"Growing as a community" The morning began fresh with Taize Prayer. The crowd was in the auditorium by seven in the morning. We as a movement are very familiar with the Taize style of prayer. The continual repetition of songs creates a meditative and prayerful atmosphere. The songs are an adaptation of verses from the Bible. There is time for silence and intercession. We invoked the Holy Spirit to renew the Church, to bring new life into the dry hearts and minds all over the world.
The masters of ceremony for the day were Jose Kurien from Chennai, Beena Manoj from Ernakulam and Biju Chulliyil from Kasargode. They co-ordinated all the activities on stage. After prayer, Manoj Sunny, the programme co-ordinator, gave a general introduction to the day's theme 'Growing as a community'. Today, we are focusing on community, he said, and Jesus Youth should grow as a community. We are not to grow alone but together with other movements in the church that are trying to build up the Kingdom of God. He also called Sherry and Allan from Ernakulam on stage. They represented the scores of Jesus Youth working behind the scenes, putting in their best to decorate the stage during adoration and mass especially. During a short panel session they shared on what motivates them to put so much time and effort into the Jesus Youth movement. Manoj Sunny also introduced Binu K. P., the music ministry coordinator. He had recently fractured his leg but that had not stopped him from running about. The beautiful music here was the fruit of his suffering and effort. At nine in the morning they showed a clipping of Sr. Nirmala's testimony. She'd heard about Jesus at her school and had been interested. Gradually she decided to be a Christian and joined the Missionaries of Charity. In the clipping Sr. Nirmala shared "Now I know.He's my Saviour and Saviour of the whole world". Pialo from France shared her marvelous experience of conversion. She had come to India interested in Buddhism. Now, after an intimate experience with the Jesus Youth in Kerala she is going back to France fully converted to Jesus! 9.45-10.15 - music 10.15-11.20 - Talk-Growing as a community- Fr. Fio Mascarenhas, Whenever he was asked about the Charismatic Renewal in India, he said, he always mentioned Jesus Youth as an important part of the movement. He concentrated on the self-giving aspect of community. Self-giving is the essence of sainthood, community and mission. It is the essence of all our sacraments and fellowship. You cannot be a Christian or even a human if you are not ready for self-giving. The most important work of the Holy Spirit is not the working of miracles; it is the building of communities. He mentioned as examples of community builders the canonized saints, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. He ended the session by specially praying that each Jesus Youth would be a community builder. 11.20- T.C Joseph shared his response to Fr. Fio's class. Jesus Youth has also grown, he reminded, through the self-giving of a few Christians in the beginning. He was also struck by the realization that one person could make a huge difference in this world for Jesus. At 11.30 we celebrated the Holy Mass. Fr. Fio gave the homily on the role of the Holy Spirit in community building. During the offertory, the representatives of all the ministries in Jesus Youth presented different types of flowers at the altar. The ministries included Campus, Prolife, Professionals, Joynet, Audio-visual, Music, Outreach, Christeen, Kairos, and various Formation programmes etc. The stage was adorned with natural grapes hanging from the ceiling. The grapes represented the community aspect of Jesus Youth. Like the previous day, we divided the crowd into streams (groups based on ministries). In streams, they had music and a talk (on reviving their original charisms) and panel session. Afterwards, they shared their insights in small groups on what is happening right now in their respective ministries. They decided on the changes to be made. Back in the pandal at 5.45, we enjoyed singing praises to our Lord in Hindi. The Jesus Youth of Kerala took it upon themselves to encourage their brothers and sisters from outside Kerala. And what did they do? They started dancing! The music and dance session was a time of fellowship. After the break, from 6.00 pm to 6.15 we spent time writing down our decisions. A dance presentation based on a challenge every Jesus Youth faces, in trying to share the gospel and live as a community, followed. A brief prayer asking Jesus to help us keep our focus on Him and not be distracted by worldly attractions followed the dance. Next, for a period of one and half-hours we viewed various videos and slide shows. A musical video declaring that Jesus is Lord. We heard and saw a video clipping, the testimonies of JYs from different parts of the world. A few of them were Smiju Joseph from UAE, Leesa from America, Fr. Tharayil, pastor of American Jesus Youth. Then came a video clipping on the Pope. We prayed in a very special way for the Pope. There was tremendous applause for the Pope's during this brief biographical clipping. Next came a slide show on all the countries of Asia. We lifted up the countries in prayer as and when the statistics and picures of each country were shown on screen. >From 7.30 to 8.00pm CC Joseph the National Co-ordinator of Jesus Youth co-ordinated a panel on the activities of Jesus Youth in many parts of India and the world. Here are the details of the sharings in a nutshell. Santhosh, Co-ordiantor of Baroda: Jesus Youth Baroda started off with the arrival of forerunners there. Slowly they reached out to the youth born and brought up in Ahmedabad. They organise conventions, freshers' and growth retreats and night vigils. Everything is monitored from the Ahemedabad regional office. Shibu from Rajastan: Three Jesus Youth have joined together and are conducting a prayer meeting there. They have gathered forty youth from all over Rajastan and this has helped Jesus Youth to grow in many parts of Rajastan. Joseph from Bombay: They gather twice in one month and meet the needs of the parishes in Bombay. They have started praying for the whole o Maharashtra. Jose Kurien from Chennai: Jesus Youth activities started seven years back there. They have full-timers there and their strongest ministry is the campus ministry. The most important thing is that many are growing in leadership. They have a beautiful music ministry. Jose Antony from Bangalore: Jesus Youth is blessed with lots of ministries here. An active campus ministry targeting more than 300 campuses, a couples ministry of more than 75 couples , and a very active nurses ministry. Bitty from Mangalore: They have a strong presence in the campuses. Almost all the colleges have been covered by Jesus Youth. They have a very exceptional ministry- a Hostel Ministry. Now, Karnataka has a blooming Jesus Youth presence in more than 17 districts. Joseph from UAE: They have adopted the National Day December 22 as the Jesus Youth day. Once in a year, the core teams gather together to pray and plan for the prayer meetings in UAE. They have a group that prays 365 days of the year ie. night vigil for the youth all over the world. John Prakash from Abu Dabi: They have a strong intercession ministry and a formation programme educating the youth. The Audio-visual ministry and multimedia ministry are also very dynamic. Christeen is also active there. Liza from Dubai: They have strong prayer meetings and intercession. They have a good collection of video and books because of a good Library Ministry. Music ministry is an important part of their activities. Joseph from Sharja: They hold friday prayer meetings of more than 100. Out-reach is an important ministry. Onam celebrations held yearly called 'Sauhridam' is a great inspiration to the people there. This sharing of the activities of Jesus Youth in many parts of India concluded with adoration. The stage was beautifully decorated with a big picture of the bleeding Jesus. Near the picture, we could see a huge bunch of artificial grapes representing the Body of Christ. Jesus' presence filled the whole stage in the form of the Holy Eucharist. Praise God! **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
