Ampleforth: Springboard

Yesterday after 9:30 Mass in the parish, I whizzed up in the car to Ampleforth Abbey for the annual "Springboard" event for kids in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Middlesbrough. The Mass took place in the Sports Hall as opposed to the Abbey Church. I'm told there was a good reason for this, although I don't know what it is.

The setup in a sportshall for Mass is less than ideal. It is uncomfortable, and therefore, the kids get restless and start chatting. I also found the clapping and swaying during various hymns - including Walk in the Light - cringe-worthy.

After the Mass, there was a barbacue, football, tennis, swimming, a Cafod workshop, open-mike and disco, amongst other activities.

This event has been going on for several years now. Yet there seems to have been little attempt to introduce some Catechesis of some form. I remember when I went to the event whilst at school. I got little - if anything out of it - apart from a decent day playing football. Youngsters from the various schools tend to keep to their own groups and make little effort to meet new people, despite the valiant efforts to encourage them of Fr John O'Gara, Fr John Paul Leonard and Mgr Gerard Dasey at the Mass.

During the afternoon, I went in the Monastery to meet Father Sebastian, a friend of ours who joined the Middlesbrough Diocese for World Youth Day in Cologne. I was asking him and a couple of other monks about Blessed Nicholas Postgate's hand. They said that Postgate allegedly has about three rights hands! But they did say that the had believed to be genuine has been used to bless people, including a guy with a spinal problem. Many thought this was a miracle, but I was told the case fell about three or four hurdles short of the requirements for a miracle investigation.

I left Ampleforth just after 5pm and got back to the youth group at St Joseph's. It's a great group of more than a dozen committed young Catholics in the city. We have a pizza supper followed by a talk and discussion ending with Benediction.

I had the joy of watching the first Briton for 20 years winning a Wimbledon title (Jaime Murray in the mixed doubles final) before starting.

The youth group was slightly different this time around. We watched the Witness to Hope video, a very powerful documentary about the life of Pope John Paul II. It has many messages in it, such as the struggle between good and evil, the worth of every human individual, and an inspiring example of discernment and openness to Christ.

After giving one of the youngsters, Chris, a lift back to Beverley, I went back to St Joseph's to meet again with one of the new seminarians from the Diocese who are starting this summer. James Wilson from Redcar, will fly out with Phil Cunnah at the end of this month to Rome, where they will learn Italian for eight weeks in Tuscany before starting at the English College.