[JOYnet] Jesus Youth 2001, Report: Day 4
Day 4: 27 October 2001 "To the mission fields" Today, Toms Michael from Trivandrum and team led the Morning Prayer session. We began the praise and worship by wishing each other peace in the name of the Lord. The session went off beautifully and ended by 8.00am. >From 8.10 to 8.45 we listened to various speakers. Pradiba from Gujarat related her conversion experience. Her testimony inspired the whole crowd to pray in a special way for the state of Gujarat. This was a good introduction to the theme of the day 'To the mission fields' . Mathew Joseph, JOYnet ministry co-ordinator from Bangalore spoke about the virtual community of JOYneters. Giju George, the Jesus Youth web-administrator from Chennai spoke about the Jesus Youth web site. The site is the virtual face of Jesus Youth, he said. He described the Internet as a very powerful media to reach out to the younger generation of this world. He gave the JY website address and illustrated the different features of the JY website. Babychayan, the animator of JYNT (Jesus Youth National Team) spoke next. He travels extensively in India and he meets the struggling Jesus Youth in different parts of India to encourage them and to be with them. 8.45- Breakfast. Simultaneously, the Joynet members participating in the Conference gathered backstage. It was a lively and very friendly gathering. We introduced ourselves, shared our e-mail ids, and shared about how the JOYnet community has helped each one of us to grow in Jesus. Many shared their future plans to help the community grow. At 9.30 Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathiyous from Trivandrum . He spoke for forty-five minutes. He appreciated the efforts of the Jesus Youth Volunteers and the principal of St. Joseph's College, Sr. Vijaya without whose efforts the Conference would not have been possible. A short musical session followed. At 10.40 Fr.Dheeraj Sabu IMS started the session on Mission, he said that love is the origin and the reason behind mission work. The motivation behind the salvific mission of Jesus Christ is also love. The theme of Ecclesia in Asia is centered on the same topic "Jesus Christ the Saviour and His Mission of Love and Service". Mission is the essence of Christianity, he said. He led us through evangelistic history of the Church. He spoke about Neo Evangelism and its need to be rooted in love. This love means respecting another person's conscience and beliefs. 11.45 In the Acts of the Apostles we find the Holy Spirit warning them not to go to Asia, but now through the mouth of the Holy Father the Holy Spirit is prompting us to evangelise Asia. This is how Alicekutty chechi responded to the session by Fr. Dheeraj. 11.55 Kairose the Jesus Youth magazine is facing a financial crisis, and we need to help by subscribing to the magazine, this point was brought out well by Mr. Chackochan Njavally. 12.15 We celebrated the Holy Eucharist, the main celebrant was Fr. Dheeraj Sabu. In his sermon he spoke about how symbols are important in evangelisation, he stressed on the need for Incultration, for evangelisation to be effective. We had intercessory prayers in Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarathi, Kannada and Brahma. The offertory was very colourful. Gifts were offered by the representatives of all the Indian states together with the representatives of the zones of Kerala. 2.00 Lunch. 2.45 The participants gathered in groups based on their zones or states, to discuss and chart out the future plans for the zones and states. At 4.30pm Jomon, the Kerala Youth Co-ordinator summed up the content of the zonal sessions. He made it clear that it was important to grow in a small community. Every Jesus Youth has to be a part of a prayer group. 5.00pm We joined the parishioners of St.Thomas Cathedral for a grand procession in Irinjalakkuda, in honour of Mother Mary. After which Major Archbishop Mar Jacob Thoonkuzhy gave the concluding message. After supper we had the 'Grand Finale' animated by the Rex Band. In between there was an action song by all the children who came for the conference. Youth from the different parts of India can in their costumes and performed various artforms. The program ended with the mass at 11.30PM For detailed reports and photos visit: http://www.jesusyouth.org/jy_2001.htm 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]
[JOYnet] Jesus Youth 2001 - A Report: day 3
"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
[JOYnet] Jesus Youth 2001 Updates
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[JOYnet] Jesus Youth 2001, Report: Day 2
"To be the saints of the new millennium" By 7.00AM the pandal was filled with people. Elvis Kottooran led the youth in praise and worship. The makeshift pandal throbbed with praises to our Lord Jesus. The name of Jesus was glorified in the assembly of His people. After breakfast Syrus from Bombay shared his testimony. He expressed his faith in Jesus and said that his ambition was to share the gospel of the Lord to the people in Bombay. He also exhorted the crowd to do the same. Onstage, the activities were co-ordinated by Alex Antony in Malayalam, C.C. Joseph in English and Annie John in Hindi. Announcements were made in all the three languages. At 9:30AM Dr.Edward Edezhath continued with his keynote address. He asked, why take so much trouble for a Conference? It is such a bother translating everything into three languages. Why did the conference co-ordintors decide to take so many youth from outside Kerala? To increase chaos? There must be a reason for all this. This is a family gathering, he said, and everything including the strenuous preparations is adding onto the family celebration. Jesus Youth began as a very small and insignificant group in Kerala. The small group used to gather and pray to discern the will of God concerning the group. God gave them two promises. One was that they were to shine out