From the 9th – 15th August 2010, 12 Australian delegates comprising of 4 young people from St Clair Parish, 6 young staff from our colleges of Villanova and St Augustine’s and 2 Augustinian priests including Tony Banks, participated in the Augustinian Youth Encounter (AYE) in the global city of London.
AYE is a week-long event held every 2-3 years, gathering young people from Augustinian communities around the world to celebrate the diversity of cultures and the unity being one body in Christ through the teachings and writings of St Augustine.
The torch for hosting the event was passed over to the English-Scottish Augustinian Youth representatives from the Australian Augustinian delegate who hosted the previous AYE in Sydney in 2008. The AYE team consisting of Michela Notrianni, Claire Webster and Fr Gianni Notrianni OSA, hosted the event with the theme, “I Call You Friends”. The theme is taken from Jesus’ parting message to his disciples in John 15 in connection with Augustine’s own search for true friendship, only to discover it is only possible when it is rooted in Christ.
The week-long encounter involved fun and energetic activities, small group discussions, workshops on social justice and ministry and times for reflection and reconciliation. A sub-theme was assigned to each day to coincide with the overall theme of discovering different aspects of true friendship. Some of the highlights include the Opening Ceremony, a workshop on theatre, a fete, festival of the nations, country and Irish dancing, a trip to Clare Priory (the longest standing Augustinian House in the English speaking world) and Cambridge University, a dramatic look at Augustine’s life through the Via Lucis and the closing mass.
In addition to the planned activities which brought that sense of community to the whole group, the spontaneous games of Soccer or Football between young people from across the globe including the US, England, Argentina and Poland to name a few, also united the group and resembled the World Cup which was held only a month ago. Soccer in the afternoon coupled with a bar or a disco in the evening brought the party atmosphere to the encounter. The evenings were filled with the Argentinians and Spanish teaching others how to dance or the Australians, English, Irish and Scottish belting out songs accompanied by an acoustic guitar which everyone sang along to.
Overall, the event was a success bringing new young people from countries that did not make it to Sydney, as well as familiar faces who were there in 2008, together. Even in the midst of the typical English rain, everyone wholeheartedly participated and enjoyed the festivities the English-Scottish Province had to offer.
Our hats go off to the organisers and volunteers that made the AYE such an enjoyable experience for the Australian Augustinian group. Their kind hospitality and warm, sincere welcome is very much appreciated.
Buenos Aires was announced as the next host for the Augustinian Youth Encounter in 2013.
Brendan Kennedy
Teacher from Villanova College, QLD
This year’s Augustinian youth encounter in London was the first Augustinian experience I have had outside of the school setting of Villanova College. Being a teacher in an Augustinian school, I expected most of the other participants to be teachers or students from Augustinian schools around the world. My first surprise was realising that there were many diverse roles that young people hold under this one Augustinian flag. There were young people from Universities, youth and ministry groups as well as parishioners from Augustinian parishes from all corners of the globe.
I thoroughly enjoyed working with others in my small language group. The group consisted of Bryan from U.S.A, Michael from Australia, Margaret from Kenya, David from England, Jack from Poland, Fr Noel from Ireland and me. In our group meetings we discussed stories from our personal life, interpretations of quotes and bible passages and ideas for future Augustinian encounters and endeavours. We were able to get a feel for the Augustinian community that we had each experienced as individuals in our own communities as well as the common experiences we share by belonging to an international community.
Over forty Augustinian priests and nuns were able to attend this years AYE in London. I found that during this encounter I was able to see these men and women outside their professional role, as friends and peers. It was very positive for me because until AYE I hadn’t experienced an informal friendship with anyone in religious orders before.
Another goal of the encounter was to bring together young Augustinians through social interactions. There were many opportunities to do this, such as an AYE fete, daily football and rugby games during free time and night time entertainment. My highlight for these social interactions was each night after dinner and evening prayer when many people would gather together and sing well known songs. On one particular night the group from Ireland taught the rest of the group a well known Irish song complete with actions.
I feel very lucky to have been involved in this trip to AYE London. It’s very easy being in a large school to think that the charism of St Augustine stops here. Having been on this trip I am able to share with my class and school how the Augustinians all around the world live, work and pray together. I now am able to share resources and ideas on a continuous basis with people from different provinces and through my experience at AYE, I can extend my students understanding of Augustinian connectedness and friendship.
Theresa Dela Cruz
Youth Leader from Holy Spirit Parish St Clair, NSW
Going to the International Augustinian Youth Encounter truly was inspiring. Inspiring in the sense that it was filled with the spirit, and I felt the spirit light up within me as I journeyed through the theme of the event, “I call you friend.” As a participant I didn’t know what to expect from this AYE. What I got out of it was a real sense of friendship between myself and with people from all around the globe. As one person mentioned during the camp, “We’re here from different countries, speaking different languages, to come together united in our common faith.” Through the people I shared time with, I felt Christ working his wisdom to tell me that THIS was what He was about. Having a real relationship with Him and His Family.
Mathew Selby
Teacher from St Augustine’s College, NSW
After missing AYE in Sydney in 2008, I was excited to travel to London for AYE10. I was a little unsure as to what to expect, but knowing atmosphere around Empower10, I was anticipating a good time. On arrival it was amazing to see how quickly people welcomed each other and started to mingle with people from all around the globe.
Each day had a different theme, but the core theme for the event was “I call you friends”. On the Tuesday night was the Festival of Nations, which was a great opportunity to showcase a little about your country or culture. The Australian contingent decided on a guided tour of Australia which gave everyone a good laugh.
Whilst everyday had something to offer, the day that had the most impact on me was the Friday. The day was designed around reconciliation and reflection, and during the language groups we were asked to reflect on our lives by drawing a river to explain the important moments in our lives. I found this an interesting task; first the process of reflecting on my whole life, but then the opportunity to for the whole group to share their life stories with each other. It was an amazing experience to listen to other peoples stories.
All in all the week was an experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life.
