Year in Review: 2014

As we come to a close of this year 2014, it's a good time to reflect about Holy Ghost Youth is and what it means to us. When we made the video of 7 years of HGY back in 2012, the common feeling among youth interviewed was that this was a family, a second family. This past year, we've done many things together - the Enrolment Day with the Flash Mob outside Church in Jan, which was a hit with parishioners; the Encounter Jesus Retreat with the support of Fr. Divya Paul and the ICYM; the all Youth Group unity meeting and the "Renewed" program preceded by the flash song after the Saturday Mass and much more.

But as in a family though we may eat out or have an occasional picnic, it's more than that. It's about being with each other and being there for each other day by day. It's about celebrating each moment as we grow together in faith. And as we know each other more we grow in maturing as we realize how human we are, we adjust with the weaknesses of others, just as we celebrate each others strengths. All those moments we spent together especially the constant faithfulness to the weekly meetings and the monthly Youth Mass. These I believe are really the things that distinguish us as a special Youth group. In other words, I'd say it's not the special occasions or events, but it's the regular seemingly ordinary things like spending time together in the weekly meetings and time with the Lord in Intercession and Adoration. These regular things make us special. It is the power of God's love in us to be faithful to each other and to the group day after day, week after week. This is the best part of being a Holy Ghost Youth.

It is the season of Christmas, a time of joy and celebration of the coming of Jesus, the Saviour. It's a time when we spend time with family and it's also a time when we are close to the end of the year. So it's a great time to be thankful to God and a time to reflect on the past year. At this time, I'd like to acknowledge the source of every blessing here at Holy Ghost Youth - the constant help of the Lord God. Yes indeed, we are in the technology age, 2014 - the era of Facebook, WhatsApp, Blogger, Twitter, smart-phones, Youtube, etc, but there is no greater and more significant time for us to stand out as a group. Yes HolyGhost is on Facebook and Blogger and WhatsApp and YouTube. But at the core, we are people of faith, a family of blessing, history makers doing impossible things. And our mission is not of this earth, it is supernatural.

Therefore I urge each of you to join me in thanking the Lord and placing the future of the group in His mighty hands. Yes, to thank Him is acknowledge that it is not through our strength but His. Therefore let us humbly acknowledge His hand in every grace and blessing we have received this past year and all these many years. Youth groups come and go, people come and go, but we are richly blessed to have so much as a youth group and to be together so many years. This August we celebrated 9 years of HGY at the August Youth Mass. The newly elected leadership team have the responsibility of taking the group to complete 10 years and build a foundation for the future of the group. Indeed, for me who has been there since the start of the group, there is no greater joy than to see the group move forward to the next generation. May God bless Calvin, ICYM President and outgoing HGY President in his endeavours and may the Lord bless Sylvester, Arthur and Shalini, the newly elected leaders for the year 2015. As I close, I leave you with the flash song, just one of great memories of this year.

Brief History, Vision & Journey of HGY

Since we are approaching the 9th anniversary of HGY, it's a good time to look back at this wonderful journey. The youth group started in the year 2005 by 2 Redemptorist Priests (Father Joseph Royan and Father Shane Varghese) with the help of few faithful youth from the parish who belonged to different youth groups.

How did it all begin?

Till around the year 2000, there was a youth group that met on Thursdays and reflected on the upcoming Sunday Gospel. After the leaders moved on, there was a leadership crisis and the group did not continue. After this, there was a group headed by Fr. A.P. Rajan. However, given the size of the parish and the number of youth, it was felt that more was needed.

A couple of youth from the parish, Terence Monteiro and Kim D'Mello, had been praying and discerning separately about starting a youth group in the parish. When they met each other, they felt this meeting was a heavenly sign that the time was right to start a youth group in the parish. They met with Fr. Joseph Royan and discussed their vision for a youth group. They felt the need for a place for youth to grow together in faith, aware that during this important phase of life, there was a great need for young people to be part of a community of believers which will help them to be more strongly rooted in their faith so as to be better members of the Church in the future.

Initially the Priests and the members in the group were not sure how to go about it. They just used to gather and pray together for the Lord to lead them. To this end they organized prayer sessions to seek the Lord's strength and guidance. Fr. Shane Varghese, Jimmy Xavier, President of Hosanna youth and other HY members also were involved in these intercessory prayer meetings. This happened for almost a month.

How did the Youth Mass begin?

During the initial time, the members had prayerful meetings and planned how to start. Since the Eucharist was the anchor for their personal lives, they felt that the Mass which has helped them so much in their personal lives will be a great source of strength for a youth group. Therefore, they decided to center the youth group on the Mass.

