Catholic with Attitude has written an enthusiastic personal account of the recent Invocation weekend. (See: Invocation 2010 = Brilliant!) He notes particularly that the heart of the weekend was the communal prayer of the Sacred Liturgy in the Divine Office and Mass, and that there was also plenty of time for private prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. The weekend also offered young people the opportunity to talk informally with priests and religious about their vocation. Congratulations to Fr Langridge and the team for organising this first National Vocations Discernment weekend. May it be the first of many.
3 comments:
I've heard lots of good things about Invocation, and from many different parts of the Church.
As a youth worker, one question that stuck me was: why aren't all those 'youth festivals' a bit more like this, rather than being over-the-top and entertainment heavy?
Exposing young people to the heart of our faith is not risky or off-putting - it calls them to a radical response to the love of Christ expressed through their actions. Why haven't youth workers got that yet?
I couldn't agree more, Paul. The fact is that young people will always enjoy the experience of being away together, whether they receive milk or solid food, so we might as well serve up solid food. The Faith Movement events are good evidence for this as well: the lectures are challenging, there is Mass and Office every day - and they all have a great time.
Invocation was a great success, and you're right to point out that organising it was a team event, but if you're going to single out individuals for praise it should be Chris Smith of the B'ham Vocations Centre who was involved from its inception two years ago, and who put most of the hard work in, and also Judith Eydmann from the National Office for Vocations who ensured that it moved onto the national, rather than local, stage.
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