St Madeleine Sophie Barat Parish, Kenthurst, celebrated a significant milestone this month with the launch of its inaugural youth group, designed to empower young members to explore and discern their faith.
Fr Giovani Presiga Gaviria, Parish Priest at St Madeleine’s said the fortnightly youth group will cultivate spiritual development in the lives of its 25 new participants, around half of which are from Marian Catholic College.
“I’m so glad that we now have a youth group for our parish,” he said.
Fr Giovani said listening, dialogue and discernment with youth was a key aspect of the youth group, reflecting the priorities of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan.
“By listening to our youth, we knew when the youth meetings should be held,” Fr Giovani said.
“We have a lot of young people join Mass on Sunday evenings at 5.30pm, so we realised Sunday evenings were the ideal time to bring our young parish community together,” he said.
The Sunday evening youth gathering began with the celebration Mass, where members of the group aged between 14 and 18 came together with the general parish community to practise their faith through liturgy.
Following Mass, the youth group participants united in the parish’s old Church building – a dedicated space for reflection, food and formation. All were welcome – even Assistant Priest Fr Adam Carlow’s dog and official new member, Bonnie!
Fr Giovani said Fr Adam, who is the youth group lead facilitator, has been instrumental in establishing and cultivating the youth group.
“Fr Adam has been instrumental in working with Marian College and Catholic Youth Parramatta; bringing all the members and facilitators together,” he said.
“He is full of energy and brings vitality to the group, as well as some fantastic ideas,” Fr Giovani said.
Fr Adam was thrilled to establish and lead the first youth group gathering, having himself been inspired by his own youth group to discern his priestly vocation.
“I found my vocation through my youth group,” Fr Adam said.
“It meant a lot to me to have been part of that group, and I wanted to pass on the same opportunity I received.”
Fr Adam said a key aspect of the gathering was inviting the participants themselves to inform the group’s purpose, program and activities.
“Through listening and involvement, we wanted to empower young people to explore their faith in a way that meant something to them – this is an example of how we continue walking together with our youth to become a synodal Church,” he said.
Eleanor Bonwick, Facilitator of Catholic Youth Parramatta as part of the Diocese of Parramatta’s Mission Enhancement Team (MET) was involved in organising the first gathering.
Eleanor said the sound of laughter, games, and live music could be heard outside as the young participants launched into several rounds of games, including Cat and Mouse, Two Truths and a Lie, and the Best Friend Game.
“We had a lot of fun, get-to-know-you activities,” she said.
Eleanor shared that the group members were then split into three smaller groups based on their age and were invited to share their hopes and ideas about what youth ministry could look like at the parish.
“There were many different suggestions, and it was great to see the kids actively participate in the development of the program,” she said.
The evening ended with some casual conversations over pizza and doughnuts, which encouraged positive connections and fellowship among participants.
“The doughnuts were a crowd favourite,” Eleanor said.
Future meetups will be shared in the parish bulletin, with the youth group set to meet every second Sunday at 5.30pm for Mass followed by activities. Please contact St Madeleine’s Sophie Barat Catholic Church Kenthurst if you’d like to learn more.
