Yes I know, for the 104576th time, I’m shutting the blog down. I’ve made my decision based on a couple of reasons.

1. The most important one is that I don’t have enough time. I work fulltime, come home, have to cook dinner, clean the house and then it’s about 8 o’clock and then my enerylevel is gone. I don’t want this blog to fade away, so let’s go with a bang

2. I like to blog about WYD news but you know, http://www.wjdmadrid.nl/ should be the place for the latest WYD news. That will be the WYD site for our diocese which Tom and I will moderate. We still have to update it, we are planning to do that next week. (Save the site though, we are going to post news about our trip there as well!)
So if I have some WYD news or other news mainly for young catholics, I am going to send it to that site. And news about our youthapostolate should be at the website of our diocese (www.bisdomgroningenleeuwarden.nl) and not here. 

3. I don’t really want to blog about personal things anymore here. Due to all the bullshit going on recently, I don’t want those idiots knowing personal things about me. And I suppose I could lock those postings, but hey, I can use other sites for that (facebook, twitter) or just email it.
I always said I blogged about my life to keep friends living far way in tough, but in the last weeks Facebook has taken that place. With Facebook I can decide who can read along.

4. So what can I do with this blog then? I don’t want to blog about churchthings because we have some outstanding priests doing that already (Father Z, Father Tim, Father Mennen and so many more). And I am not really a fan of laymen acting like theologians when there not. I think that’s a job for the people who studied for it. So then I should not do it either.

Taking those points in consideration, there is no point anymore keeping this blog. If you like you can add me on facebook or twitter where I will be posting my stupid video’s, photo’s and updates about me

Thanks for following this blog and see you on the other sites! Bye! 

The World Youth Day office in Madrid has released a prayer dedicated to World Youth Day 2011:

God our Father,
we place the preparation for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, in your hands.
Save and protect Pope Benedict and all the pastors of the Church.
Enlighten and strengthen all those preparing this event.
Grant them wisdom and strength to carry out their work.
Help our community to prepare deeply for this ecclesial event.
Amen

Lord Jesus Christ,
before your ascension, you promised to be with your Church until the end of the world.
Bless and multiply the efforts of all volunteers and staff of World Youth Day.
Make your collaborators in the work of redemption
for this event, take root and build in Christ, the young people from Spain and worldwide.
Amen

Holy Spirit,
Lord and Giver of Life,
pour out your grace upon the lands of Spain.
Open the hearts of the Spanish to the reception to all young people who come to the event.
Grant to those who attend, a conversion in their lives.
Make them strong in faith, hope and charity.
Amen

Mary, Immaculate Mother,
patroness of Spain,
pray for us.

Due to a lot of spam I had to decide to moderate the comments here. But I didn’t realise that emails send to me to let me know there are new comments arrived in the unwanted email section. So there were a lot of comments and I didn’t saw it. I just found out and approved al the good ones straight away.

So sorry, there was nothing wrong with your reaction, but just a mailfunction (hah hah). Everything should be working allright now!

And now there is video of the Cross and Icon arriving in Madrid.

A must see!

Some 5,000 young people gathered at the cathedral of Almudena in Madrid on Monday to receive the World Youth Day Cross.

The youth came together with the city’s archbishop, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, to receive the cross in anticipation of the next youth day, which will be held in Madrid in August 2011.

Cardinal Rouco presided over a prayer vigil that marked the beginning of the cross’ pilgrimage through Madrid and other Spanish cities, reported SIC agency.

In the first stop of the cross and the icon of the Virgin Mary, the cardinal appealed to young people to give witness to the Lord "with courage and valor."
In his homily, the cardinal explained that "our purpose is clear, simple and intrepid: we want to arrive at the end of our journey as pilgrims who have sought and found the Crucified Christ."

Cardinal Rouco invited his listeners to discover what the cross has within, to seek Christ’s face so that he will illumine and transform each life. "It will not be easy to achieve this but it will be immensely gratifying and joyful," he said.

The prelate appealed to the young people not to cease in their attempt, despite the "scandal" of the cross, which can take place "within and outside social and cultural realms more or less influenced or touched by the inheritance of the Christian faith."

"There are not a few today who consider Jesus Christ’s proclamation foolishness," he added.

However, in contrast to the "superman" who neither needs nor depends on God, the cardinal said that man needs "realistic and effective answers" for his problems in this world.

He added that history itself, the tragedies of the 20th century, show us that "those projects of man of personal and collective self-divinization" lead to "abysses of destruction."

Given the above, the Cardinal Rouco underlined the importance of awaiting Christ in the depth of their hearts. He urged the youth to be "simple of heart."

Finally, the cardinal prayed to the Blessed Virgin to "teach us how to undertake this journey of pilgrims of the glorious cross of her Son Jesus Christ in Madrid, humbly, simply and courageously, showing it in all its truth to young people of Madrid, their families and the whole society."

