RECO Rally shows there is “such a hunger in young people” for the healing love of Jesus, organiser Nattasha Mierendorf said.
“The number of young people who wanted to go to reconciliation and meet God in the sacrament was so encouraging,” she said.
In preparation for Holy Week, Evangelisation Brisbane invited young people from across the archdiocese to Padua College, Kedron, for the Reco Rally night of praise, worship and reconciliation on March 22.
Organisers expected about 200 young people to show, but counted more than 400 on the night.
Ms Mierendorf said it was great to see so many parishes organising groups.
She said they spoke to the crowd of young people ahead of time and gave a refresher on how to participate in the Sacrament of Penance.
They shared a video and handed out guides on examinations of conscience to help them reflect on their lives too.
Ms Mierendorf said for a lot of the young people it would be their first time participating in the sacrament since their Sacraments of Initiation when they were seven or eight years old.
“There was a moment when an organiser announced, ‘whenever you’re ready you can make a line and go to reconciliation’,” she said.
“We cordoned off this small area thinking we’d only get a few lining up.
“I reckon over 100 kids immediately stood up and queued – the line went the length of the hall.”
To facilitate so many young people, EB had organised for 10 priests to be present to hear confessions.
Ms Mierendorf said even with so many priests, the overwhelming numbers of young people that showed up meant some did not get a chance to celebrate the sacrament.
But she said the stories she heard afterwards, of young people saying it was “such a great experience” and “when can we go again”, showed just how much God’s love moved people.
Reco Rally was an initiative of the Catholic Collective.
