SJS RALLY UPDATES!

Hi all, here're the final details for tomorrow's SJS Rally:

Meet at: 5:30pm (latest 6pm) in church canteen
Departure from IHM Church: 6:30pm
SJS ends at: 10pm
Arrival back in IHM at: 11pm (latest)
Students are to bring: consent form reply slips, EZ-link cards

We will be taking public transport to SVDP for the rally. No one is supposed to leave on their own unless they've indicated this in their consent forms. Please remember to settle your own dinner before coming to church. Hope everyone's had a great week.

Cheers! :)

Call for Facilitators

This is a call for facilitators.

Secondary and Primary Catechism is organising a camp for incoming Secondary 1 students (currently Primary 6).

We'd like to invite you, our dear Youth Cats to be facilitators and helpers at this camp.

If you're interested, please email Andre Lim at: andre.lim@*remove-to-mail*yahoo.com.sg

Details to follow soon. :)

Good luck for everyone's prelims (those who have them). Big Hug to all bunnies from your buddies!

Serangoon District's Shine Jesus Shine Thingie

Shine Jesus Shine Rally

A Serangoon District event.

Details to follow.

Saturday, 25th August
6pm to 9pm (To be confirmed)
SVDP Parish

Archdiocesan Youth Rally 2007

070707 was a day of fun-filled activities for confirmands and facils involved. The program kickstarted with confirmands splitting up into their groups and moving off to different rooms. In there, they were required to play a game involving choices. Standing in two rows, participants were asked to choose between two items/events and jump left for the first option, right for the second option. Most of them didn't have any problems picking one option over the other. A handful, however, were seen to use their friends' decisions as a frame of reference... They were later told how choices could be broadly classified into 3 categories: physical/material, social and spiritual choices.

After a fifteen minute break, the confirmands were briefed on the story of Jonah and the Big Fish and returned to their respective rooms. They were then given a short period of time to come up with a pictorial representation to link Jonah's story and the sacrament of Confirmation.

When the clock struck four, hotdog buns and a custard cream puffs were served in plastic bags. When everyone had had something to bite, we all proceeded to the carpark for our ride to the Singapore EXPO. Being one of the earliest churches to arrive, it was wonderful to see the hall slowly fill up with people from parishes all over the island. It was even more heart-warming to see thousands of catholics worshipping in unison when the event began.

The highlights of the youth rally include the screening of World Youth Day 2008 Sydney video (which some of us will be going for next year :D), intimate sharings by Bro. Benedict and Sr. Margaret on how they answered the call to the religious life and the crowd-entertaining play on Jonah and the Big Fish staged by actors from For Heaven's Sake.

The atmosphere in the hall was on a consistent high until the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament which reminded us that worshipping Christ is not all about the highs but the quiet and reflective adoration as well.

Here're some pictures to remember the event by:


Erica briefing confirmands on the day's happenings


I can't think of anything to draw...


Oi! Better grab as many as you can!


Nice hot buns... :)


Passengers from flight IHM please proceed to hall 13 and await further instructions


Standing in rows of four


FISH!!!!


Hall 13 @ 2243hrs

Many thanks to the organizers, presenters, facils and all who turned up for the event. Happy 5th Ordination Anniversary to Fr Brian! :)

Discipleship Program - Year Ones are Invited

Hullo everyone

The 3 month Discipleship Program starts this coming Sunday, 1st July 2007.

Year One youth catechists are invited to attend and journey together with the confirmands.

Please come to the Church Hall at 930am on Sunday. Do dress comfortably and appropriately as we might be sitting on the floor.

Hope to see everyone there! :)

Jac and Roy

Countdown to Semester 2

There will be no session on the 23rd of June a.k.a this Saturday to give our dear YCs time to prepare for the new school semester.

Post Island Blues

On the whole, Bonding Day 07 was blessed with fine weather, good food and marvelous company. I shall let the pictures speak for themselves...


Waiting for the day to start proper


Fr Luke pairing off confirmands and facils


IHM YESSS!


Setting up a shelter for our bags


Let the games begin!


MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE!


Phwoar...


Lunch is served :)


Posing for the camera


Say "Gootenstoffle!"

