BEAR — High school-aged children from all parishes of the Iron Hill Deanery gathered at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Bear on March 23 for a deanery-wide retreat. More than 40 young people reflected on the theme “Pilgrims of Hope” and took advantage of the opportunity to meet some new friends and discuss a range of topics of interest to them.
Oblate Father Ed Ogden, the pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland Parish and dean of Iron Hill, said the retreat was the latest in a series of events that arose out of discussions with young people in the deanery’s parishes. In addition to St. Margaret, they include Good Shepherd, Holy Family, Immaculate Conception, Resurrection, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John the Baptist/Holy Angels, St. Joseph’s in Middletown and St. Thomas More Oratory.
During discussions at the parishes, members of the deanery’s steering committee asked what the young people needed.
“And they told us they don’t want a youth group every week,” Father Ogden said. “They have too much going on. But they would like an experience once in a while.
“This is the third piece of it. We did two of these in the fall.”
The first two events were shorter evening events, including a Christmas prayer service with dinner and a reflection. The retreat was a bit longer and included various elements. There was an icebreaker, a few speakers, small-group discussions, journal writing, reflections, dinner and a closing prayer. Fathers Ogden, Norman Carroll and James Gebhart were available for confession.
“This one is a little bit more detailed,” Father Ogden said.
“Pilgrims of Hope” is also the theme of the current jubilee year. During the small-group discussions, the attendees discussed questions about what hope means to them, what robs them of hope and who in their lives inspires them to feel hopeful. Inside the church at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the students were able to read a handout with quotes about hope while writing in their journals. Two of the young people, brothers Christopher and Jonathan Barry, played instrumental music.
About half the students who attended were at the Christmas event, according to Father Ogden. They represented all of the parishes in the deanery except for the oratory, which focuses more on college-age people.
Photos by Mike Lang.
