OCY welcomes young adults with open arms to annual youth rally

TORONTO - The archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Catholic Youth is offering to fully subsidize the cost of attending its annual youth rally July 23-25 in Midland, Ont., for up to five youth from every parish in the archdiocese.

“If you have sent groups in the past we hope you will see this as a way of saying ‘thank you’ for your support.

“If you have never sent young people we hope you will take advantage of this promotion and give us the opportunity to connect with youth or young adults from your community,” the OCY said on its web site.

The archdiocesan weekend provides catechesis, prayer, Mass, live music, a movie and more, usually for teens and older youth ages 19-25. But for the first time, the OCY has also built in a special component for young adults ages 25-35.

“Given that a lot of the activities are geared to a younger crowd, since young adults fall under our programming umbrella, we thought we could probably do more for them,” said John Dawson, program co-ordinator and music director for the OCY.

The reflection, to be given by Fr. Len Altilia, S.J., will allow young adults to experience the weekend as a self-guided retreat.

“They can participate in the programming of course, but hopefully they can meet with Fr. Len and might address their particular needs as opposed to just trying to be on their own up there,” Dawson said.

Youth will have the chance this year to compete against each other in “The Amazing Race,” a race to find and solve clues around the Martyrs’ Shrine, where the events take place, and win some prizes.

Nashville music artist Sarah Hart will return to perform at the rally again this year.

To find out more about the rally, view pictures from last year or to register see www.ocytoronto.org.