| CHOICE a weekend away for 20 & 30 somethings "It's so easy today for young people not to grow in true understanding of what life is all about. Commercial and peer pressure are so powerful and so confusing, it is easy to drift with the tide. Over the years Choice weekends have proved to be a powerful experience for young people, helping them to take stock of whom they are and why they really matter. So often they come away from the weekend with a new vision of their lives and a greater understanding of family, love, and even church." (Bishop Hines)
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Dave Flaherty shares on his experience of going on a Choice weekend
A weekend in the countryside near Oxford with people my age couldn't be all that bad I thought. And I was right. But I really didn't grasp the full impact that the weekend would have until I actually got there and participated. Although I knew the weekend wasn't a spiritual retreat or some sort of Catholic singles party, I still didn't quite know what to expect. What I encountered was a group of eleven participants form a variety of backgrounds, jobs and denominations. They came from all over England and brought with them many diverse experiences in their lives. That opening night we jumped right into the first of several sessions, each developed around a specific theme and designed to get us to think about our connections with others. Each of these individual sessions began with a thoughtful reading focusing us on the topic at hand: "Who wants to belong to me?" "Do I make a difference?" Next, one or more of our five moderators would share their own very personal experiences with regard to that topic. This served to break the ice and make people more comfortable in sharing their own experiences. Lastly, it was time to reflect on some questions about the subject and discuss the responses that we had come up with. The moderators surprised a lot of us with their candid observations about their own lives and really earned our respect for being so honest. It was this spirit of honesty that got us to talk seriously and realise that we aren't alone in our experiences. I couldn't help but think of the presence of the Holy Spirit, giving the group the strength to be open and supportive. The group became quite close as the weekend progressed. Many of us ventured off on a short hike around the lovely priory grounds, and we even worked well as a team, cleaning our tables and doing the dishes together after our meals. A Saturday night social with drinks and snacks further cemented the bonds we made. The spirit of community we developed was strong and reinforced my belief in God not as a distant judge and observer, but as a powerful presence in our lives. God was, indeed among us that weekend, but no more so than on any other day. The difference was that we were taking the time to recognise Him in one another .I did make new friends that weekend - some from my new city - and I still keep in touch with people I met there. I've even attended the reunions held since. But the weekend brought me even more. As well as getting me to consider the ways that I could be more open, more caring, more loving and more respectful of others, it gave me a renewed sense of God at work among us. The weekend helped me mature in my relationship with God by getting me to focus on the little everyday things that can bring me closer to Him. In the end a heightened self-awareness and responsibility to others is probably the weekend's biggest gift. A gift that continues to give as I forge new friendships, make the most of my time in London and continue to grow in my faith along the way. The next Choice weekend will be in November 2003 at the Carmelite
Priory, Boars Hill, Oxford. Further details from the Goodnews Office
email
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New
to London, I made it a habit to look for opportunities to connect
with people in my new city. Among a variety of other places, I scoured
church message boards and newsletters. One newsletter blurb in particular
caught my attention. It was for a weekend programme for twenty and
thirty-somethings called Choice, to be held at a Carmelite priory
just outside of Oxford. I saved the article and after much procrastination,
finally made the call to RSVP about a week before the event. 