Thanks to all everyone who went for the outing: confirmands, year 1s, year 2s and above and others! It wouldn't have been the same without you! Apologies for not posting photos of you guys in the water... I was in there too and hands were wet. Please nurse those sun burns, for those of you who have them... Cheers and have a safe week ahead! :)

BONDING DAY 07 @ SENTOSA

YO to all who are going for tomorrow's Bonding Day @ Sentosa!

Please report in church at 8.30am and bring spare clothes, water bottle and $10 cash (this includes lunch and entrance fees). Also, girls are to wear dark coloured t-shirts in case you get wet. The day will end at 6pm.

SEE YOU THERE!

TRIDUUM and ConCamp 07

This is a note for all YC members to make an effort to come down for the triduum leading up to our church's feast day.

Dates: 13, 14 & 15 June (Wed, Thurs and Fri)
Time: rosary commences at 7pm, followed by worship at 7.30pm and mass after

All of us will be seated at the right side of the church next to the choir. Please wear something formal as this is a grand occasion. Two of our members will be appointed as lecters for mass; attire for lecters: white top and black bottom. You will be notified if you have been selected. :)

On a separate note, thanks to all the year 1s who volunteered to help out with games and parents' nights during the con camp. Your support is greatly appreciated! Kudos also to the year 2s and above, whom together with members from other youth groups, have worked so hard to plan the camp. God will see all that we have done and reward us accordingly.

In the coming week, please pray that all organizers, session presenters, facilitators and logisticians will have the strength, discipline and wisdom to carry out what is necessary. Please also pray for the confirmands and their parents, that the camp will heal any past/present hurts and that it will be an experience that opens new vistas for their faith journey.

Full steam ahead!!!

TEN-HUT!

All yr 1s who need a copy of the consent form for June 2007 activities please drop me an email at streetplay@gmail.com and I'll teleport a .pdf copy to you. Thanks!

Geri

YC ALERT!!! YC ALERT!!!

Hi All!

Mon 28th May : 2nd Language Paper (Please pray for all)

Wed 30th May : Movie Night at Bishan, 6pm (arrrrr... 27 turned up. watch for post on this event..)

Fri 1st Jun : Con-Camp Meeting (only for session presenters - you know who you are...)

Sat 2nd Jun : YC Gathering [ALL YCs MUST COME!]

Sun 3rd Jun : Con-Camp Facil Training 1pm - After mass (Open invitation to all year ones)

Fri 15th Jun, Sat 16th Jun : Decoration of the Church Hall [CONTACT DANIEL] ; Sec 1 event, IHM Feast Day + Farewell to Fr Brian + Welcome Fr Luke Dinner

Mon 18th Jun : Bondageing Day - YC games and fun at the BEACH! [CONTACT ERICA]

Sat 23rd Jun : Sec 2 Novena Amazing Race



xoxo
Jac

Cranium

While three of our yr1s headeed off to study for their last few papers, the rest of us stayed behind in the prayer hall and had a wild game of Cranium! We spread ourselves out according to age such that each group consisted of both old(er) and young(er) people. And yes, we now know that Jules, at a tender age of 22, is the third-oldest member in the group. :)

Group 1:
Roy - Andre - Marissa - Cassie - Marianne

Group 2:
Jac - Geri - Louis - Ivy

Group 3:
Jules - Joshua - Rebecca - Amos

It kicked off with some of us learning how to play the game and the rest of us re-learning the rules. Group 1 was off to a good start, followed by group 2 and group 3 who seemed to be perpetually stuck at the starting point. They soon caught up, however, and were constantly vying for second place with group 2. Here're some other interesting things we learned:
- Ivy has a strange affinity with the colour green
- Cassie is an excellent roll-er (dice, la)
- "Around the world in 80 days" is not a phrase
- Precept = rule/law
- Trans World Airlines Terminal is in JFK airport, NY
- Rebecca can spell backwards very well
- Laptop casing makes for a good and embarrassing blindfold

Winner: Group 1! whose game piece was closest to the big purple brain end-point in the center of the board. [Watch this space for photos!]

For those who're still having exams or who're about to, PERSEVERE! We're all behind you, and so is the Big Boss! :)

Previously on YC...

Andre helping yr1s out with work once again


Marissa says hi


A pouty Zach

Greg and Geri having some mindless fun.


