York National Ultreya!

Fellowship and Spiritual Feeding in York . A good time we had of it…..

Two weeks ago I travelled to York with several other fellow Christians from the Chichester diocese, to join about 500 other Christians from across the UK for the annual national gathering of “Cursillistas.” (For more info on what Cursillo is all about… please click here)

York is a beautiful city and we processed through its streets on a busy and wet Saturday morning with colourful banners representing the diocese present and by all of us singing hymns. Our procession was led by the York RI Golden Rail Band with Kevin Moxon their musical director and they helped to keep us in tune and in time with our singing!  We brought a smile to many faces, a quizzical look on others, while others joined in with some singing. Flyers were also being handed out explaining who we were!  Rain ?? What rain ?

We filed in to York Minister where we completely filled the choir section and a very special Eucharist service followed, presided over by The Right Reverend Dr John Thomson, Bishop Suffragan of Selby. The service and our singing could be heard throughout the Minster-a great witness to our Lord in such a beautiful place.

In the afternoon we came together for our “Ultreya” – a Spanish word which means “keep going” “don’t give up”. It is a word of encouragement which is exactly what an Ultreya does. As we share fellowship, some singing and a witness talk we are encouraging one another on our Christian journey. York University was our “base camp” for the weekend offering us bed, breakfast (en suite facilities too!) and an evening meal on Saturday night.  Considering the numbers involved this was a huge task and one which was carried out without any hitches. I guess they are used to catering for many students!!

The organisation by my brothers and sisters in the York diocese to put this National Ultreya together has been a year in the making and my sincere thanks go to all of them for making our stay in York so wonderful. We all received a “goodies bag” with information about York city, a map of the campus, a timetable of events, a prayer card and some chocolate…..a very lovely gift.

I came home rejoicing and felt nourished in mind body and spirit. – something we all need on our journeys from time to time. Next year it will be the diocese of Nottingham hosting the event…..COUNT ME IN !!

Judy Lowe.