Youth Olympics for Jesus and Mary
YOUTH OLYMPICS FOR JESUS AND MARY (YOJAM)
Season 5
Season 5
07 December 2008, Planet Badminton, Makati City
Rich Young Man
Excerpt from the book "The Mustard Seed" by: Fr. Joseph Gardon, S.J.
The three synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke – tell the challenging story of the young man who wanted to be holy. He had been good in the past. He told Jesus that he had always kept the commandments, but now he wanted to do more: he wanted to be better. Jesus was impressed with the young man. As Mark tells us: “Jesus looked on him with love.” And then He told the young man: “If you want to do more, if you want to be holier, sell everything you have and give it to the poor and come, follow me.’ Then Mark tells us that the young man became very sad and went away, because he had many possessions.
In this story of the rich young man, we see the three stages of all growth in holiness – the path we have to follow as well if we want to be better people.
The first stage is what we might call essential holiness – keeping the commandments. That is quite an accomplishment in itself, and most of us have to struggle to maintain this basic holiness. Regular Mass and prayer, fundamental love and acceptance of one another, not to cheat or steal or lie – these are not easy things to do in our human weakness, in our love of pleasure and comfort. But they are the essentials and the beginning of all holiness.
The highest level of holiness is to follow Christ. But to do that, to make that final surrender of love to the Lord, we have to get rid of all the baggage that gets in the way between us and God. The spiritual writers use the word “detachment.” We have to be detached from the persons, places and things that get between us and God, because they block our love and growth in holiness. We have to eliminate in our lives everything – a person, places or things – which is keeping us from becoming holier people. We have to get rid of the sinful relationships, the friends or the sinful actions that are dragging us down.
But not all of us can do that, because it is hard to give up all those things that we like so much.
Jesus was pleased with the young man and challenged him to rise to this second stage of holiness. He said, “Go sell what you have and give it to the poor.’ But the young man couldn’t do it. He had too many attachments, too much excess baggage. Matthew and Mark says he was very rich. Luke says he came from one of the leading families of the town. He was a good man, but he had too much baggage to follow the Lord all the way.
To simplify our attachment and to get rid of our excess baggage, we have to sacrifice. We have to give it up. As one of the writers says: “We have to die a little bit.” That’s a hard thing to do, and in the daily choice between pleasure and sacrifice, pleasure almost always wins out. We are good people, we do love the Lord, but we also want the trip to Hong Kong or the new dress. It isn’t a question of being good or bad, because we are good. It’s a question of being better. And that’s what the rich young man couldn’t handle- the sacrifice needed in being better.
Once we have simplified our lives and minimized our attachments, once we have learned to ‘give things up to the Lord,” we are ready to the third stage of holiness, which is to follow Christ. This stage is the challenge of total surrender to what the Lord wants- a long life or a short one, success or failure, sickness or health. They’re really all the same, because the only thing that matters is what God wants.
Mary had that surrender when she said “yes” to the angel’s message at Nazareth. Christ had it in the garden that night before He died when He prayed to His Father: “Don’t do what I want. Do what You want.” Samuel had it in the temple when he said: “Here I am, Lord, what do you want me to do?” One of the most difficult things in the world is to tell God: Never mind what I want. You do what is best.” But that’s what it means to “follow the Lord.”
Following the Lord means openness to what God wants from us, and not a stubborn insistence that our way is best. It means self-transcendance. We have to go above and beyond our own petty needs and selfish desires. Following the Lord means being vulnerable, because surrender to the Lord often means that we will be hurt or rejected, or have to suffer in one way or another.
How the young man responded to the challenge of detachment and surrender changed his whole life. He could have been better, but he chose not to. And we ought to, since God is never satisfied when we are just good. He always wants us to be better.
In this story of the rich young man, we see the three stages of all growth in holiness – the path we have to follow as well if we want to be better people.
The first stage is what we might call essential holiness – keeping the commandments. That is quite an accomplishment in itself, and most of us have to struggle to maintain this basic holiness. Regular Mass and prayer, fundamental love and acceptance of one another, not to cheat or steal or lie – these are not easy things to do in our human weakness, in our love of pleasure and comfort. But they are the essentials and the beginning of all holiness.
The highest level of holiness is to follow Christ. But to do that, to make that final surrender of love to the Lord, we have to get rid of all the baggage that gets in the way between us and God. The spiritual writers use the word “detachment.” We have to be detached from the persons, places and things that get between us and God, because they block our love and growth in holiness. We have to eliminate in our lives everything – a person, places or things – which is keeping us from becoming holier people. We have to get rid of the sinful relationships, the friends or the sinful actions that are dragging us down.
But not all of us can do that, because it is hard to give up all those things that we like so much.