Ready, aim...!


Whiteboard before


Whiteboard after

The exams will be over and done with soon enough, so hang in there all exam-takers!!!

IHMYC EXCO Retreat

A retreat was held for those IHMYC EXCO, Youth Catechists Year 2 and above and for Secondary catechists on 21st and 22nd of April 2007.

It was a weekend of contemplation, meditation and deep discussion. We used Anthony de Mello's Sadhana - a way to God for the meditative exercises. We even tasted a bit of Ignatian Contemplation.

All the participants felt recharged and rested when we left on Sunday. Some found that they became sort of "addicted" to the quiet and contemplation and couldn't wait to start their daily exercises, which reminds me, please remember to keep up your exercises guys!

Sunday lunch consisted of roast chickens and bread eaten with our hands. Some Year Ones joined us for that lovely meal after the Church History lesson.

We also had loads of fun preparing for the combined Church History lessons by doing skits representing the Persecution of Early Christians by the Roman Empire, the Coronation of Charlemagne, the Great Schism (between Western and Eastern Church) and the Council of Nicea.

Year Ones, this is a retreat you shouldn't miss next year!

Thanks be to God for such a Spirit-filled, fruitful and meaningful retreat!



Photos!

Council of Nicea


Mmmmm nice Sunday lunch...


Indulgences anyone?


Well rested and raring to go.


Breakfast discussion.


We're all ready to hit the ground running!


It is a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a canary gone wrong??!? Oh its Jac!


Being led into deeper meditation...


Parting Shot.

Church History Lesson 2

Kudos once again to all who helped out in the church history skits either by contributing ideas, acting or just simply lending support. Saturday's rehearsal was extremely fruitful and our efforts paid off!

I think all who were in the church hall would've noticed how the sec 3s were actually paying attention to the lesson and how much they enjoyed being involved in the second skit (recall: Daniel and co. begging the audience for donations). Just 3 weeks more of church history to go... :)

Forgot to wish Good Luck to all older youth cats (i.e. uni students) who're taking their exams now as well!

**A reminder to yr 2s and above who're facilitating for con camp that there will be facil training this Sunday 6 May from 1 - 6pm**

Over the Weekend

YC Retreat

"The air you breathe is God. You are breathing God in and out. Become aware of that, and stay with that awareness."

- "Sadhana: A Way to God" by Anthony de Mello

For the past two days, the YC ex-co and a few others engaged in a new and deeper form of prayer - meditation and contemplation. Aunty Angela and Roy took turns to conduct exercises that explored different ways of clearing the mind; they essentially center on appreciating silence and finding God in this silence. The first exercise required us to draw away from our surroundings and be fully aware of our bodily senses. Another exercise we carried out involved focusing solely on the sounds around us and experiencing the silence in these sounds. We also attempted thought control to find ways and means of clearing distractions in our minds. Before we ended camp, we delved a little bit into the power of fantasy and how it can actually help one to acquire emotional and spiritual riches.

Learning to cultivate inner silence is important because most of us prefer to speak to God in our prayers; we are always talking and often forget to just keep quiet and Listen. Hence, only in attaining this inner silence can we put ourselves fully in the presence of God. Contemplative prayer also serves as an excellent way of getting in touch with The Source (i.e. Jeebers) and becoming spiritually rejuvanated. This constant replenishing of spiritual zeal and in general, just finding quiet personal time is so crucial for maintaining one's sanity in hectic modern-day life.

Overall, these exercises were well-received by those who went for the camp; I think all of us were open to trying something unfamiliar and benefited much from it. The retreat of course wasn't just all seriousness and no fun. Those who stayed up had a great supper feasting on hor fun, noodles etc from Hup Seng and ice cream. Needless to say, it was fun because of great great company! Yr 1s who will go through the retreat next year will definitely take away so many things from this :)

Church History Lesson 1
This lesson needs no introduction. I think everyone who was there enjoyed the skits that were put up by some of the yr 1s and ex-co members (recall: Amanda being attacked by bear-tiger Daniel, Daniel, Justin and the three female altar-servers in the coronation of Charlemagne, YC seniors as participants of the Council of Nicaea and Daniel, Justin and Amanda in the Great Schism). It was also extremely brave of Marissa and Davina to present the lesson! Two thumbs up, guys!

