A weekend for Transformation and Mission
Welcome to the Run to the Son web page. We will be spending time together the weekend of 22nd-24th June 2018, to deepen our encounter with Jesus, the Son of God, who brings real purpose and meaning to our lives. So many in our society and culture do not know Him, or the beauty of an encounter with Him. Some have walked away from our faith without knowing that it is within the Church that we experience and grow in our love of Him.
Do come, and learn with others, how we can make many more, His disciples.”
Bishop Mark O'Toole
‘I will put my spirit in you and you shall live; Ezekiel 37:14
The 2017 Run to the Son prayer festival was a great success and we are looking forward to this year's festival. Below you will find some photographs of last year's event and a review from one of the participants, Andrew.
Run to the Son - New prayer festival for evangelisation off to a good start
A new format of prayer festival was established at Buckfast Abbey in Devon in 2017. The aim of the event, called 'Run to the Son', was specifically to equip Catholics for the urgent task of evangelisation. As Michele Thompson, co-organiser of the weekend says, “there is a lot of talk about the need for evangelisation and that’s good, but we wanted to create something which will actually give people what they need to go out and do it”.
The plan is for Run to the Son to become an annual event to join the likes of New Dawn, Youth 2000, Celebrate, and others, but with its own unique approach. There were workshops and an inspiring talk from Brother John Bosco of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. The highlight of the weekend was an all-night Adoration vigil with midnight procession of the Blessed Sacrament around the Abbey grounds, followed by a dawn Mass at 5.30am celebrated by Bishop Mark O’Toole. As one participant said, “although I had attended an all-night vigil before, the midnight procession was an amazing experience which summarised the whole weekend – taking God’s love out into the darkness of our world”.
The event was the brainchild of Fr Jon Bielawski and Abbot David Charlesworth of Buckfast Abbey. Fr Jon, who is head of the Plymouth Diocese evangelisation team, attended an all-night vigil in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at Buckfast as a young man. As he explains, “the memory of seeing the beautiful stained-glass window of Jesus light up with the dawn has stayed with me over the years and provided the inspiration for this event”.
The timing of Run to the Son was also intentionally planned close to the summer solstice to underline the fact that Jesus is Lord of all creation and to emphasise the need to evangelise our contemporary neo-pagan culture.
The fact that the weekend took place at Buckfast underlines the generosity of the monastery and the creative way in which a contemplative community can aid the New Evangelisation.
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