 Recently I spent a weekend at the Knock Summer Youth Festival, a catholic youth festival for 18 – 35 year olds now in its third year. When I asked a few friends if they wanted to come to a catholic youth festival in Knock, most of them said “No thanks, not my cup of tea - I’m heading to Oxegen”. Oxygen is Ireland’s largest music festival and was held in Punchestown last weekend with more than 75,000 young people attending each day. The numbers attending the Knock festival paled in comparison, however, I discovered what was happening at the Knock festival was not a million miles away from other summer festivals – and I’ve been to all the big ones; Glastonbury, Woodstock ’99 and T in the Park.
When young people go to a festival, be it in Knock or Oxegen, they are generally looking for the same three things: First and foremost, they want to have a great time with their friends and maybe meet new ones; secondly, they want to part of something that is bigger than themselves, connect with something that is much greater than who they are as individuals; thirdly, they want to have new experiences and return home with great memories. This year the Knock festival had specially erected marquees, live music and even a chill out area – not too bad for a holy festival! I found the weekend to be a fantastic experience and not in a gimmicky or superficial way. I found it to be very prayerful and reflective at times, but it was also challenging, sociable and chilled out. Hearing Sr Helen Prejean (author of Dead Man Walking) was a definite highlight. Her personal stories about death-row convicts was incredibly moving and inspiring. The weekend also included Eucharistic Adoration and a Reconciliation Hour, both being very popular with young people. We are often led to believe that this type of religious practice is dying away however, this was not my experience at Knock. My only wish is that I could have bottled the experience and brought it back to the young people in Killarney Parish. I returned home tired but re-energised, the same but different. The disappointing thing was that only three of us had travelled from the Kerry Diocese.
One of the lasting memories I have, is of a young man no older than 18 or 19 (who wouldn’t have looked out of place at the before mentioned Oxegen) sitting in the small adoration chapel praying the rosary alone. It is rare to see young people now with rosary beads in their hands and we generally associate praying the rosary with a different generation; my own granny prays the rosary many times during the day. To watch the faith of this young man sparked something within me and admittedly, I came home with brand new, shiny, blessed rosary beads! Sometimes you have to connect and experience something first hand, to feel the power and presence of God. I found myself thinking at one point during the festival – Is this what the future Catholic Church in Ireland will look like? If it is, it looks pretty good to me! Maybe next year more young people from our parish may consider Knock as well as Oxegen... there is a definite place for both.
Helena Connolly - Parish Pastoral Worker(formerly from Lisnaskea)
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