Archdiocese of Newark to sponsor annual youth retreat Rejoice 2000 has attracted hundreds of young people between the ages of 15- 30, for the past two years. This major youth event in the Archdiocese of Newark will be at Seton Hall University, South Orange Avenue, South Orange, June 2- 4, 2000; it is expected to draw hundreds of faithful young adults and be one of the largest Archdiocesan youth events. Rejoice 2000 is a youth prayer festival which includes music, talks, small group discussion, prayer, fellowship, spiritual renewal and Eucharistic adoration. Among the topics discussed throughout the weekend will be the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Catholic Living for Young People. Even though there is a variety of activities and themes throughout the weekend, the focus remains on the Blessed Sacrament. Event co-coordinator Fr. Richard Corbett said about this year's program, "Our speakers this year are a dynamic combination of both religious and lay men and women, as well as Archdiocesan priests." Small group discussions after each general talk will provide a reinforcement and clarification of the earlier talk. The small groups will be divided up by age, so that youth ministers and volunteers leading the groups can hold an age- appropriate discussion. In commenting on this year's Rejoice 2000 event, Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick said, "Our Holy Father, John Paul II expressed his wish that this Great Jubilee would be an 'Intensely Eucharistic Year.' It is my hope that the Holy Father's desire may become a reality for all the young people of this Archdiocese, and in a special way for the young, who for many of us present a special challenge for evangelization." Archbishop McCarrick will be the celebrant at the closing Mass of the Rejoice 2000 youth prayer festival. Rejoice 2000 began in the Archdiocese in 1998 as a YOUTH 2000 weekend event. In 1989, a young Englishman named Ernest Williams started YOUTH 2000 was as a movement to gather young people around Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. By the following year, the event had transformed into Rejoice 2000. For more
information, please call (201) 617-4408, or e-mail r2k3@juno.com.
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