Mass with Fr. Ian

The entire Lourdes pilgrimage (well, most of them) gathered at St. Wilfrid’s in Crawley today to look back and celebrate this years pilgrimage which ended just over four weeks ago.

We all met together at around ten, which gave us an hour or so to catch up and hug before Mass started at eleven… We were delighted to see so many Redshirts there, and it was also great for them to be invited to do gathering music and a communion reflection (taste & see, of course) for the Mass.

Mass was celebrated by Fr. Ian Byrnes and took us up to lunch at midday. The nice long lunch break gave us a good chance to catch with each other and relive the memories from Lourdes.

Before the end of the day we were treated to the traditional (and brilliant) John Sexton slideshow, recalling the week in Lourdes and taking a closer look at all of the different groups who had made up the pilgrimage 2010.

For the Redshirts, this is the first of a few get-togethers taking place during the autumn. We are all together for an overnight in Guildford next weekend, and then there is the reunion weekend at Dalesdown in December.

Here are some more photos… (be sure to check out the photos of Lourdes 2010 on the Main pilgrimage website too which will appear soon…)

Flick.com user: gisleh

Okay, okay… well we know you’re probably a bit gutted that the summer is over and that those sunny days have been replaced by clouds and rain, but we are fairly confident that the autumn ahead of us is going to be a great one. There is just so much coming up for young people in the diocese. Here is a small taste…

By the way, before we get into it, just a small point: As you’ll see below, we are making use of Facebook events via our Facebook page. If you click on the links below, the Facebook events will give you the details, like times and places etc etc. You can also use the Facebook page to tell us you’re coming – though in most cases you still have to book properly with the youth office. Got it…!?… Good

Plenty of reunions for the Redshirts

Getting together at Guildford and Dalesdown

The experience of being a Redshirt is one that people will continue in Lourdes in the future, and also something that they will hopefully continue in their parishes, communities and their lives. If you have been a Redshirt, you’ll know that it changes you in a lot of positive ways.

To help people reflect on the experience there are a few reunions in the months after Lourdes. We are all meeting together for an overnight stay at Guildford on September 11th and then again for a weekend at Dalesdown in December.

A chance to apply for Redshirts 2011

If you want to go to Lourdes with the Redshirts in 2011, watch this space… details will be appearing on the site during the autumn. In the meantime, why not have a look at our Redshirts page, which gives loads of information. Or you can have a look at what past Redshirts have got up to by clicking the categories on the left hand side of this page (and down a bit!)

Preparation for World Youth Day next summer

Now that World Youth Day 2011 is less than a year away the preparation with the Diocesan pilgrims will step up a gear. There is a day for pilgrims at DABCEC (Crawley) this coming Saturday, and then a weekend at Dalesdown in December.

Youth Gather 2010 at St. Richard’s, Bexhill

This promises to be an awesome day, as always! Have a look at the Facebook event page for more details. If you are bringing a (school or parish etc) group, then purleeeeeze tell the youth office. Also, if you feel like doing a bit of walk marshalling, then please tell us that too!

More work on yaab, including a database of youth groups

As you might have noticed, we have been waving a bit of a magic wand over yaab lately – and thanks for all the positive feedback, by the way – and we’re not done yet. We are planning to use the integration with the Facebook page to communicate more and more news, meaning that once you have become a ‘fan’ of the page (I mean… you’ve done that right??) you’ll get news on your Facebook news feed whenever you log in, as well as on the site.

The one part of this site that’s looking a bit sorry for itself at the moment is our Youth Groups page. Are you in a youth group? Or, do you run one? If so, tell us all about it because there may be young people in your area hitting the site who might be really interested to know about it.

National Youth Sunday 2010

We don’t have much details about this yet, other than the fact that it will be marked on Sunday November 21st – the Feast of Christ the King – and that the Catholic Youth Ministry Federation will be putting some resources together to mark the occasion. As soon as more news becomes available, we’ll stick it on the site. Until then, why not let us know what you are planning to do in your area?

The visit of Pope Benedict

It can’t have escaped your notice that Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the UK in jus a few weeks time. Some young people from the diocese are going up to London to see him, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. For more news and details, why not check out the official site.

Advent daily prayers for young people

Building on our successful daily prayers from past Advents and Lents we will once again be putting together some daily Advent prayers for young people. There isn’t much on the site yet, but by Advent time, there will be loads of resources as well as prayers for each day.

In the past, the prayers have proved popular with young people, Chaplains, form tutors, youth leaders, parents and loads of other people in A&B and beyond.

Some former Redshirts at Briefing Day

One of the real strengths of the Lourdes Youth Service Group (the Redshirts) over the years, has been its ability to encourage and bring forward helpers for the main pilgrimage.

On Sunday, Ray and a few of this years Redshirts together with a few leaders, went to St. Wilfrid’s School in Crawley for Briefing Day, the traditional introduction and information-fest held on the Sunday before we leave for France. This is a main pilgrimage event and so Redshirts don’t normally turn up. A few turned up this year though to help out where we could.

What was interesting about the day though, wasn’t the presence of 2010 Redshirts, but rather the presence of so many past Redshirts.

In reality, we shouldn’t really refer to them as past Redshirts. Ray always says once a Redshirt, always a Redshirt, and it’s an important thing to remember. But having said that though, they can only actually travel to Lorudes as part of the Youth Service Group when they are in year 10 or year 11. After that, they have to branch out, and that’s where the main pilgrimage comes in.

Ever since the Redshirts began as a project, there has always been a high amount of participants going on to be adult helpers in the main pilgrimage. This has been really evident this year especially. Quite a few of them were at Briefing Day yesterday and even more of them are expected in the hotels, family group and in the Accueil in Lourdes.

..and a few more

Who is it for?

Helpers, nurses, or doctors who have been to Lourdes at least 2 times

What is the aim?

To help those who would like to deepen their experience of Lourdes.

The day will involve exploring prayer and spirituality, teamwork and group dynamics. It will also give a chance to look at ways of living faith the other 51 weeks of the year.

Cost?

£10 (to pay for meals, room hire and other incidental expenses)
Date/time: 13th March 2010, from 10am to 4pm

Venue?

DABCEC, 4 Southgate Drive, Crawley, Surrey, RH10 6RP

The format of the day:

A. Introduction/keynote – [TBC]

B. 2 workshops on Prayer and spirituality

1. Prayer – leading prayer times and encouraging others to do the same. Resources for times and places of prayer: Jack Regan, Chaplain of St Wilfrid’s and Redshirt leader

2. Faith sharing – Scripture, reflections, story-telling. Recognise and use opportunities to share your faith, your story, listen to others’ story and to God’s story Lizzie Wakeling, teacher, redshirt leader, helper

C. Lunch

D. Faith into action – introducing people to activities which are going on in the Diocese and where people could get involved

1. The Youth Ministry including Youth camp August 2010 and World Youth Day 2011 and other diocesan activities – Ray Mooney

2. TBC

E. Closing prayer/liturgy

To book – or for more information – please E-mail lourdes@dabnet.org and mark your message for the attention of Adam Simon.