On A Final Note
The best of luck to yr 1s and all those having exams!


Work hard :)

Morals and Ethics

Topic of the day!
What are morals? What is ethics?

Main highlight of the day
Discussion about how to handle charges who are 1 year younger. Jac, Roy and Mel role-played a scenario showing how difficult it could be to get younger ones to listen to you. Sometimes, we might have to do 'right' things that we don't like. For instance, having to go home early just to ensure that your charges are home on time, or having to call parents to check if their children are telling the truth about staying out late etc. Even though we might not like the idea of having to nag or counsel our charges, we have to remember that we are responsible for our charges and are ultimately accountable to parents; we must know where to draw the line between being their teacher and their friend.

Before breaking up into our prayer buddy groups, we had some final advice from father: as youth leaders, we must take care to maintain professional and platonic relationships with kids. We should not lead people on or give them the wrong idea.

Prayer bunnies
We did away with bible sharing and instead shared our thoughts on the following quote:

"Wise is he who understands the action in inaction, and the inaction in action."

Most groups came up with the idea that you don't necessarily have to take action in order to achieve something. Conversely, taking action might prove counter-productive.

To end it all off...
Musical chairs with latin music!
Justin the funky man

OM!@#$%MYSEAT!&*()(*AAAH!

YAY! Someone kena forfeit!


The girls watch...


The boys watch...


Let's hold hands for closing prayer

See you all for study sessions starting this Sat! Remember to submit consent forms if you wish to come for study sessions. :)

EOY Retreat

IMPORTANT
This is just a reminder to all youth cats to start putting aside $8 worth of pocket money a week from now till end November for our end-of-year retreat at Cameron Highlands (tentatively) in December. More details will be provided at a later date. The total cost of the trip (transport, accomodation etc) will amount to approximately $160 - $200. So, start saving!!!

Show me the money!

'Twas the afternoon before Easter...

The time is 4 in the pm. The prayer hall is in complete silence as studious youth cats bury their heads in books... or daydream, trying half the time to grasp that studying is pain and that pain is friend.

Andre giving his best while tutoring year 1s

Amos and Louis engrossed in their work

More youth cats Mel, Joyce and Simeon oblivious of their surroundings

Meanwhile, a check on the older youth cats reveals:

Theo diligently practising her sketchwork.

Justin lost in the world of Terry Pratchet's novel

and a seemingly half-naked Roy (he's got his orange shorts on la, for those who really can't see).

Roy's arrival marked the start of the session with Michael bravely volunteering himself as the naughtiest person of the day.

Said a dissapointed visitor. "Why has my stay here yielded no fruit?"

"Could it be because you lack the courage to shake the tree?" said the
Master benignly.

We immediately delved into a discussion of the above mini-parable (which can also be found in the Reflections page [cough]). Roy got the ball rolling by offering his two cents' worth: Challenge us to challenge you. Any experience would be meaningful only if You take that first step to explore and discover more. Many other interesting questions such as these were raised:

What if I'm shaking the wrong tree (think lamp post)?
What if no fruits fall off the tree?
What if the fruits aren't the ones I expected?
How hard should you try to shake the tree?
When do you know that you've tried your best?

Davina also pointed out that this could be about instant gratification and perhaps we need the patience to wait for fruits to yield. All in all, it was an extremely fruitful session as we got to hear from all the year 1s, with Joyce leading the discussion. This, however, is only the tip of the iceberg and the questioning will only get deeper as we journey further as a group. Let's all pray for the courage to challenge ourselves and to grow in faith and strength together.

P/S: Happy Easter!!!

31 March Session + IHMYC camp photos

Just 3 noteworthy things from our last YC session:

1) we said opening prayer only after settling admin matters
2) year 1s have been officially deployed to facilitate in cat class
3) bible sharing on Matthew:5

And now... the moment you have all been waiting for...

eehimeek 2007 camp photos, courtesy of Roy and a handful of miscellaneous people who fooled around with his camera, can be found HERE! Thanks once again to camp leaders and participants for a fulfilling and fun experience! Here's to more spiritually and whack-filled camps. :) Enjoy!