery mood with some music, many people danced. We even did the Macarena!
By now it really did get very hot, the clouds of the morning has dissipated and there was raw sun. Many people in the front are standing directly in the heat. The Lord must have given them special graces because even under the shade of the tree I was very hot. The volunteers started taking out the water packs to spray people in order to cool off.
These girls from Columbia rushed out to get soaked!
The Pope has arrived! These are not real doves but air balloons shaped like doves being released as the Pope passes by.
I managed just to take photo of the side of his face! It was impossible to get any closer since there were just too many people!
During the welcoming ceremony the Pope thanked us for coming to Madrid, I don't remember his exact words but he invited us to open our hearts and to allow this event and Jesus to inspire us to change our lives.
That night we managed to get a booth at VIPS restaurant to have dinner. This was the pilgrim menu, Gazpacho with Villarroy chicken breast and chips. There was also an orange and a bottle of water. Much better than the Sydney World youth day food!
Vincent and Martin's cheese burger was not as nice though.
Although the restaurant was extremely busy the waiting staff was still very polite and helpful. Despite the protest of some locals, the impression I have received so far from people I have met is that overall people do enjoy the extra business and influx of tourism. Locals do enjoy chatting and finding out where you come from, when we say we are from NZ, they always say "really?! You have come so far!"
I often reply simply "Yes, we have come here from the end of the world!"
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Location:Calle de León,Madrid,Spain
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