am a jus a young boy from Tonga and am very excited by da performance done by da youth of Fiji and da seminarians too..well done brothers and sisters…malo aupito

I hope I can come for Madrid! Please pray for my conversion…

God Bless

On a very sombre note; have just been informed that the Priest that led the group of 38 singers, Fr Toma, passed away today.He was attending a retreat with some fellow Priests at a popular beachside resort in Fiji, when one of them got into difficulty in the water.Fr Toma leapt in to rescue but drowned in the process.
Please think of Father Toma’s family & his fellow priests in your prayers.

I am a niece of Fr. Toma; I just wanted to let everyone know that he passed away yesterday Wed.26th August 2008:

“…..The second group, the singers are are made up of 38 youths from the village of Tokou with the Parish Priest Fr Toma of the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of the old capital of Fiji, Levuka on the island of Ovalau, Fiji Islands.”

Isa…….

A stunning & awesome, awesome performance to Glorify Divine Providence!! Tears welled in my eyes when I read your interview with the young Fijian Seminarian. Esp so when he said his eyes met the Holy Father’s eyes & that the Holy Father smiled back at him like a Father to a Son!!! Wonderful, Inspiring, Spirit filled & the list goes on.

I am an Indegenous Fijian & my daughter was also a pilgrim in this WYD. We live in Wellington, Aotearoa, NZ & was able to follow each day of WYD via Sky Channel TV which had live coverage daily.

This final Mass with the Holy Father Pope Benedict & with the almost 500,000 Youths & all there was just an astounding success & blessings to all believers & non believers alike. It was seamless & for me it was just seeing Heaven on Earth with the Lord Jesus visibly sitting onHis Mighty Throne.

May the Alimghty God’s name be revered & praised & glorified forever

Take Care and God Bless,

Regards,
Karl.

I am sorry about my English, it´s really bad .

Bless you.

Basqa

What a moving and spiritually uplifting interview with Br Inia.

Fiji has always been and will always ever will be a truly inspiring place because of the specially beautiful qualities of her peoples.

I’m from Fiji and always proud.

Please send a a copy of the mp3 file, it would make my day.

Bless you.

Rai

Allow me to share with you my sentiments when I witnessed the Procession of the WORD performed by those young seminarians who hail from islands and peoples so small but representing diverse cultures and races, each with their own diverse range of realities,issues,hopes and challenges, sufferings and triumphs…indeed they represented humanity in the 21st Century …united in that one moment to exalt and pay homage to the WORD of the Almighty GOD while the powerful traditional chanting proclaimed to the entire World, for those few moments during that global broadcast, the most amazing thing ever, that GOD and mankind would …….” In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with GOD, and the Word was GOD, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”

Truly powerful..simply awesome. Inia’s story and inspiring testimony in your blog after crossing paths on the www is truly not a coincidence.

Praise be to the Living GOD.

I thank divine providence for allowing an amazing sequence of events, each of those
performers were meant to be there, known to the Almighty God from the beginning of time, especially moving to me, that the eventual bearer of the Gospel would be a, Etueni Rasiosateki, a descendant of Vodivodi, a traditional “bete” priest of the tribe of Solevu in Bua Province, Fiji, over 200 years ago.

Grace made a similar fateful revelation centuries back in a dream where Vodivodi saw the Cross of Christ and later a miraculous luminous Cross appeared above Mount Koroirea in the area and witnessed by Fijian “savages” for miles around. Vodivodi revealed to the “Vunivalu” or Chief that his dream and the vision of the Cross was a sign of the new “lotu” or religion that would soon embrace their part of the world.
That vision led thousands in the area to relinguish their ancient cannibalistic existence and convert to Catholicism. when their chief sent for the little known French missionaries from the white settlement township of Levuka. The witnesses, carrying out the orders of their Chief and Vodivodi, sailed their canoes over a hundred miles to meet and bring Father Favre to to their homeland.

Wearing a crucifix over his missionary robes, the “Vunivalu” or Chief immediately accepted Fr. Favre and the same Word arrived on our shores spreading the Word of GOD over the rest of the island.

That those young seminarians and singers from the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Levuka on Ovalau island, the first parish in Fiji and others mostly from Tokou Village in Ovalau where the remains of the early missionaries are buried today.

In October, we the youths of Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish of Suva, Fiji will complete the WYD 2008 celebrations with a pilgrimage and Retreat to Levuka and Ovalau where we will once again retrace the journey and missionary work of those early witnesses of the Gospel of Christ who first brought the Good News to the Fiji Islands.

Emmanuel…God is with us….WOW!

Thank you for the article with Brother Inia above.The meke and showed by the brothers was touching to watch. God bless…

Oh is it possible if could e-mail a copy of the mp3..

Vinaka (thank you)

I am also from Fiji but I could not attend the WYD in Sydney.

What can I say, I am lost for words. Our God is an awesome God. He’s beyond comprehension and intellectual understanding. I am just filled with surpassing joy and gladness, to think that a tiny, wee, insignificant country like ours can make a big impression on the world.

Thank you for posting the interview.

By the way, could I have a copy of the MP3.

May God continue to bless the Youths of the world always.

Vinaka(thank you in Fijian)