One Rock 2.0

 “You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well” (2 Timothy: 2: 1-2).

It is with these words that the Apostle Paul exhorts one of his closest collaborators in undertaking the task of evangelization. In fact, it could be said to have been one of St. Paul’s key strategies: identify the obvious leaders from among the Christian communities he was establishing and invest extra attention and formation in them in order that they could go forth and more effectively preach the Gospel.

A hallmark of the Pontificate of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has been his call to go out to the peripheries. This has become a popular anthem but before we charge out to these peripheries, we should ask a few questions first. Questions such as, who are on the peripheries? what are we bringing them? what’s the most effective way to do so? As exciting and adventurous as it may sound to rush out to those margins inspired by the call of the Pope and love for our Lord, we should do so strategically.

Borrowing the strategy of Paul for Timothy is how we hope to do so with what has become a time-honoured tradition in our diocese and province.

Upon my interim appointment to supervise the Office of Youth Ministry, one of the responsibilities I inherited was to work with our One Rock coordinator, Raluca Ungureanu, in organizing this year’s event. After careful review, under the direction of Bishop McGrattan and with the support of his brother Alberta Bishops, we have significantly modified the event which we are now calling: One Rock 2.0

This will be an event exclusively open to young adults ages 18-35 (married or single) contained to one day at St. Michael’s Church, Calgary on Saturday, 29 September 2018. Based upon recurring feedback over the years combined with the absolute need to tighten the expense, we have introduced these modifications.

The exciting approach we will begin using to register attendance is designed to directly impact our parishes. We want this day to be an enriching and formative experience for the young adults in our communities who are already showing signs of leadership- our “Timothys”. As delegates from parishes, the young people who attend One Rock 2.0 will be inspired to return home, empowered to be protagonists in the New Evangelization.

In light of the vision our Bishop has set for intentional outreach to young adults in the diocese, soon to be followed upon by the October 2018 Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment, now is the time to step up and do all in our power to support the future leaders of our Church. This will require challenging our parishioners to support the next generation, spiritually and materially.

I, along with our dedicated One Rock Steering Committee, have every confidence that this event, though smaller in scope, will be powerful in the intensity of its focus. Not only do we count on your support, but we very much look forward to working together to empower our modern young people to be the up and coming pillars of our parishes and local Church, boldly and strategically reaching into those peripheries with the transformative power of the Gospel.

Who do you know and hope will be at One Rock 2.0? Well, TELL THEM!

By Fr. Cristino Bouvette | Director of Vocations & Interim Director of the Office of Youth Ministry

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For more information about One Rock - visit http://onerock.ca