Holy Family High School, Thornton

We welcomed the guys and girls from Holy Family for a confirmation retreat day exploring the theme of Acts 1:8 ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses’. The day involved group activities with games, posters and Holy Spirit cocktails, as well as personal reflections and prayer. Everyone had a great day and it was sad to say goodbye to our last school group of the year. We all wish you well on your Confirmation and as with everyone, will keep you in our prayers.

St Anne’s and St Elizabeth’s, Ormskirk

The day with the guys and girls from Ormskirk explored the theme ‘The World and Me. What Are My Values?’ The day helped everyone to think more deeply about our lives and who as well as what is important to each of us. The day had many activities going on with film clips, an election game, discussions, posters and dramas. The day culminated with a reconciliation service for the group which was a special time for everyone.

East Warrington

The day with the candidates of the parishes from East Warrington explored the theme ‘But You Will Receive Power When The Holy Spirit Comes On You; And You Will Be My Witnesses’. The day explored the affect Confirmation will have on the lives of the candidates and how that can help us to be witnesses. There was also a chance to explore further what it is to be a witness. The day was fun-packed full of activities but ended in a more chilled atmosphere as the group were given an opportunity to spend time praying some prayer stations laid out along the long corridors of Lowe House!

St Philomena’s

The day was spent with the Altar Servers from St
Philomena’s looking at their role in the church and the power in them as disciples of Christ. The theme of the day was taken from Timothy’s words ‘Do not let anyone make you feel like you are unimportant because you are young, instead be an example to others in your actions, your words, your faith, your love and your pure life’. The day involved lots of different activities starting with building churches out of newspaper, leading to discussions and activities based around the scripture of the theme and vocations, then moving onto film clips and dramas, the day finishing with prayer stations to bring the whole day together. It was a fun filled day enjoyed by all!

Epiphany Weekend Retreat January 2010

What a weekend the small group of us had when we went over to the little village of Bollington to stay at Savio House Retreat Centre. It was a chance to explore and reflect on what the Epiphany is all about and it was done in loads of different ways. On Friday night we were treated to the ‘Gospel according to Tom’ when the volunteer actors re-enacted the nativity story. On Saturday there were three different workshops for everyone to get stuck into which involved hot seating and discussion, a closer look at the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh through drama, and a treasure hunt to beat all treasure hunts which ended up at the crib. Throw into all this the fun and laughter throughout the days as well as a party with a super cool quizzle nizzle and a walk which ended with the best snowball fight ever and it was quite a weekend. It was great to be able to welcome Fr Ste and the rest of the animate gang on Sunday to celebrate mass together which was a great way to finish a great weekend.

St Joseph’s, Leigh

The day with the guys from St Joseph’s focussed on the theme ‘…you will be my witnesses’. This particular theme is taken from a passage in Acts and helped explore the power given to us by the Holy Spirit at confirmation. The day was full of activities from games to prayer, drama to artwork, and even managed to fit in an opportunity to take a deeper look at what we actually do believe in our lives. The day was great fun and we wish the group all the best in the rest of their preparations.

St Patrick’s, Toxteth

Unfortunately, we only had a couple of hours with the fantastic girls over in Toxteth. We went over for one evening at St Patrick’s exploring ‘The Gifts of the Spirit’ and what an evening it was. The night gave a chance to explore each of the gifts of the Spirit and how they play a part in everyday life. This was done through artwork and drama that followed what was definitely a rival for the Milan catwalk. Although I’m not sure Milan catwalks would accept these clothes made from Newspaper, String and Sticky Tape!

St John’s, Wigan

Animate went on the road to a confirmation evening at St John’s parish, Wigan, to help the group in preparation for their confirmation. The evening was a chance to explore ‘What it means to be a Catholic?’ and particularly prayer. The evening was great fun and it was great to be able to share how the power of prayer can have an impact in your life. The evening, although fairly short, was full of games, film clips, artwork and prayer and was a great opportunity to reflect on the faith everybody was preparing to be confirmed in.

Croxteth and Walton Pastoral Area

On a cold dark night in October we welcomed a the great guys and girls from the parishes in Croxteth and Walton to Lowe House. It was a great evening spent exploring the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how we can allow them into our lives. The night involved lots of activities and gave everyone a chance to learn from each other as the group was split into smaller groups and asked to present one of the gifts to the whole group. It was great to be able to finish what was a great night with a time of prayer and reflection down in the Life and Soul café.

