Over Easter 55 young people from Whangarei to Timaru gathered at St Patrick’s, Silverstream, for 41 hours of prayer, celebration and fellowship.
The mainly Year 13 students, mostly graduates of the MaristYouthLeader programme, participated in the Passion Narrative on Good Friday afternoon.
In the evening they staged a Via Crucis relating the Way of the Cross to their lives through drama and song in small groups. Lit by flaming torchlight and in sombre mood they moved around the Silverstream campus retelling the Passion and Death of Jesus.
The following morning they considered what Easter means for young people today.
Three people shared their experience of Easter in their lives. One likened Easter to autumnal leaves and signs of hope in nature, the next told of how Easter led him to acts of selflessness and a desire to serve others and the last noted the Easter cycle of pain and joy was a reality in people’s lives.
Time was then spent on preparing for a Christian Passover in the early evening. This helped the young people better appreciate the biblical imagery of the Passion and Easter.
Time was also spent preparing for the Vigil which began at 10.30pm and ended with a celebratory breakfast at dawn on Easter Morning. The weekend, which was animated by the J C Colin team, ended after breakfast.
The abiding memory is the way the young people gave themselves over to creatively and wholeheartedly celebrating the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The ceremonies were moving and personal, earthed in the reality of life for these extraordinary young people. They truly are a sign of new life and hope in the Church.
The picture shows Jessica Skeen from Marist College, Auckland, pouring water over Katherine Randrup from Aquinas College, Hamilton.