Carrying a stretcher through a channel of mud and water can teach you a lot about your faith, says Toowoomba priest Fr Nathan Webb. Source: The Catholic Leader.
He was chaplain to a group of 20 young Catholics who came together for a weekend of faith and fellowship from across the Toowoomba Diocese.
The group was formed from St Patrick’s Cathedral’s young adults Monday night sessions, which had grown from 15 to 30 attendees in the past year.
Fr Webb said the group gets together to discuss topics of faith formation – Marian devotions, dignity of human life, exegesis and the reality of evil and suffering.
Toowoomba North parishioner Ava Naug organised the weekend retreat because she wanted to try something different with the group. She said Catholics should get together more often than just Sundays, be it a dinner or a dance.
Ms Naug and Fr Webb had brainstormed ideas for the retreat and come up with the idea of a hands-on session about suffering.
Add in some mud, some tough outdoor tasks and a lot of deep conversations and it made for a great weekend of fellowship and fun, she said.
“Frankly, no one is good at crawling through the mud,” Fr Webb said. “It’s a humbling experience doing it with others.”
“Really, it brings out the comradery and the good spirit in one another.”
The weekend also had time for celebrating the sacraments as well as Eucharistic adoration and Benediction.
Ms Naug said her favourite part about the weekend was the level of conversation.
Fr Webb said it can be challenging for young Catholics to find each other, whether they are new to the area or longstanding members of the community. He said being able to journey with other people who are going through the same stages of life is invaluable.
FULL STORY
Young Toowoomba Catholics share weekend of faith, fellowship and mud (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
