Group photos available for download 

We were all so pleased to hear from many of you. We thank you for your prayers over this encounter and we all can’t wait for next year!

Me as the image of God. Today we came to understand that we, as individuals, have the essence of God within each of us.

“This is my first encounter as well and I really enjoyed the video on the breath of God and Lauren’s talk. I have made a few new friends and learnt a lot more about my faith.” – DJ 

Wednesday 11th January

National Oblate Youth Encounter this year is running from the 11th to the 15th January. The theme is “Created in the Image and Likeness of God.”

The Melbourne Archdiocese has released some new resources leading up to Advent that can be used in parishes and communities. This resource was created for Advent 2011 to assist young people, both individually and in youth groups to enter more deeply into the season of Advent.

 

As I was sitting in the St Mary’s Chapel praying this afternoon (1 Nov) I was reflecting on the 2nd of November.  The 2nd November 1999, for me is one of those days in your life you just don’t forget. I can tell you exactly where I was, what I was doing, what I was feeling, the temperature and even what I could smell.

Saint Eugene must have been smiling joyfully as he looked at the 1300 young people belonging to his family at the Oblate youth gathering in Malaga this year. It would have reminded him of how, nearly two hundred years ago, when the cloister and the Oblate house in Aix en Provence was filled with nearly three hundred young persons two days per week. He remembered them laughing, playing games, praying and learning together. By Fr Frank Santucci OMI