For the Australian website with our schedule, the talk venues, a video trailer and more, visit http://www.thecatholicforum.org/
After over 24 hours in airports and planes we arrived in Australia. At home in Michigan it is now 4:30 PM Sunday. Here it is winter and 6:30 AM Monday. Very strange 🙂
We landed Sunday morning (pictures and video to follow soon). Deacon Alex Jones and his wife Donna arrived with us. Charbel Raish, his lovely wife Christine and his brother Joseph. Met us.
After getting out of the airport we drive into beautiful Sydney to visit the massive Gothic Cathedral of St. Mary. They don’t build them like this any more. We came back later to hear the eloquent homily of Cardinal Pell though we couldn’t stay for Mass.
We walked down to the harbor for breakfast in the view of Harbor Bridge and the famous Sydney Opera House.
We visited some of Charbel’s Lebanese family and friends before our hotel was available. The name Charbel is common hear – coming from the great hero of Lebanon and the Maronite Catholic rite – St. Charbel.
We are staying in a suburb of Sydney called Liverpool next door to the large Catholic Club next door where I will give my first talk tonight.
After a nap we drove to St Charbel’s Catholic Church for the Mass according to the Maronite Rite with about 500 young Lebanese. Very beautiful and reverent Mass. I spoke a few minutes afterward.
We then joined hundreds of your Catholics our for dinner before crashing Into bed around midnight. We saw the famous constellation of the Southern hemisphere – the Southern Cross. Janet was very excited.
It is now early Monday and I’m heading out for a run as soon as the sun makes it’s daily appearance. More later.
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