Young people invited to share their hopes and dreams
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| Young people from across the Diocese gathered for breakfast with Bishop Anthony in December. Photo: Patrick Lee |
By Annabelle Bhandoo
What a way to finish a fantastic year in Youth Ministry for 2011! More than 250 youth and young adults joined Bishop Anthony Fisher OP for a Breakfast with the Bishop, Youth Forum and Christmas Celebration.
This gathering was organised by Catholic Youth Parramatta (CYP) and held in St Patrick’s Cathedral Hall on 17 December 2011.
Bishop Anthony opened the Youth Forum by saying that he’s excited to hear what the young people want from the Church, what they want for the Church, what they want to do with the Church in Western Sydney.
He invited them to share their hopes and dreams for the Diocese, how young adult ministry might be improved, as well as reaching out to those young adults who are disconnected from the Church or not members of the Church yet.
The young people took this task seriously and many inspiring ideas and insights were put forward. Topics ranged from: using multimedia for evangelisation, how to best respond to current issues, e.g. same sex ‘marriage’, euthanasia, refugees, and sex before marriage.
Other topics included social networking, ideas for youth ministry in the Diocese, especially formation, catechesis, and more.
The final part of the event was the Christmas (Birthday of Jesus) Celebration, and no birthday celebration is complete without the cutting of the cake.
Bishop Anthony and a young person from each of the seven deaneries in the Diocese cut the birthday cake to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Saviour.
This was followed by an array of Christmas desserts. Though Christmas was still a few days away, the joy and excitement it brings could be felt among those present and many stayed on to catch up with friends or to meet new people from around the Diocese.
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