Mount Isa’s Mary Wright was inspired to develop youth leaders after accompanying a group of pilgrims to World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011. Here she talks about a retreat to achieve this goal.
IN the middle of the streets of Madrid in 2011, 17 pilgrims from Mount Isa joined in with the deafening shouts around us “Esta es la juventud del papa!”
We didn’t know what we were shouting until we caught up with some Italian pilgrims who told us that it meant: “We are the Pope’s youth!”
This statement resonated with all of us, yet we were unsure of how these few words could become reality in our little mining town.
Recently, with my husband Paul, I co-ordinated the first-ever MAD (Make A Difference) retreat as a way of developing our future leaders.
Four students from Year 11 and 12 were identified from Good Shepherd Parish and Ingham’s Gilroy Santa Maria College as potential leaders and we gathered with Ingham National Evangelisation Teams at the Forrest Beach Surf Club for three nights from April 7.
Skills such as developing youth group plans, giving testimony, and praise and worship were developed.
Students also took individual and group prayer time as well as reflected on their own leadership styles, identifying strengths and weaknesses and working together to create an amazing leadership team.
Most importantly, students focused on faith-based servant leadership and what it meant to be a leader who served others.
Clare Patmore, who travelled to World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro and took part in the ACYF (Australian Catholic Youth Festival) retreat as well as MAD, said awareness of these leadership qualities arose from discussions at the retreat.
“I think it shows what our society tells us that what is important is self and forging a way forward for self, when that’s exactly what Jesus didn’t want us to do; we need to remember that we are in a community and the only way we can get closer to Christ is through service,” Clare said.
Ryan Cullis said: “Being in Year 12, it’s a little hard for me to come to terms with the 13 years of schooling that is about to end, but I find so much comfort in knowing that the parish will always be here for me and that I am a part of a great network and doing the work of God in the Catholic Church.”
Paul and I hope to make the retreat an annual event.
This will create opportunities for parishes in our diocese to develop their own youth groups and identify leaders within our communities.
Mary Wright is former assistant principal for religious education of Good Shepherd College, Mount Isa.
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