Archdiocese of Glasgow Youth Pastoral Team

Although the Youth Pastoral Team isn't offering a Lenten programme this year, there's still lots of things you can do to grow in Faith as we journey to Easter.

Lent is the perfect time to turn back to God and make a fresh start.  Watch out for news of Lenten services and the Sacrament of Reconciliation in your parish, school, or chaplaincy.  Our Google Map can help you find your way.  There might also be Stations of the Cross organised, or you can pray them yourself in any church - just ask for help if you need it.  Don't forget that it's Christ's example we try to follow!

Glasgow's very own Lentfest 2012 promises to be bigger and better than ever.  Look out for the play "The Martrydom of St. John Ogilvie" which opens on his feast day (Saturday 10th March) then tours around the Archdiocese.  Two other events are especially geared towards young people: the film premiere of "Doonby" at the Inner Light Film Festival (Saturday 3rd March), and fire.cloud's "1000 hearts" in Clydebank and Dennistoun (Monday 19th March).

If you read anything this Lent, Pope Benedict's message is full of wisdom and helps us reflect on the true meaning of charity.  Why not follow the Pope on Twitter throughout this season?  @pope2youvatican gets daily tweets direct from His Holiness himself.

As for bitesize inspiration on the go, Busted Halo's "Fast Pray Give" calendar has something for every day until Easter.  (It's like an Advent calendar... except it's for Lent.  And there's no chocolate.)  Bookmark it on your phone or computer!  There are also thoughts for the day from the Archdiocese, which you can access by liking on Facebook (/ArchdioceseofGlasgow) or following on Twitter (@ArchdiocGlasgow).

Don't forget that money saved by all that fasting and abstaining is no longer yours... it belongs in the hands of those who need it most.  Lent is more than a second chance to keep New Year's Resolutions!  Find out what SCIAF will do with the contents of your Wee Box this Lent - it all adds up.

Fasting - prayer - almsgiving: make sure you get a bit of everything!  Happy Lent!

This Saturday, 28th January, is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.

St. Thomas is patron saint of students and a powerful intercessor.

Across the Archdiocese at this time, many young people are preparing for and sitting prelim exams. They need your prayers, and those of St. Thomas! Please pray for them through his intercession in the coming days, and remember them especially on Saturday, his feast day.

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

Photo credit: Praying Hands by Flickr user joethorn, shared under Creative Commons licence.

Advent is the season during which we prepare to welcome God incarnate into our midst.  This includes looking closely at our lives and those of our communities, and taking stock of our willingness to “prepare a way” and make a home for God-with-us.  Each moment spent in reflection, each opportunity for prayer, adds a cloth to the cradle which stands ready for the coming of the Lord at Christmas.

It is not only the Lord for whom we must make space and prepare a welcome in our hearts and homes.  Advent is a fitting time to reflect on how we do this for others in our families and parish communities.  We meet Christ in one another through the Baptism we share and by which we are called beloved sons and daughters of the Father.  We recognise in one another the spark of Faith which is to be fanned into flame, shining as a light into the darkness of our world.

Young people from the Archdiocese of Glasgow pilgrimage group relaxing at World Youth Day 2011

The Youth Pastoral Team invites you to consider especially how you do this for the young people in your family and parish.  All of us need encouragement, need to be welcomed anew by others into the spaces which are our homes and parishes: young people are no different.  All of us need to be challenged, need opportunities to grow in our Faith and share it with others: young people are no different.  All of us are called to serve God and one another, discover our vocation and live it out with fidelity to the Gospel: young people are no different.  When others, especially young people, are missing, we all lose out.

If today your light is dimmed, your cloths torn, your bonds of communion incomplete or strained, take the opportunity that Advent offers to prepare a way not only for the Lord, but for the young people in your family and parish.  Prepare a way – to be surprised, enlivened, challenged, enriched, by the giftedness of young people around you.  Ask yourself, and ask them, “how can I make you welcome?”  Sometimes all it takes is a smile, an invitation, or a word of encouragement, for young people to be more present with us.

The Youth Pastoral Team is currently engaged in a period of consultation with the whole Archdiocese as to how we do this best, in order to plan effectively for the future of pastoral care of young people through diocesan initiatives.  We ourselves have received much encouragement from parishes, schools, and young people alike as we travel around, hearing of their efforts to be more welcoming and open to each other.  It is our task to collate these responses and reflect on our specific mission in service to the Archdiocese.

We ask that as you contribute to this discussion you also take the opportunity during Advent to reflect on the welcome you offer as an individual and as a parish.  Call out again to prepare a way in the wilderness!  Laying cloths of prayer and openness to one another we can offer the Lord a warm cradle in which to lay His head this Christmas.

[This article also appears in the Archdiocesan booklet "Journey through Advent", available from your parish!]