Featured Event: Youth Leaders Formation Course

Since 2007 the Archdiocese of Sydney has conducted an annual Youth Leaders' Formation Course (YLFC). This unique period of formation and community living has now been experienced by seventy-six young adults who are spread across Australia and beyond! Could you be called to be a part of the YLFC in 2012?

ABOUT

The YLFC is an opportunity for participants to grow closer to Christ whilst being formed in knowledge of the Catholic Faith. Those who have attended the YLFC speak of the way in which they have been deeply touched and transformed. You do not need to have attended a World Youth Day to be a part of YLFC.

Our world needs strong Christian leaders and leaders need formation. The YLFC builds on the fruits and graces of World Youth Day 2008 and offers a strong foundation to help young adults become leaders after the heart of Jesus; leaders who will contribute to the life of the Church in Australia. It is a time of personal growth in holiness.

The YLFC is a rewarding period of intense learning and personal reflection during which participants explore a range of key themes including:

• What is Leadership
• This Faith of Ours
• Building a Culture of Life; A Civilisation of Love
• Witnesses to the World

This one month formation program is based on four pillars:

• Spiritual: Living a life in the Holy Spirit through daily prayer, regular celebration of the Sacraments, retreats and the inspiration of Mary and the saints.
• Mission/Pastoral: Forming youth leaders with the heart of Christ and the mind of the Church. Evangelisation, service, youth leadership and being apostles in the 21st century
• Intellectual: Faith foundations: to deepen knowledge and understanding of key aspects of the Church's teachings, to articulate them in the context of contemporary culture and to inspire others to live the Gospel.
• Community/Human Formation: Living the day to day life of charity as men and women of faith. Building genuine relationships, working, offering talents and sharing all aspects of daily life.

A typical week includes daily Mass and Adoration, lectures, a time of mission work, a cultural and talent night, sharing of personal experiences, sport and recreation (plus great food from the YFLC personal chef)! Some of the high points include participation in a parish mission, a social outreach day, a vocations forum and a weekend silent retreat. Over the course participants will hear presentations from over 30 high quality and dynamic Catholic speakers from around the country. The YLFC is run by an enthusiastic team from the Archdiocese and includes a full time priest chaplain.

Through the program each candidate will:

• Become a more enthusiastic witness to faith in Jesus Christ for youth, young adults and the wider Australian community
• Be ready to be an agent for the new evangelisation, a builder of a culture of life, and an architect of a new civilisation founded on love
• Increase their understanding of many aspects of the Catholic faith: beliefs, Sacraments, Christian life and prayer
• Develop skills in pastoral leadership particularly in the service of young people
• Be equipped to help young people to experience the power of the Holy Spirit especially in the Word of God and the Sacraments

TESTIMONIES

Check out these words from past YLFC participants:

"Though I've always been a practicing Catholic, the Formation Course allowed me to live the faith as the early Christians did, in a community. I was challenged daily to push the boundaries of my spiritual experience and encounter God in new ways. I definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to learn how to be a better apostle for Christ in the world."
Angelo

"I thought I knew everything about my faith and had experienced the depths of it- but in my time at YLFC I came to realise I had only just scratched the surface. Our faith is a storehouse of treasures that I could spend my whole life discovering.

For that month I really felt we were living how we are meant to; in fellowship with each other and with Christ at the centre of everything. I came away from it with a new family who I still keep close to my heart, a renewed passion for my faith and my mission and a deeper love for Christ and the Church.

A month seems like a lot to sacrifice but giving God that time opened the floodgates to grace in my life- by the end of it I didn't want to leave and I still draw inspiration from the experiences I had there and the things that I've learned.

The leaders and the speakers were amazing and inspirational; their passion, the depth of their convictions, their witness - it was all very real.

It gave me a chance at such a pivotal time in my life to step back, to take time out to really come to know God and myself, and see the world in a different way. Life will never be the same - and I wouldn't want it to be.

I have been active in the Church for as long as I can remember, but came to realise you can't give what you don't have. Now everything I do for God and for the Church comes from a solid foundation of prayer and knowledge that I continue to build on, and I have a network of beautiful and inspiring individuals who share my convictions and give me support and encouragement.
It's just not an experience you can put words to. They say God can never be outdone in generosity, and it is true; I had high expectations of the course and they were surpassed beyond anything I could have imagined. That can only be God's doing."
Sarah

"Living in community opened my eyes to how much we needed each other in our journey of faith and prayer and it showed God's magnificence in just being the people that we are called to be. Just like St Catherine of Sienna said "If you were who you were really meant to be, you will set the world on fire.

One of the most compelling things about going to YLFC was to be able to talk to Christ, and have Christ talk back to me... everyday!"
Tam

"I think often, with total gratitude, of those four weeks at Grose Vale. I don't want to relive them or hold onto them in any way - I want to live in the present moment that God has given me - but my gratitude is overwhelming. To be honest, I feel humbled to have had that experience, to have encountered the Truth about Christ so deeply and all-consumingly, and to have been graced with the desire to live it beyond those four weeks.

The Youth Leaders Formation Course changed my life; it was four weeks of grace and revelation.

My advice to anyone taking the course? I prayed for an open heart and an open mind and as soon as I opened the door to Him, Christ burst into my life."
Jess

"The Youth Leaders Formation Course gave me a greater clarity and insight into a range of religious aspects which I will carry with me for the rest of my life."
Eric

“Have you ever been at the point in your life where everything just seems to be flowing, with everything falling into place for your future? You think you have the best of all things important to you to shape your future…you have your, work, family/friends, study, and faith. I knew I had everything sorted out for my future and was liking it, I was working, studying and had a strong faith that I was also sharing through a role at my university. Still for some reason something just felt like it was missing and it felt like I wasn't quite hitting the mark of what I should be doing. I was told about the Youth Leadership Formation Course from a friend and I thought that this might help me in my role at Uni, so I signed up and went along.

Little did I know that YLFC would literally change my life!! It was the best month I have ever experienced; it taught me more about my catholic faith and reassured me about my own beliefs. It gave me the opportunity to live in a great community environment with other young Catholics, which in the real world I sometime found hard to find. YLFC got me out in the community helping a Parish with their ministry and evangelising to other young people in the community. Most importantly YLFC enabled me find more time for prayer and praise and worship. If it wasn't for YLFC I don't know when I would have heard my real call from God, not just the one I thought he was saying. I was heading to become a high school counsellor which I will go back to in the future but for now I am a Parish Youth Coordinator. I would not be ministering to young people today if it wasn't for the most wonderful experience of YLFC.

If you are umming and ahing over whether or not you should go, I say go!! From all of us that attended last year I saw YLFC help each of us in a different way. We came from different back grounds, each with a thought of what we would get out of YLFC but ended up getting so much more then we imagined. I know my experience at YLFC will always remain close to my heart, and will impact my future decisions. The friends that I made while living in community on YLFC will also be dear to my heart and always present in my life.”
Eliza

You are invited to attend the 2012 Youth Leaders Formation Course and to be transformed in Christ.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:2)