(L-R back: Erica Bell, Sara Attard, Sr Rochelle, Aled Thomas. Front: Alex Harris)
Saturday night saw the departure of the first of our Pilgrims. Aled Thomas set off with the Salesian group for his World Youth day pilgrimage. You'll recognise his fellow pilgrims as being past students at Bosco. From what we've heard, the departure went smoothly and all the Salesian pilgrim's were extremely excited for their big adventure. You'll notice that Aled has already contributed to the blog and he will continue to do so whenever he gets a chance. This way all our Bosco pilgrims can share their journey with us and with one another.
If you were at Sydney International airport on Monday night, the 8th of August, you would have seen red! The check-in at Etihad airways was surrounded by Sydney Catholic school students and staff members who were all decked out in their official red pilgrim T-shirts. Smiles definitely outnumbered tears and it was hard not to feel the excitement in the air with so many Catholic Youth preparing to embark on the journey of a llifetime. Tom was especially happy to discover that a student from De La Salle has joined the Bosco contingent giving him some welcome relief-no longer is he the only male in a group of 5 female students and 1 female teacher!
All the parents were busy photographing their children at the different stages of their departure and it was obvious how proud and excited they were for their children, knowing what wonderful experiences lay ahead of them. It's also pretty obvious when you look at the photos how excited Ms Bautista and her charges were-the smiles were permanent fixtures on their faces all night! It was great to see Fr Peter and Mr Casni make the trip in to farewell the pilgrims, continuing the support that they have shown the students throughout every stage of their preparation for the journey.
As the pilgrims moved through to customs, there was much joy aswell as a little of the anxiety and sadness that always comes with farewells. However it was clear that although we don't know exactly what lies ahead for these young people as they travel through Italy and Spain, they will all come back to us changed in some way by their experience. We pray that they stay safe and open to all that the Spirit has in store for them.