There was no choir in the group at that time since the group was just formed. Hosanna Youth, which is the Youth wing of the BCCRS (Bangalore Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services), had the mission of setting up youth groups in all the churches of Bangalore. HY music ministry handled the choir and helped in organizing the Youth Mass. The first Youth Mass, which was conducted at Nava Spoorthi Kendra in August 2005, had a good response of around 150 to 200 youth who attended the Mass. After the Mass an announcement was made requesting the interested youth to register the names to join the youth group and few more members joined the group.

From then on the parish decided to have the Youth Mass every month. Now the whole youth ministry revolves around this Youth Mass that happens every month and more and more youth started attending the Youth Mass.

The core youth group members felt that for any youth group to flourish, it needs the a clear sense of purpose, support of the clergy, and active committed youth. It was felt that the model of the youth group would be one united through prayer and Eucharist at three levels. First, the core team members would be rooted through faithfulness in their prayer lives and frequent, if possible daily Mass. Second, at the youth group level, weekly prayer and faith centered meetings would keep the group members strengthened. Finally, all the youth of the parish would be united through a monthly Youth Mass. We know that youth leaders and members may move on. Priests may be transferred and have to move on. But the Youth Mass can be an anchor for the group.

Vision and Mission

The Vision of the youth group is to be a place for Catholic youth to grow together in holiness, discovering the Lord's plan for their lives and live out this plan concretely in their life situations. To discover their talents and put them to the service of the group and community at large. To be disciples and evangelizers reaching out both to youth and people of all ages and all types. To build a foundation for our future lives of faith and service.

Formation of the core team.

As the group grew in numbers and since we started having Youth Mass regularly it became necessary to identify leaders who would take the group forward. Hence the priests had an election after praying before the Blessed Sacrament and the core team was elected by the group. It consisted of 5 members. The core team along with the priests was part of the planning committee.

How did the ministries begin?

Music ministry:

As the decision was made to have the Youth Mass every month it was very essential to have our own choir setup since we were solely relying in HY for the choir .Hence music ministry was formed and one of the members from the core team served as the coordinator for the music ministry.

The music ministry served as a very powerful instrument in attracting the youth as more and more youth had a very strong inclination to music. Many instrumentalists and vocalists who had the desire to serve the church joined the group. The music ministry till this day meets every week to practice for the Youth Mass or for any events.

Intercession ministry:

HY started the intercession ministry along with Holy ghost youth to pray for the youth in this parish. They encouraged others in the youth group to join this ministry and stressed the importance of intercession. Intercession ministry started meeting every week and to this day we meet every week. This ministry intercedes for the youth group and the church. We believe that intercession is the backbone of the group, since there is a limit to what we as people can do, and we rely on a lot on the Lord's grace and help. We also believe that intercession helps us to learn the Lord's will for us and for the group helps us build a sense of duty to the group.

Skit ministry:

As we wanted to make the Youth Mass more creative we wanted to have skits based on the gospel readings during the Youth Mass. This ministry meets regularly to discuss on the ideas for the skits every alternate month. The youth group comes up with their own idea and creativity. The ministry members write dialogues, story screen play, direct and enact in the skits. The skits have touched many people and it helps people to understand the gospel better.

Choreo Ministry:

As a part of incorporating the aspect of creativity we also started having Choreo which served as a means of glorifying the Lord through our dancing talents. The ministry came up with some powerful Choreos.

These 4 ministries served as the pillars for the youth group.Many who were out of college who never got to use their talents were very happy to use it to preach the gospel through our singing, dancing and Acting.

Apart from this there are several others who help in designing banners posters, creating gospel based videos for the Youth Mass. There are several members in the youth group who like ushering people for the Youth Mass.

Thus whenever we have a Youth Mass we have all the ministries working together in putting everything in place.

Weekly meeting:

Our weekly meetings are very important for the growth of the group. As the group started evolving and getting stronger the group needed very strong spiritual foundation to sustain and reach out to the lost. Faith formation of the members in the youth group was the priority.

The core team meets regularly and plans the topics for the group for the weekly meeting. These topics serve as faith formation exercise’s and nourishes the group spiritually.

Reach out programs:

The core team plans the reach outs to orphanages old age homes regularly. The group visits these places and spends time with them. The reach outs helps the members in the group to understand Gods love and has inspired many and gives opportunity for the members to serve the needy.

