Days in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, Blackbutt Region, were drawing to a close with a farewell liturgy followed by dinner and multicultural entertainment. National anthems were launced into, mainly by Spanish or Portugese songsters and we could join in clapping to the beat.
Delicious food was served and the volunteer elders had prepared an ambitious and successful menu. The crowd moved to the hall nextdoor, on the St Pius X campus, for the concert and the moment of departure, for next day, the visitors were leaving for WYD in Sydney.

The beginning liturgy was the newish Stations of the Resurrection - Via Lucis (Way of Light).
These takeover where the Stations of the Cross end. I read, (in Wikipedia), that the Via Lucis are centered on the Resurrection and the events following from it so as to emphasise the positive, hopeful aspect of the Christian Story which, though not absent from the Stations of the Cross, are obscured by their emphasis upon suffering.
Via Lucis, which is commended by the Vatican, is a potential stimulus for a 'culture of life' which is open to the hope offered by faith in a society sometimes characterized by a 'culture of death', despair and nihilism.
So, what does Mel Gibson - director of The Passion - think about that? I believe the movie is very gruesome and is the type of thing that the above insights have in mind.


























A gallant little national dance, almost unnoticeable in the crowd, was a highlight for me.