West Warrington

the guys from West Warrington finished their preparation for confirmation with a day at Lowe House just TWO days before they were confirmed. We were delighted to be a part of their programme and had a great day with them. The day was full of all sorts of activities and everyone got the chance to take part in three different workshops based on ‘Drink and Drugs’, ‘Assisted Suicide’, and ‘Relationships and Sex’. The workshops explored these themes, the Church teaching on these life issues and importantly why the Church teaches these things. The day finished with a Reconciliation service which was a great chance to be at one with God before being Confirmed!

East Warrington

We welcomed the guys from East Warrington for part of their journey towards Confirmation. The day gave us all a chance to think about the final section of the creed “We believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.  We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” The day involved many activities, the morning included games, songs, a look at communities making adverts and posters. Moving into film clips, testimonies, and an inventive presentation on Reconciliation, which lead into a service of Reconciliation to finish the day. A great experience for everyone!

St Joseph’s, Brindle, Preston.

We we’re delighted to be invited by Fr Raphael to help a group of young people prepare for their confirmation. During the day, through games, discussions and presentations we explored the theme of “The Body of Christ”, and discussed how the life of faith and confirmation relate to every day life. We looked especially at the gifts of the Spirit and how they can be a part of every day life as well as how they are gifts from God that are nurtured through prayer. The day ended with the group planning a time of prayer based around the different parts of the Mass. It was a great day, and the team even got the chance to go and see the beautiful parish church that holds relics of St Edmund Arrowsmith. Truly an enjoyable day for all involved.

St Joseph’s, Leigh

We recently had a great day with a small group from St Joseph’s. The day focussed on words from the weekend’s readings, the words ‘I am the vine, you are the branches’ from John’s gospel. It was a day full of many activities including, building your own church out of newspaper, making Holy Spirit fruit cocktails, a very artistic vine with all the branches showing different reflections on the readings each group were given and the idea of community and what each person could do as part of their parish community (there were some great ideas!). The day ended with a time of prayer and reflection to bring the whole day together and there were a number of ‘fruits of the spirit’ prayer stations for everyone to journey through to finish what was a fantastic day.

Isle of Man

We were recently able to go to the Isle of Man for the second year to work with confirmation candidates for a day. We were lucky enough to be able to use the facilities of St Mary’s Primary School, Douglas, to work with over 50 young people leading up to their confirmation. The day focussed on the gifts of the spirit and was full of games, film clips, artwork, drama, presentations and songs. There was great enthusiasm and involvement from everyone in all activities including all the young people taking an active part in putting together parts of our celebration mass at the end of the day. This involved preparing for the music, writing bidding prayers and the penitential rite, showing the Gospel through drama, learning sign language for a communion reflection and learning some flag moves for the opening and closing hymns and processions. A big thank you goes to all the Catechists who helped during the day and to all those who helped prepare an amazing lunch for everybody that was thoroughly enjoyed by all (I think some people couldn’t move after they’d eaten as much as they could!).

Love is… Retreat:

What a weekend it was at Savio House in the small village of Bollington, situated in what is affectionately known as the Happy Valley. A happy weekend it was, on Friday around 25 individuals arrived at Lowe House ranging from age 14-21 and returned on Sunday as a group of new friends. There was sadness upon return but only due to the fact that 2 people had already made their own way home from Savio AND of course because the weekend was over! The weekend was full of activities; games and fun on Friday evening. Workshops, a walk, a Reconciliation service, and a 70’s themed party with fun games on Saturday and Sunday was a chance to reflect on the weekend, get involved in the mass that finished the weekend and everyone’s favourite of tidying the place up! The three workshops involved different activities and were all based around the theme of love. Love of God helped people to explore the love that God has for each and every one of us, using scripture, pictures, prayer and the story of St Maximillian Kolbe. Love of the World focussed on how we show love to God’s creation of the world and the people in it, using Cafod resources and also Lowe House recycling (cardboard etc.) came into play when people were challenged to build their own shelter. Love your neighbour as you love yourself explored who and what we love and how we show that love, firstly exploring if we love ourselves and what that means, then how we show love to the people we meet in our everyday lives and finally love in relationships and the Church teaching of sex before marriage and how these all come back to love of ourselves. Although many people came along to the weekend not knowing anyone else everyone finished the weekend talking about when everyone was going to meet up again and continue all the fun. Valentine’s weekend 2009 won’t be forgotten for a long time I’m sure!