Jesus was pleased with the young man and challenged him to rise to this second stage of holiness. He said, “Go sell what you have and give it to the poor.’ But the young man couldn’t do it. He had too many attachments, too much excess baggage. Matthew and Mark says he was very rich. Luke says he came from one of the leading families of the town. He was a good man, but he had too much baggage to follow the Lord all the way.
To simplify our attachment and to get rid of our excess baggage, we have to sacrifice. We have to give it up. As one of the writers says: “We have to die a little bit.” That’s a hard thing to do, and in the daily choice between pleasure and sacrifice, pleasure almost always wins out. We are good people, we do love the Lord, but we also want the trip to Hong Kong or the new dress. It isn’t a question of being good or bad, because we are good. It’s a question of being better. And that’s what the rich young man couldn’t handle- the sacrifice needed in being better.
Once we have simplified our lives and minimized our attachments, once we have learned to ‘give things up to the Lord,” we are ready to the third stage of holiness, which is to follow Christ. This stage is the challenge of total surrender to what the Lord wants- a long life or a short one, success or failure, sickness or health. They’re really all the same, because the only thing that matters is what God wants.
Mary had that surrender when she said “yes” to the angel’s message at Nazareth. Christ had it in the garden that night before He died when He prayed to His Father: “Don’t do what I want. Do what You want.” Samuel had it in the temple when he said: “Here I am, Lord, what do you want me to do?” One of the most difficult things in the world is to tell God: Never mind what I want. You do what is best.” But that’s what it means to “follow the Lord.”
Following the Lord means openness to what God wants from us, and not a stubborn insistence that our way is best. It means self-transcendance. We have to go above and beyond our own petty needs and selfish desires. Following the Lord means being vulnerable, because surrender to the Lord often means that we will be hurt or rejected, or have to suffer in one way or another.
How the young man responded to the challenge of detachment and surrender changed his whole life. He could have been better, but he chose not to. And we ought to, since God is never satisfied when we are just good. He always wants us to be better.
Singles Grand ReunionSitio Lucia Resort
Upload your pictures & video or link to your host & share it with us.
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Bong : http://s533.photobucket.com/albums/ee336/_bongertz_/se%20grand%20reunion/?albumview=slideshow
http://s533.photobucket.com/albums/ee336/_bongertz_/se%20grand%20reunion/?albumview=grid
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Rino : http://rapidshare.com/files/140669953/SE-GrandReunion-Pix-Rino-1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/140677184/SE-GrandReunion-Video-Rino.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/140681783/SE-GrandReunion-Pix-Rino-2.rar.html
HEAR YE! HEAR YE!
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The Singles Encounter Class No. 1 (SE-1),
the event sponsor in coordination with the Youth Ministry / Singles Program,
cordially invites every SE member (SE-1 to SE18) to the
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SE GRAND REUNION
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at FONTANA LEISURE PARK (Clark Field, Pampanga)
on AUGUST 16-17, 2008.
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"As we gather... we'll be blessed because we came."
Speakers' Summit - Second Wave
Praise God for a very fruitful first wave! Here comes the SECOND WAVE!
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With the HJM-Youth Ministry gearing toward increasing its speaker’s pool for its Jr. Kids, Sr. Kids, Teens and Singles encounter seminars, we are holding another one-day Speakers' Summit on Sunday, 28 September 2008 (tentative) @ 8:30am, at HJM Spiritual Center, Cubao, QC. We would be honored to have you as a participant of this exciting event.
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Our goals for the Summit are simple, but bold: (1) to build a pool of speakers as we raise awareness of how we, sinners as we are, could be used by God to fulfill His will on this earth; (2) to promote greater participation in spreading His Word among the youth members, and in by doing so, strengthen one's own faith; and (3) to discover hidden strengths in each of the participants that could be used as tools to strengthen each and everyone in the community.
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Please bring your Bible, some snacks, a small blanket and a throw pillow. Bring also some lunch money.
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We hope you will be able to accept our invitation to join us in this effort.
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Our goals for the Summit are simple, but bold: (1) to build a pool of speakers as we raise awareness of how we, sinners as we are, could be used by God to fulfill His will on this earth; (2) to promote greater participation in spreading His Word among the youth members, and in by doing so, strengthen one's own faith; and (3) to discover hidden strengths in each of the participants that could be used as tools to strengthen each and everyone in the community.
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Please bring your Bible, some snacks, a small blanket and a throw pillow. Bring also some lunch money.
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We hope you will be able to accept our invitation to join us in this effort.
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Be. One. Of. Us. In. Christ.
Vocation
What is a vocation? A vocation is a response to God where a young person discovers they are called to the vocation of Marriage or Priesthood or Religious Life.
