On Saturday 12th of May 2018, Micah Fernandez, Sarah Mikha, Abul Tuil, Katelina Vave, Daniel Villanueva and I attended the Lifted Breakfast with Bishop Vincent at Rooty Hill RSL. We were accompanied by Mrs Reyes, Mr Sadsad, Miss Raad and another 140 other Catholics from our Parramatta Diocese. The event started off with an all you can eat breakfast accompanied with Bishop Vincent. The ceremony then began with a PowerPoint presentation outlining the various trends and statistics based around the Church and young people of our Parramatta Diocese. Some interesting trends we found were:

-Young people love fun/motivational activities, youth groups and informal/social gatherings embedded in the Church community.

- 6.3/10 was the average score of young people being listened to by the Church.

- The top 5 issues facing people in the Parramatta diocese is school/study, mental health, body image, drugs/alcohol and sexuality.

Following this, our leaders along with our teachers brainstormed 3 key questions based around our school and Church:

1. What do we love about our Church/School?

2. What are some obstacles we face with our Church/School?

3. How should we respond to these challenges?

All the different communities of the Parramatta diocese then shared their answers together and received some great advice from Bishop Vincent. St Agnes came to the conclusion that:

- Students need more opportunities (an informal way) to talk about our faith.

- Mass and liturgy needs to be made more contemporary and engaging.

- We need to create more faith groups to discuss about our faith.

- Possibly organising an ACYF type event but on a diocesan level. Including catechises, social justice stalls, concerts and a “Hangin’ with Hilda!” segment.

This then led to a Question and Answer with the Bishop himself, where he answered a range of questions surrounding the Church and his personal experiences. The event concluded with music and a live performance from the Lifted Band which brought joy throughout the ceremony and connected Catholics from around our diocese together.

Overall, the experience was one of a lifetime! An all you can eat Breakfast with Bishop Vincent for only $5! I personally enjoyed the event and I felt it was very beneficial discussing the problems and solutions of our Church and religious community at school. I would like to thank Mrs Reyes, Mr Sadsad and Miss Raad for inviting the Year 10 leaders, attending the event with us and for the preparation for this event. It gave the Year 10 leaders and staff of St Agnes something to work towards and an understanding of the minds of the youth of our community. This was an experience that will always be embedded in our hearts.

A quote to keep in mind: “Have dedication and be committed to your goals and dreams.” - Bishop Vincent

Jonathan Israel Year 10 School Captain