The year 2000 (Jubilee 2000) was very meaningful to me personally. It represented "a new springtime of Christian living" as Archbishop Exner would put it. Everything was fresh and full of hope. It was a time of reflection, repentance, and Gospel-spreading. It was a time to eliminate any unnecessary gaps and to renew friendships. Western Camp 2000 emphasized all of these things. Our main theme this year was "In One". We were called to be united as one as the Three Persons in One Godhead are One (Jn 17). I thought it was a really good timing for Western Camp to start in 1997 when Pope John Paul II declared each of the last three years of the millenium to each of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. After the three years, we have a new beginning and we can start this new beginning as one family. We can also spread this Love to others. Our Jubilee Song reflects all this in its lyrics.

For myself, since the time I registered till the end of the camp, it was evident that God's work was being done. When I first registered online, I thought I had reserved a spot and that all I had to do was submit my fee and medical waiver form. So I thought I would just hand it in on July 16 which was the last day. I was surprised to find out that I had to submit my registration form along with the other two items to be considered registered. As a result, I had to fill out the form again and ended up well into the waiting list. I got pretty concerned. I was afraid I would not be able to go if they only allowed 120 people. A few weeks later it was confirmed that I was registered. I was so glad! Then as the weekend was approaching I kept praying that it would at least not rain. Well, from day one to day four we enjoyed some pretty decent weather. It wasn't wet at least and we got some sunshine too. So God kept the rain away until after the camp.

That night when I took the bus to the campsite, I was feeling unsure. I was wondering if I was going to be enjoying the camp or not. But it was on the last day when I took the bus back out to Vancouver that I realized I had been living in a totally different world for the last few days. I was completely absorbed into it. The camp had brought me a very wonderful experience. Before I registered, I had been asking people about what they thought of the camp. They all told me it was good and that people would get emotional and be passing around kleenex. I was kind of skeptical and I was thinking to myself, "Is it really that big of a deal?" I guess one had to be there to really know. Another example of God's Work was the one which our overall coordinators Michele and Ivy can testify to. They were concerned that we won't be able to connect via long-distance telecommunication with the folks at the Eastern Camp. We ended up being able to connect after all and we sang songs together over the phone so it was wonderful.

Furthermore, God's Love was seen throughout the camp in some of the many ways where the Spirit would work. The beauty of the melodies and the lyrics of the songs gave a message to each person that there is indeed a God out there - a God who cares and loves us so much even at times when we don't accept Him. A God who calls each and every one of us to remain faithful and hopeful - to remain steadfast in the Faith and to serve Him. Also to me, there was a lot of trust when people freely expressed their emotions. They were not afraid of embarassment. They trusted each other that we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord. We were all one Family and were very close to each other. In the past I would sometimes question why people would start feeling all emotional and everything. Was it just an adrenaline rush or was it actually genuine? But at this camp, I knew it had to be God's Love working in us. God was expressing Himself to us and telling us that we have sinned against Him yet He has always been standing by our side waiting for us to return to Him. I think it's not the emotions that make up the core of our religious experience. Yet at the same time our emotions help ourselves strengthen the belief that God really does exist and that we need to belong to Him. We are physical beings and are limited in many ways. The emotions that we feel help us get into an intimate relationship with God. It is not pure adrenaline but rather a psychological way to experience something mystical - something from the heavens that is free of the constraints of time and space - and is difficult to explain on purely human or earthly terms.

On the last day, I got to serve at the altar. It has been more than 5 years since I last put on that white robe so I forgot a lot of things. I hope I didn't look too bad out there! As I stood there in the front watching everybody walk up for a blessing, I continued to see God's Love in people's faces. Some people's faces beamed with joy. Others' eyes were watering. It happened for various reasons - all of which shows that people recognize God and appreciate Him. Some people may have felt so happy out of thankfulness that God has been merciful to them. Some may have felt repentant for the sins they have committed against such a loving Father. Others may have been overwhelmed when they realized the infinite Mercy and Love of God. We held hands and we sang in one voice. Our hearts desired to be united as one Family to worship and glorify Him as we will be doing eternally with all the choirs of angels in the Kingdom of Heaven. We complimented this Unity by hugging each other and supporting each other. It was difficult for myself in fighting back any tears as I watched people wiped their eyes and clutched each other tightly. After all, we are still humans and we are weak. We may often appear to be strong and steady. But when it comes down to the core of our nature there are emotions. We all have our times of sadness and our times of joy. We laugh when we feel happy and we shed tears when we feel sad. We always seek something physical and concrete; we can never just depend on the abstract. Even Jesus Christ humbled Himself such that He would suffer as we do and feel emotions as we feel them. I'm sure that He, as a human, found comfort when being embraced during times of sadness.

So I suppose regarding evangelical worship services, this sort of stuff goes on every Sunday. I think the emotions are true and real in both cases. I used to think it was more to do with personal feeling than anything else and that it wasn't anything much. But now I realized that we are truly physical beings and that although our emotions are physical they nonetheless help us to connect with God better because the emotions manifest that intimate relationship we have with God. Further, I think it is the same for Christians of any tradition. This level of worship exists for Catholics and Protestants - the difference being that Protestants get it more often while Catholics get it less (except maybe in charismatic masses). But where Catholics don't get their worship experience at this level, they usually receive something of a higher level - something mystical. The problem is whether they realize and appreciate it or not. I don't know... maybe Catholics should initially get more of the charismatic services so that once their hearts are captured to a more dedicated life they can advance to the kind of mass that most Catholics go to - the "boring stuff". But that's just an idea... I shouldn't play God and think my ideas are better than the Wisdom of the Church. :-)

Although this year's Camp is over, the seeds have only been sown. These seeds must continuously be tended for carefully in order to produce good fruits. I enjoyed the Camp a lot and it was my first time. I look forward to attending again next year and I hope to bring a friend or two along as well.