Sydney bus driver praises WYD pilgrims

I AM a bus driver with the State Transit Authority of NSW and want to commend all the pilgrims who are in our state for World Youth Day celebrations.

So begins an article by Andrew Soulis in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph (Sydney).

People like bus drivers are among the many who make up the fabric of our daily lives. During my school and seminary days I got to know bus drivers and bus conductors, conductors to chat with and drivers who'd give me a friendly wave.

When I go home to Dublin I use the bus constantly and have seen many acts of kindness by drivers to passengers, young and old. We don't have conductors any more.

Andrew ends his article by sharing how touched he was by the gifts that pilgrims he had helped gave him:

They give the shirt off their back by giving their food voucher away as a gift to a bus driver who was concerned for them.

What a wonderful group of people these pilgrims are. These sentiments are shared with every other driver I have spoken to over the past couple of days.
Each and every one of us have said consistently, what a ray of sunshine, love and warmth descended into Sydney.

I wish they could all return soon. We would love to accommodate them again. We really love them. God bless the pilgrims in Sydney.

Very few of the pilgrims at WYD Sydney met Pope Benedict. I'm pretty certain that none of the bus drivers did. But this article illustrates that many people met Jesus, the Risen Lord, the One at the center of WYD.