Tooday (in Brisbane) it is already Ron’s birthday! We are 9 hours behind. So it’s around 6.30 in the morning in Brisbane and Ron is out working – and I’m sitting in bed on the other side of the world. It’s Ron’s 60th birthday – a milestone! So, happy birthday, and sorry I cannot be there to share it with you.

The pilgrimage today took us further into the life and times of Catherine McAuley. She was an extraordinary woman by any standard! In reflecting on her life and times, one cannot help but reflect on our own times and how we respond to the injustice and disadvantage in our world. So I spent the afternoon reading more about her and her vision to assist the poor in Dublin; a vision that led her to respond to the needs of many communities.

I have a cold and trying to fight it off, so I stayed in tonight and did not venture out sightseeing and to dinner with the other ‘pilgrims’. A quiet night in.

Tomorrow we finish early so that might afford some time for sightseeing. The weather has been great: cool but sunny with just the occasional rain shower. The hotel is comfortable enough, so I’ve been able to eat well and sleep well.