in this world of darkness. The second was that the Lord would be present with them throughout their exodus. Now, we realise that the Lord has kept his promises. Jesus Youth has spread all over the world and is a growing into a fellowship of mature Christians. He also introduced the general theme of the Conference -"Do not be afraid to be the saints of the new millennium". He concluded the brief keynote by wishing that the Conference would be a time of an abundance of grace. An experience calling everybody present to a deeper holiness. After a short musical break we continued with a superb teaching on sainthood by Fr. Boby Jose, OFM. He exhorted us to be the apostles of an alternative culture. A culture where the true meaning of holiness is carried out. Yes! The word 'sainthood' means 'different'. We as Jesus Youth should have the moral courage to say'no' to many things in this world. To flow against the tide. He concluded that a better perspective on eternity would help us to take on the challenge of holiness. The session ended with a meditative prayer. Afterwards, Johnychan shared his response to the session. He is a KYCT member and an ex-zonal coordinator of Changanacherry. He described how touched he was by Fr. Jose's teaching. It is the first time, he said, that he had heard about holiness from such a different perspective. He dreams now of climbing the steps of holiness to reach his his destiny- eternal life. The second day witnessed a beautiful Holy Mass at 11.30 pm. Fr. James Kakkuzhy, Chairman of KST together with 20 other priests co-celebrated the Holy Mass. A general introduction to the Syro-Malabar mass was read out in three languages. During the offertory, representatives of all sections of the gathering, which included children, youth, families, singles and the religious, gave in fruits and flowers as a sign of offering themselves unto God. Fr. Kakkuzy gave the homily on the topic 'Through the cross to glory'. He also said that we are trying to take people to heaven, whereas God is trying hard to bring heaven to earth. Afterward the crowd was split into various streams. The streams included campus, parish, family, professionals, animators and pastors, outside Kerala- English, Tribal Youth-Hindi and JY kids. There were team-leaders to lead the sessions which began with a talk on sainthood. The speech content was the same, on sainthood, but each talk was adapted to the particular stream. The youth were divided into groups of three or four. Till 6.00pm there was time for reflection, counseling and praying for each other. Many other meetings took place during the same time in different locations in the college. The 21 zonal leaders gathered in one place. So did the zonal campus coordinators and the leaders of the numerous ministries. The streams came back in the auditorium by 6.10. We then had a music session led by the Rex Band. The general mood was one of faith in the Lord's power to turn our weaknesses into His strengths. The theatrical presentation which followed reflected this mood. It was the story of David and Goliath adapted in the folkstyle. The skit was really touching to all present in the audi. The director Mr. Leo, Art director Mr. Joseph and some actors were called on stage after the presentation to share. The panel session revealed their role and commitment in building up the Kingdom of God. We viewed a music-video done by Audio-Visual ministry and the Rex Band title 'No more alone'. It was on people walking in the same old ways, living without thinking where life is leading them. Sr. Joyce and Sr. Daphne led a healing prayer at 8.00pm. The day ended with the prayer
[JOYnet] Jesus Youth 2001, Report: Day 1
Dear JOYneters, The Jesus Youth 2001, the day we have all been waiting for! It was a beautiful sight to see the St. Joseph's College Auditorium at Irinjalakuda fill up with thousands (around 4500!) of young people. Wherever you looked you saw only faces.joyful and expectant faces. That of Jesus Youth from all the 21 zones of Kerala. Was that all? No! We were beginning to spot Hindi-speaking young guys and girls. More than 350 youth came for the event from all parts of India. You may have seen the number of youth from each state in the Jesus Youth site. On stage, the thirty plus English and Malayalam choirs led them in Praise and Worship. The prayer to the Holy Sprit invited Him to come into the midst of the fellowship of the believers and anoint the gathering. It was followed by procession and commitment prayer. The programme continued with a theatrical presentation adapting the elements of Dance and Movement Theatres. It was directed by Mr. Leo Thaddeus and enacted by the Jesus Youth Audio-Visual Team. The photos will be available in the Jesus Youth site. At 8:30PM, Mar. James Pazhayattil, Bishop of Irinjalakuda inaugurated the event. He expressed his joy in the event taking place in Irinjalakuda and appreciated the new initiatives of Jesus Youth all over the world. The gathering was addressed by Fr.Jose Irimpan (Parish Vicar, local host) who welcomed everybody into the gathering for which he and his parishioners had been working and praying for for the last many months. The Inaugural ceremony concluded with the projection of the Jesus Youth Logo animation. This was preceded by the newly composed Jesus Youth theme song. Dr. Edward Edezhath gave a general introduction commending on the hard work and co-ordination which went into the preparation of this programme. The letters of Fr. Tharayil and Fr. Pallivathilkal were read out expressing the good wishes of the Jesus Youth in America and the latter's sorrow in having to skip the programme due to an important Jesuit Conference. Thank you Fr. Tharayil and Fr. Pallivathilkal. The day ended with some general announcements and prayer. - Report by Cuckoo Susan James visit www.jesusyouth.org for Jesus Youth Title Song and a photo tour 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]
