Youth 2000 at Walsingham

In his latest blog, entitled: 'The renewal of the Church in the UK' - Fr Stephen Wang reflects on his stay at Youth 2000 in Walsingham. He writes: I've just spent five days in a field a mile outside Walsingham, where the annual Youth 2000 summer festival took place last weekend. This little village, as one of the speakers said, is not just in the middle of nowhere; it's on the very outer fringes of nowhere, and it's a miracle that anyone gets there at all. (Apologies for this very London-centric view of North Norfolk...)

One of the young people arriving said they had got into a conversation in a shop on the way, and when they said they were going to a youth festival, the other person asked, 'So who is headlining then?' No-one could agree on the best answer: Jesus, the Bishop, or the Youth 2000 Music Ministry.

It's a time of grace, of witnessing the beauty of the Christian faith, and of real conversion. It's also a very ordinary experience of the Church, and by that I mean there is nothing extraordinary about the content of the weekend. It's just Catholicism pure and simple. That's probably why it 'works', and why it makes such a profound impression on people. The Eucharist at the very centre; dignified and joyful worship; devotion to Our Lady; the teaching of the Catholic Church presented in a straightforward, unapologetic, inspiring and practical way; the power of conversion through the sacrament of confession; the challenge of connecting faith with everyday life, study, work, relationships; the call to vocation, witness and service; prayer, music, food, fellowship, fun.

To read more of Fr Steven's latest blog on Bridges and Tangents, see: http://bridgesandtangents.wordpress.com/