It varies in length for each individual, but leads each person to his or her own peace - to the place where, through prayer and discernment, they rely on Christ leading them to the vocation which will bring about the most holiness.
In this process the young person seeks God's will by allowing him to show them which vocation it is. Unless both marriage and religious life are reflected on, God's will is not sought in its fullness.
The vocation cannot be understood from a distance. Most young people say they aren't called to be a priest or sister, and yet they have never visited a convent or monastery or experienced Diocesan priesthood. When Jesus called the apostles he said, "come after me," and " follow me." That meant we must search out our vocation in life
How does a person begin to know?
1. First, you must pray so that God will reveal it to you! And not just two minutes but something like praying a rosary or half an hour of adoration in the front of Christ.
2. Second, you seek counsel to ask advices. When people judge on their own, very often they are deceived. Speak with a holy priest, sister or brother about some questions you have.
3. Third, go and see! If you are discerning marriage, be around holy couples! If you are discerning being a religious sister, go to a convent, make a nun run as mapped out on this webpage and be with the nuns. If you are discerning priesthood, visit a Diocesan priest or Religious monk and be with them.
4. Fourth, develop the virtues of patience and perseverance. Patiently wait on what God wants to show you. Some people expect answers quickly; it may happen but God usually goes slowly. He also wants you to persevere! That way he walks you through life, and in your faithfulness you come through a stronger person.
Special Charisms Seminar
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MY CHILDREN, COME AND CLAIM YOUR GIFTS!
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NO SWEAT, JUST FAITH!
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SPECIAL CHARISMS SEMINAR
HJM SPIRITUAL CENTER, CUBAO, QUEZON CITY
21-22 June 2008.
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ALL who have taken Youth Growth In The Spirit Seminar (YGSS ) and who have sponsored a YGSS class are cordially invited!
Everybody (Teens, Singles, Core Members) is hereby invited to join in the Teens outing on May 18 at Villa Apolonia, Maly, San Mateo, Rizal. Please do coordinate with Gie Abanto, TJ Gonzalez, Julio Lara and Donnie Aquino for more details, or post inquiries as comments to this post. Contribution is pegged at P200 per participant.
Hear Ye!
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Together with our beloved parents and our combined families,
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We,
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We,
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Riño & Rose
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humbly extend our deepest gratitude to Our Almighty God
Riño & Rose
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humbly extend our deepest gratitude to Our Almighty God
and to everyone present (physically or otherwise)
as we sealed our love with an eternal bond
as we sealed our love with an eternal bond
in the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony
on Saturday, the 10th of May, 2008 at 10 o’clock in the morning
at the St. Augustine Catholic Parish (Paoay Church)
in Paoay, Ilocos Norte
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Reception followed at Asiao’s Residence in
No. 69 Castro Street, No. 12 Palpalicong, Batac City, Ilocos Norte
at the St. Augustine Catholic Parish (Paoay Church)
in Paoay, Ilocos Norte
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Reception followed at Asiao’s Residence in
No. 69 Castro Street, No. 12 Palpalicong, Batac City, Ilocos Norte
SrKids Encounter
Senior Kids Encounter 8 at Sisters of Mary Retreat House.
Amazing! We just have so much fun and faith that we enjoyed during our SrKids8 encounter at SOM. A mom from MBS have her comment just before the mass that she was amaze and thankful that our marriage encounter community has a program like this for their kids.
Although we had a heat wave of the summer we still had a COOL time! Enjoy the pictures and seeing all our hard work come to life!
Although we had a heat wave of the summer we still had a COOL time! Enjoy the pictures and seeing all our hard work come to life!
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The season of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, is devoted to an intensive study of the Passion of Christ, this feature becoming unusually pronounced in Holy Week, with the culmination in the great happening of Good Friday, in the death and burial of Christ. The length today of the Lenten season is for forty days. While such a period is indicated as early as the third century, Apostolic Tradition, its length is indefinite prior to Nicaea. Thereafter it is spoken of as the fast of forty days and spans a period of six weeks with prior to Easter (as in Rome and fourth-century Alexandria) or prior to Holy Week (as in Syria, Constantinople, and eventually all the Eastern churches). In the early church the Lenten season was a time for the catechumens to make preparations for baptism, but by the end of the fourth century in the West it was also a period for the ritual of humiliation of the penitent. This led to the Christian liturgical traditions that observe the Lenten fast experience as a time of "dying to self," so as to participate fully in the renewal of life in the celebration of Christ's resurrection. The custom of fasting during Lent started at a very early date, but the length of the fast varied, eight days being customary at first, but the time was extended to forty days, after the analogy of the period included in the Lord's temptation, Matt. 4:2. Gregory II, is said to have fixed the Wednesday now known as Ash Wednesday (from the custom of daubing the foreheads of the worshipers on that day with the ashes of last year's palms, in token of mourning) as the first day of Lent in order to secure uniformity of observance throughout the Church. The season of preparation for Easter closed with the Great or Black Week, also known as the Holy Week.
