Mar 25, 2008 / 04:43 am
World Youth Day preparations in Australia have inspired Catholic young people to grow in their faith as they perform Passion plays and enact Stations of the Cross.
A World Youth Day group in the Western Australia town of Lockridge spent months practicing a Passion play that was performed before a huge crowd of parishioners at Good Shepherd Church on the morning of Good Friday.
“The spirit of WYD has changed me,” said Maria Vu, a member in the Lockridge World Youth Day group of 42 young people. “I am inspired by other youth at school and in my parish who bear witness to our Catholic faith and our belief in Jesus. I know for sure in Sydney, I will be more aware about the universal Catholic Church in which we are all swept up in the love of Christ. I think WYD is a wonderful thing. It's something that gives life to the Church.”
Father Vinh Dong, the parish priest of Lockridge, said that the impact of the preparatory program for World Youth Day would continue “well beyond” the July event.