Our youth and young adults were truly blessed to take part in this year’s Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF). Joining thousands of young Catholics from across the country, they embarked on a vibrant pilgrimage of faith, friendship, and discovery.
We thank our parish community for your prayers and support, and we celebrate the wonderful gift our young people are to the Church. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide and strengthen them as they share the hope and joy they encountered at ACYF.
Reflections on ACYF:
“ACYF was an unforgettable experience that allowed me to encounter God in a new way. It helped to put into perspective how there are so many moments in every-day life in which God is present, that I would usually miss or never realise. I particularly enjoyed the plenaries and talks that we went to, though my favourite was Sister Mary Grace’s talk on ‘How to hear God’s voice’ which offered advice that I can use.
Finally, I found that I have learnt so much about my faith and the sacraments (especially the Eucharist & Reconciliation) that I will hold for the rest of my life, and I even experienced worship music for the first time!”
“ACYF was an incredible experience because I was able to meet other people with the same beliefs. I was able to attend talks and workshops that interested me (how to find hope in darkness) and I was able to experience different music I wouldn’t normally have listened to.
The pilgrim walk was excellent because I enjoyed the idea of why we were walking it and it allowed me to talk to other people in our St Gregory’s group. It was a wonderful experience and I would go again.”
“ACYF was an incredible experience. I enjoyed going on the pilgrim walk, because everyone was so supportive of each other. I liked that in the talks, you could tell the speakers were passionate and wanted to speak to youth. I was able to see that everyone that was there, wanted to be there. I really enjoyed the plenary which had music and talks. I enjoyed hearing experiences from the sisters and from people’s personal experiences in seeing God. I enjoyed going to the expo and seeing the different organisations and religious orders and learning about them.”