Celebrate Bristol

This weekend we have been having a great time down in Bristol for the Celebrate Conference. Working with the 11-14 and 15-18 year olds in our streams, we have been focusing on the theme “Seek First His Kingdom” (Matt 6:33).

We started the weekend on Saturday with ice breaker games, where everyone was able to quickly get to know each other. Later in the day, we had Mass, before moving onto discussing parables Jesus told about the Kingdom. The day concluded with a time of Adoration for both streams where we had praise and worship; prayer ministry; an opportunity to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation, as well as silent prayer and reflection. This was the highlight of the weekend for me as it was so wonderful to see how the young people entered into this time so whole-heartedly and they seemed to get a lot out of it.

On Sunday, we again started the day with a few games, before we started preparing for our part in Mass with the younger stream. The older stream had this time in the main hall, where they listened to a talk from Emily Leaky . The young people prepared a dance and flag-waving performance for the end of Mass, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the congregation at the end of the day.  Before Mass, we concluded our time in the streams with prayer and the young people shared the highlights of their weekend, and specific things that had touched them. It was so great to see how God had worked in them over the weekend, and the impact that He had on them.

Another great Celebrate weekend, and we’re looking forward to the next one already!