May Our Lady help us "not to slacken," he added, in the two years that remain to celebrate with the Holy Father at World Youth Day.

The archbishop of Madrid says he’s preparing to welcome some two million young people for the 2011 World Youth Day — half of whom are expected from outside Spain.

Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela spoke with the Spanish daily ABC about preparations for the youth event. The preparations were officially kicked off today, feast of the exaltation of the cross, with the beginning of the pilgrimage of the World Youth Day Cross and icon through the archdiocese, and throughout Spain.

The cardinal affirmed that the sites for the main activities with the Pope are already confirmed: the Vigil and closing Mass on Aug. 19 and 20, 2011, will be held at the Cuatro Vientos airport, and the opening Mass to welcome the Pope on Aug. 16 will be held at the Plaza de Cibeles.

A solemn Way of the Cross is also being considered, to be held Aug. 18 on the Paseo de la Casstellana.

Cardinal Rouco Varela observed that World Youth Days "have conditioned the history of the evangelization of the world’s youth" by helping to create "a distinct youth culture, fresh air for young people’s lives in their environments and ecclesial groups."

He continued, "For thousands of youth, they have meant an encounter or a re-encounter with the faith; others have discovered their vocations; and all of them have caught sight of ways to be young, to want to live with dignity, with nobility and with clear horizons."

The cardinal explained that the organizing committee is already at work, collaborating with the Spanish episcopal conference.

The committee has already approved the official logo and theme song, and is coordinating catechesis sessions in more than 300 language groups. According to initial data, more than 1,000 bishops are expected to attend, as will half of the Church’s cardinals.

Families of Madrid will be opening their homes to accommodate pilgrims, though the cardinal acknowledged that this won’t be sufficient to house all of the pilgrims. Thus, every ecclesial institution has been asked to provide every available space, and regional and local government offices have received the same request.

Cardinal Rouco Varela noted the "magnificent response" to this petition, and the "absolute availability."

Finally, the archbishop mentioned the financial cost of the event, affirming that the majority will come from "private contributions and donations from the faithful." He also said that there is a need for 15,000 volunteers in the six principal language groups.

"The tradition of the Church in Spain," the cardinal concluded, "will be a grand and positive novelty for youth from many parts of the world, where the Church is very young, where the great Christian past is languid, or the reality of the contemplative consecrated life that so much attracts youth of our time is not as vigorous as here."

(The dutch pelgrim organisation ((VNB)) told us that de spanish organisation is – so far -  better then Sydney. Who ever would have thought that? AE)

I LOVE the Grassroots movies and here is just another one of their jewels. Enjoy!

Madridx92s Cardinal Antonio Marxeda Rouco Varela spoke to a group of journalists this week and announced where the main events of WYD2011 would be held (source: here).

According to a report by Zenit he said that the organizing committee for WYD2011 has laid out the main priorities of the work to be done over the next couple of years.

The government had helped out by making available an airport close to the city centre, the x93Aerxf3dromo de Cuatro Vientosx94 (aerodrome of the Four Winds). Itx92s only 8 kilometres from the center of Madrid and there is plenty of open space for all the pilgrims. This is where the vigil and final Mass will take place.

You can see the airport here and they also have a website with more information.

Cardinal Rouco said the government was being very cooperative in the talks over preparations for WYD2011.

He also announced that the Plaza de la Cibeles is where three big WYD ceremonies will be held:  the welcoming of the Pope; the inaugural Mass; and the Way of the Cross.

Have a look at a map of the plaza and be sure to use the street view option to see how it is at ground level. You can see more about the plaza and some photos here.

Thatx92s not all. The Church is organizing events with the museums. Specifically, Cardinal Rouco said they are seeing if they can organize with the Prado Museum an exposition centered on Christ in the works the museum has in its collection. It’s a remarkable museum and one more reason to be there in 2011.

Itx92s a big challenge admitted Madridx92s prelate. They have to be ready to take care of a million to a million and a half pilgrims.

The poster has been revealed for the Dutch national Catholic Youth day. The CYD happens once a year and is a celebration for all catholic youth. Various workshops, teachings, a info market, places for meeting each other, bishops walking around, music and at the end of the day there is a big mass. This year it will be at november 8th in Den Bosch.

The theme of this year is: Dare to live and here is the promo for it:

It represents a dove (the Holy Spirit) flying to heaven. On his back are different people who did dared to live (for Christ) and ofcourse Jesus is with them.

Well at first that thing scared the heck out of me, but I do think it’s original. Let’s just hope it will make a lot of young people go.

For young people from the north, the youthplatform of the diocese will be offering busses from Groningen and Leeuwarden!