Fr David O'Malley SDB provides an update on the Signposts decision-making programme for young adults, and the trialling of its 'taster sessions' at last weekend's Spirit in the City Festival in Central London.

 

Spirit in the city is a project of the West End Catholic Mission based at the French Church of Notre Dame in Leicester Square. It is an annual event. http://www.spiritinthecity.org/

We were there to present taster sessions with a team of eight volunteers including SDBs from the Battersea community.

The workshops ran through the afternoon and touched people of all ages.

 

One of the outreach exercises was to ask people the question. what do I need to do before I die? It was a question that provoked a different way of thinking about the many choices we have to make. One seven year old girl came up to the board and wrote her name and then, after a pause, wrote that she wanted to be with her family who are now scattered with both parents and children separated. Other wrote about visiting family, travelling, learning new skills, changing jobs. learning languages and so on.

The tasters also involved reflecting on the way our choices come from within us and from around us reflecting on people like Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa, Sean Devereux and many others who made significant choices and changed their lives.

 

 

The idea of a bucket list was also explored with music and some hard statistics about how much of life has already gone. There was also a chance to explore some gifts and to learn how to test a dream for the future. These are some of the skills that Signposts wants to develop so that we can help to create the culture of vocation that Pope John Paul II called for in this new millennium.

Those involved:
Bro Joe Tran
Fr Alex Mulongo
Anita Motha
Bro Gregory Echegwo
Fr David O'Malley
Luke Theobald
Julia Corcoran
Chee Yang Shek

This was a pilot opportunity for new material that is being adopted by the National Vocations Office for a new Diocesan pattern of vocation animation.

 

Read more about Signposts

 

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