Invocation "Face2Face" Event 2013

And here's another delayed post.

A few weekends ago, I attended the Invocation Face2Face event at St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham. I was a little reluctant to going at first as I didn't know anyone who was going (I was all on my own) but as soon as I arrived I felt comfortable and happy. 

After registering, we were given a sheet to show us the different choices of workshops we could go to in the late afternoon and a brief description of each. 

The day began with a quick welcoming introduction and then a talk from Father Dermot Donnelly and Father Glen Sudano. Father Glen spoke about how we rely on technology far too much, so I'm considering cutting out the length of time I use technology for as I feel like I rely on it SO much! I'm one of those people who zone out during long talks (unfortunately) but they had my full 100% attention throughout their talks as they were simply brilliant.

Following that we had adoration and had a few talks personal talks about individuals' ways of becoming closer to God.

After lunch we had our workshops which I chose "Theology of the Body." After Father Glen Sudano's talk, I felt that I really had to go to another one as it was simply beautiful. I learnt things which I have never known and how to love myself and others; I truly felt like it brought me closer to God. 

The day ended with Holy Mass and I was completely moved. I ended up crying during the first hymn which is something that has never happened to me before. I was in the Liturgy and Worship group at my old school and although I attended every mass and every session, I was never really considering the lyrics to each of the hymns. I finally considered what the words meant during Mass and I felt completely overwhelmed. I feel like I've been very unaware of how much God loves me until now.

Overall, the day was brilliant. I met lots of new and old friends there and it's really brought me closer to God. I was surprised with how far people were travelling to the event and I loved being surrounded by so many lovely people who also believe in all the same things as me. I'll definitely be going to the next event!