Theology on Tap

I write from Drummoyne (the suburb of Sydney where I live) this Wednesday evening with a mid-week update:

Monday:

Monday was a "TOT day" in the House of Langrell; in other words, there was Theology on Tap on Monday evening, so most of the day was spent preparing for that. In the morning, I helped with some organizing and packing the car, and then we all went into the city for a little while because Jess and Lauren both had lunch dates. I took advantage of this time to explore the most historic area of Sydney - The Rocks and Circular Quay, which is the area around the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. I visited:

• Cadman's Cottage, one of Sydney's oldest surviving buildings. Built in 1816 to lodge the Government Coxswain (officer responsible for government boats), it later housed the Sydney Water Police and served as a home for sailors. Objectively, its interesting factor is derived entirely from its age; there's almost nothing inside it. This reminded me very much of my trip to Mozarthaus in Vienna over spring break; yes, it was one of the 14 houses that Mozart lived in while in Vienna, but, no, it did not have very much in it that actually belonged to Mozart. I chuckled.
• An aboriginal art gallery. Paintings by aboriginal artists are simple, geometric designs made of hundreds of tiny paint dots on a solid backgrounds. They are really cool looking, but rather pricy as well.
• A store that sold only products made out of honey. With free samples :)
• The Garrison Church, which was the first Anglican church in Australia. It's small and lovely inside - lots of rough stone, scrubbed wood, and simple stained glass. To get there, I had to walk under the Harbour Bridge - really cool stone tunnel! I couldn't figure out at first what was so special about this church, because there weren't any signs anywhere noting the significance of the building. I had gone to search it out after seeing it mentioned in a free Sydney guide book I got in the airport the day I arrived (such a great find!). Upon leaving, I went out a different gate, I finally saw a plaque that said Prima in terra Australis. Good thing they put that in Latin, right?
• Generally explored and enjoyed looking in all the stores, cafes, old buildings and narrow staircases, checked out lots of signs about the significance of buildings, etc. ALL of the tourist-y stores sell more Ugg products than I've ever seen in one place. The funny thing is that I've learned from my hosts that its a bit of a fashion faux pas in Australia to wear Ugg boots out of the house. For them, its like going out in your slippers. Ooops... I'm glad I didn't bring mine with me, because this cold weather would really tempt me to wear them.
• The Customs House, which used to be exactly that, but now houses a branch of the Sydney public library. It's a beautiful old building on the outside, but its quite redone and modern on the inside. On the ground level, they have this area where they have probably about 150 newspapers for public reading. They have these wooden spines on them so that you can't take them out of the building. I poked around the rest of the library for a bit and was quite overjoyed to find The Illustrated Maths Dictionary, which was just great, with really clear explanations and diagrams, and aimed at middle/high school students.

You might wonder if you'll see any pictures from this trip. No, because I very frustratingly left my memory card in my computer!

We were on the road to Paramatta for Theology on Tap, which is probably the biggest city over from Sydney (they just made it its own diocese, I think), by a bit after 4 for a 7:30 start. There's a lot of traffic in that direction at that time of day, and there's a lot to do before hand with regard to setting up, etc. TOT is held at P.J. Gallagher's Irish Pub, one of the few pubs owned by some of the Langrell's family. This makes relations with the venue a cinch! When Jessica's brother Pat first started TOT, he had it at the P.J. Gallagher's in Drummoyne, but they moved it out to Paramatta in part because the Drummoyne pub just couldn't hold everyone. The Paramatta pub is huge, beautiful, fun, and just a great place to spend an evening. I am convinced that the atmosphere there is one of the reasons that the event is so popular. In addition, Paramatta is apparently a place where there are a lot of young adults, so the event takes place where the interest is. When I tell you TOT was packed, I am not exaggerating. There was barely anywhere to stand, and apparently the crowd was a little smaller than usual because this was the second TOT of the month (usually there is only one). The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (who I've mentioned on here a few times already) were the guests - their last event before heading back to the States. They played some music, talked about their experiences, and answered questions. Probably the two best things I heard were Fr. Lewis's conversion story and Br. David's description of their ministry on the streets of the Bronx.

Fr. Lewis was a millionaire in Manhattan and successful body builder by the age of 32 and was basically living what can only be described as a life of dissolution until, to appease his mother, he went on a retreat in the small Bosnian village of Medjugorje, a place where the Blessed Mother has been reported to have made several appearances since the 1980s. He had a powerful conversion experience there, gave up all his positions, and soon entered the CFRs with nothing but his toothbrush and his saxophone, which is what he plays along with the bongo drums in their band. His testimony was quite compelling.

Br. David spoke a bit about begging for food (part of the community's charism) in the Bronx and some of the experiences he's had with people he has met while walking around in a Franciscan habit, including a story about a prostitute who got into his car by mistake one rainy day but who he was ultimately able to help escape from that lifestyle.

I also had a chance to spend a little more time talking to Fr. Gabriel, who is not in the band, but is the vocations director for the CFRs and was on hand to participate in the Q&A panel. He has such a gentleness of spirit about him that really appeals to me.

Another exciting thing about Theology on Tap was that I got to meet the new Dominican sisters, who just arrived in Sydney from Nashville on Saturday! Sr. Mary Barbara and Sr. Maria Cecilia will both be working at the Sydney Uni/UTS (USyd shares with University of Technology, Sydney) chaplaincy with me and taking classes at Notre Dame towards masters degrees. I also met Sr. Mary Rachel, their superior, who teaches at a high school outside the city along with another sister who was not there. I sat next to Sr. Mary Barbara, so we talked for a while before the talk started. Rather unsurprisingly, we know a few of the same people. All of the sisters are going to be coming over for dinner on Friday evening, so that should be a great opportunity to get to know them better.

We didn't get home until almost midnight, and, boy, was I tired. I can only imagine how Jessica must have felt.