It is remarkable how many times the word ‘city’ appears in the scriptures. From the holy city of Jerusalem to the iniquitous Nineveh, the large urban areas of the ancient Middle East feature as a more or less constant backdrop to the drama of salvation history.

Looking out from Oscott College one can see on the horizon the outline of England’s second city, Birmingham. It is an impressive sight, especially on a beautiful sunny day, but the view reminds us who live here both of its proximity and also of the divide between the great conurbation and the seclusion of the seminary community. It is to this peaceful seclusion that hundreds of young people will be invited in July, in order to find, as Fr Stephen Langridge writes, ‘Fellowship, Catechesis, Confession and Adoration’.

There are no formal duties for these young religious, we are simply asking that they come along, be prepared to camp; and pray with and journey alongside the other young people for this weekend.

InVocation 2010 (see www.invocation.org.uk) will be a unique event in the life of the Church in this country, for a number of reasons. First, there has never been, to my knowledge, a national meeting of young people aimed explicitly at vocational discernment. We are encouraging young people who want help in discovering their vocation, to come to Oscott College and experience a weekend during which they will have a powerful opportunity to listen, to pray, to ask questions and learn, and to have a thoroughly enjoyable time. Second, there has never been a gathering of all the seminarians from the various English seminaries and we expect most of the men currently training for the priesthood in England and Wales to be present over the weekend. This will be a great time too for them to meet and renew friendships as well as to share with the young people who will be coming something of their story of being called by Jesus Christ to follow him as priests. Thirdly, it is vital that there are also young religious present. There are no formal duties for these young religious, we are simply asking that they come along, be prepared to camp and pray with, and journey alongside the other young people for this weekend. Therefore, we are inviting all religious congregations who have members in the same age range as the discerners to encourage them to attend the event. They may be postulants, novices or in simple or final vows but we are particularly welcoming of those who have been through the discernment and application process in recent years and will be able to share their experiences on an informal basis.

So, who do we hope will come and what will they encounter at invocation 2010? Any young man or woman between the ages of 16 and 30 years of age who is serious about their relationship with God and is open to discerning his will for their lives is welcome to come along, preferably by booking beforehand. There will be areas available for pitching smaller tents and larger tented areas for those with just mats and sleeping bags. There are also some local bed and breakfast accommodations available for those who prefer not to sleep under the stars! But most people find that the atmosphere of being together for the whole weekend gives them a much better chance to meet new friends, get talking to the visiting priests and religious, and to pray throughout the night too.

One of the big features of the weekend will be the presence of our guest speakers. These include Archbishop Vincent Nichols who has kindly agreed to return to his former diocese to give a talk and to celebrate the closing Mass, and Sr Gabriel Davison, a Poor Clare from Arundel, who will be sharing something of her experience of the life of contemplation. In addition to these and other key speakers, there will be a variety of workshops on offer during the weekend, enabling people to learn more about vocations, how God calls people, how we can better listen to his voice and how to respond to what we think he may be calling us to.

This should all add up to a potent spiritual cocktail

Above all, however, is the presence of the Lord. Jesus Christ is always, or should be, the focus of our activities; especially in an event aimed at helping young people nurture their relationship with him! Mass will be celebrated each day, and there will be many opportunities for individual confessions. Eucharistic adoration is a key element of the weekend and there will also be a torch–light procession of the Blessed Sacrament around the grounds on the Saturday night.

This should all add up to a potent spiritual cocktail, the flavour of which may be tasted by people for years to come. It is my hope that this will not only help people prepare for the visit of the Holy Father, expected in September, but also help us prepare for an anticipated upturn in the number of young people enquiring into the priesthood and religious life following the Pope’s visit.

You can help too! Please keep the success of this event in your prayers over the next few months and pray that the Lord will inspire many more young men and women to answer the call courageously, for what will be for them an amazing adventure of faith and life.

InVocation 2010: Getting Ready for Something Big

Fr Stephen Langridge, The Chairman of the Diocesan Vocations Directors for England and Wales draws on his experience to explain why he’s looking forward to this summer’s national Vocations Weekend.

I sometimes wonder what persuades a young person to get into a car, possibly with a lot of strangers, and travel to a Catholic youth festival – particularly if they rarely go to Mass, and especially if they are not Catholics. I doubt it’s the prospect of going home with a ‘Jesus loves me’ t-shirt or a WWJD (‘What would Jesus do?’) wristband! Last August, for Sophie, at the Youth 2000 festival in Walsingham, it was the chance of spending a few days camping with her four brothers. For Ollie at New Year, it was the invitation to spend time in London, catch up with friends and find a really good steak house!

If you organise a big gathering of young people something is bound to happen. In my parish I know parents who long ago decided the only way to keep their sanity was to decamp to a hotel when a son or daughter was having a birthday part at home. But my experience is that if you add to the mix some catechesis, a lot of Eucharistic Adoration and the chance to go to Confession that ‘something’ can be pretty powerful. For Sophie the experience of Confession changed her life. She hadn’t intended to go ‘because I had no plans or desires to change the things I was doing wrong’ but when she did she ‘finally felt like the person God had made, a person I had lost years ago’. For Ollie, who arrived at the retreat proclaiming he definitely wouldn’t become a Catholic, an unexpected meeting with a priest had dramatic consequences. As he wrote later, ‘instead of giving me lots to think about he rather eased the burden of my thoughts… I’m going to become a Catholic this year’.

Fellowship, Catechesis, Confession and Adoration: a pretty potent mix!

Fellowship, Catechesis, Confession and Adoration: a pretty potent mix! The fellowship is important because it lets young people see they are not alone – and whether the group is a million people gathered for World Youth Day, a thousand for the Youth 2000 Walsingham Retreat, or three hundred in a small Church in Balham, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that they are no longer alone. Catechesis is also important not just because young people want answers but because sometimes they need help formulating the questions! Confession is really vital because as young people approach the Lord they become aware of how short their lives fall of his love. They have to be reminded that the devil is more interested in keeping them down when they fall than in any particular sin that might trip them up. And Adoration is important because in the end what matters is that they approach the Lord and begin to open their hearts in a loving dialogue with him.

It is often in Adoration that young people hear the gentle voice of Christ calling them to greater generosity and inviting them to follow him along a particular path. At New Year it was no surprise to find that one lad who spent hours in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament went home and made an appointment with his vocations director. Another emailed his appreciation and ended with the comment ‘I won’t lie by saying I haven’t thought about my vocation’.

So I am looking forward to Invocation 2010. It will be the first time we’ve had a big national vocations event for young adults and I am sure it will be powerful. It’s not a recruitment weekend - so there won’t be any child-snatchers or Pied Pipers enchanting young people to follow them! The focus will be on discernment, which is to say it will be on making space for the Lord and listening to his call. It will be hard work to get three hundred young people to attend but if we do I am sure the Church in this country will feel its effect for many years to come.