Chai Brady
Award recipients from St Louise's College Over 250 winners of the Pope John Paull II award attended a ceremony in Belfast, with the theme of the celebration being ‘Family’, in anticipation of the World Meeting of Families 2018.
The director of Living Youth, Pauline Dowd, invited the gathering of 500 young people, parents, award leaders and friends to join in the prayer of the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) to celebrate school parish and immediate family members.
She congratulated the award recipients, encouraging them to stay involved with youth and young adult ministry and to keep volunteering. The PJPII winners were told of other events they could take part in including Nua, Altaration, Light the Blue Touch Paper, the summer pilgrimage to Taize and volunteering as part of the Living Youth Team at the WMOF gathering in Dublin at the end of August.
PJPII awardee, Aimee from St Louise’s College, explained how the Award helped her develop her relationship with God as well as the people in her parish and school.
She said that during her volunteering she realised how much young people are needed in their parish “to bring joy to others and to help keep their own faith alive”. Aimee became an extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, and she explained that “participating in Mass has enhanced my understanding of the presence of Christ in our lives”.