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The season of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, is devoted to an intensive study of the Passion of Christ, this feature becoming unusually pronounced in Holy Week, with the culmination in the great happening of Good Friday, in the death and burial of Christ. The length today of the Lenten season is for forty days. While such a period is indicated as early as the third century, Apostolic Tradition, its length is indefinite prior to Nicaea. Thereafter it is spoken of as the fast of forty days and spans a period of six weeks with prior to Easter (as in Rome and fourth-century Alexandria) or prior to Holy Week (as in Syria, Constantinople, and eventually all the Eastern churches). In the early church the Lenten season was a time for the catechumens to make preparations for baptism, but by the end of the fourth century in the West it was also a period for the ritual of humiliation of the penitent. This led to the Christian liturgical traditions that observe the Lenten fast experience as a time of "dying to self," so as to participate fully in the renewal of life in the celebration of Christ's resurrection. The custom of fasting during Lent started at a very early date, but the length of the fast varied, eight days being customary at first, but the time was extended to forty days, after the analogy of the period included in the Lord's temptation, Matt. 4:2. Gregory II, is said to have fixed the Wednesday now known as Ash Wednesday (from the custom of daubing the foreheads of the worshipers on that day with the ashes of last year's palms, in token of mourning) as the first day of Lent in order to secure uniformity of observance throughout the Church. The season of preparation for Easter closed with the Great or Black Week, also known as the Holy Week.
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The Thursday of Holy Week commemorated the institution of the Holy Supper. Since the Gospel of the day was John 13:1-15 , the day was also known as the Day of Foot Washing. Its present English name of Maundy Thursday is derived either from the words of the Gospel lesson: "Mandatum novum do vobis," or from the custom of carrying gifts to the poor in maund(y) baskets on that day.
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Good Friday, almost from the first, was the Day of the Cross, a day of deepest mourning, with a compete fast till 3 or 6 o'clock in the afternoon. In some churches no form of service was prescribed for Good Friday, the faithful merely came together for silent prayer.
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Lenten Wreath
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The Lenten Wreath, made of rose vines and thistle, represents the "Crown of Thrones' placed upon our Lord's head by Pontius Pilate when he mockingly proclaimed Him to be "The King of the Jews". There are six white candles--one lit consecutively each of the six weeks in Lent--and one black candle that is lit on Good Friday, and three nails depicting the nails used to place Christ upon the cross.
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Lenten Tree Cross
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.The large Tree Cross , in the front of the church, is made from the trunk of a Christmas Tree that was used here at Historic Trinity during the Christmas Season. This worship aid helps to demonstrate us that Jesus Christ the Son of God who's birth we celebrate at Christmas, came into the world and took on the form of the Son of Man, that He might lay down His life upon the Cross as the Lamb of God in payment for the sins of all persons. Mary His Mother, and John the Disciple, are represented by the two figures who are standing before the cross.
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Historic Trinity Lutheran Church1345 Gratiot Avenue Detroit, Michigan 48207
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One night a man had a dream.
. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
.Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
.For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:
.one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
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When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
.he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
.He noticed that many times along the path of his life
.there was only one set of footprints.
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He also noticed that it happened
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at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
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This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it:
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"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you,
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you'd walk with me all the way.
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But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,
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there is only one set of footprints.
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I don't understand why when I needed you most,
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you would leave me."
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The LORD replied:
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"My son, my precious child,
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I love you and I would never leave you.
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During your times of trial and suffering,
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when you see only one set of footprints,
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it was then that I carried you."
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The text describes a someone's dream, in which the person is walking on a beach with the Lord. Naturally, they leave two sets of footprints in the sand behind them. Looking back, the tracks are stated to represent various stages of this person's life. At some points the two trails dwindle to one, especially at the lowest and most hopeless moments of the character's life. When questioning the Lord, believing that the Lord must had abandoned his follower during those times, the Lord, gives the true explanation: 'During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you'.
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While critics may dispute the literary merits of the piece, it remains enormously popular, especially among American Christians. There are multiple variations of the text.While most variations of the poem are in third-person, with a male playing the role of the Lord's follower, original editions, particularly that of Margaret Fishback Powers, have written it in first person. All claimed authors, except Burrell Webb, are ironically female. The publisher received the poem with instructions from the author to publish with the (author unknown.) it was published in third person.