Monthly Adoration:

The group has Eucharistic Adoration every month. The priest exposes the Blessed Sacrament and the whole group comes together in worship and thanks giving. The group usually has Adoration before every Youth Mass. The adoration prepares the various ministries to serve the Youth Mass.

Programs for the parish:

The group has organized several retreats for the youth in the parish. The group has organized several praise and worship evenings, the biggest program of all was the “Shackles” where more than 500 people gathered. We organize Christmas program ever year and the group reaches out to the families in the parish through carol singing.

Fellowship in the group:

In the group we have monthly birthday celebrations and Potluck. These light moments help in building strong fellowship among the youth group members.

Connecting with the Archdiocese

The youth group has been actively participating in ReachOut program organized by the ICYM. Last few years, the youth participated in several events and won prizes including Bible quiz, Youcat quiz, Biblical fashion show, Choreography, and Group Carol singing. The Youth Mass format has been adopted by the ICYM, which organises regular Archdiocese Youth Masses. Youth group members help out the ICYM in different programs. The Youth Group music ministry has been invited to sing during Gloria 2011 and 2012, the Christmas program of the ICYM. One of our youth developed the ICYM website, http://icymbangalore.org as a voluntary effort so the ICYM finally has a stable and active website. Our group has a page on the website at http://icymbangalore.org/groups/holy-ghost-youth .

Youth members also cast their vote in the annual ICYM elections and support programs of the ICYM by passing on ICYM mails in the group mailing list and the promoting ICYM retreats and events on the Facebook Group and participating in the programs.

More concretely, the youth group has been focussing on uniting the nearby parish youth groups which are part of the the Cathedral deanery. The group organized “On Eagle's Wings” in October 2013, which brought together youth groups of the deanery in a day-long event with the theme based on Evangelization. Events were organized including Group Singing, Creative Ads (promoting Gospel message), Choreo, Scriptural Crossword, Face Painting. All were based on Gospel theme. In the afternoon, there was Eucharistic Adoration and Powerful Testimonies including chief guest Robin Uthappa with a message by Fr. Jacob Britto, Parish Priest.

Conclusion

To conclude the group has gone through several rough patches in its journey but it’s the fellowship, mutual respect, zeal to serve the Lord and to reach out to the lost youth has held the group together. The Holy Spirit has been guiding the group and Mother Mary’s intercession has been taking the group forward.

It is Finished, 2014 - Good Friday Way of the Cross

Every year, we the Holy Ghost Youth mark Good Friday and Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross, in a unique way, leading many into a life changing reflection of the Passion of Christ while ourselves experiencing it in a special way. A powerful enactment of the defining walk of Jesus on the road to Calvary, accompanied by moving music, and engaging Reflections and Prayers make this an unforgettable experience. People of all ages thronged to the Parish Hall on 18th April and though this has happened in previous years, this time the congregation were in for a surprise - a shadow play enactment of the Stations of the Cross. It was a powerful experience which brought many present to tears. Months of planning, preparation and practice through the sacrifice of many youth offering their time, resources and talents make this possible. Highlights of this memorable day are up in the Youtube video below:

Encounter Jesus: Youth Retreat with a Difference

Holy Ghost Youth and ICYM Bangalore welcome one and all to Encounter Jesus. A Youth Retreat with a difference this Sunday, 9th March. Let's come together and be part of the Revolution. Let's change the world one person at a time, beginning with ourselves. Let's make this a special Lenten season, learn about our faith and make this a new springtime in our lives - that's what Lent means - (spring in German is Lenz, in Dutch, Lente).

Youth Mass: Feb 23rd

Holy Ghost Youth cordially invite one and all to the upcoming Youth Mass on 23rd Feb. It's been a few months since we had a Youth Mass. The November Youth Mass was washed out by rain. December we were out caroling and had our elections. January we had the Novena and Feast of our Lady of Perpetual Help. But the Youth Mass has always been central to HGY, and will continue to be. This month, we are going to be back with a bang. So come, see, participate and bring others to the celebration:

Come As You Are - Enrollment Day

Yesterday, 16th Feb was enrollment day, and we had a special surprise to offer the people coming out of Holy Ghost Church after Sunday Mass. They were greeted by a quick song from the worship team and on the second number, to their surprise flash mob dancers started their act. The crowd of all ages was highly enthralled and excited and many joined the cheering and even came out dancing to the worship music.

Thanks to all who participated and contributed through intercession, preparation, practices and execution on the day. We greatly appreciate all the members, both old and new who shared in our celebration of HGY.

Jesus & Religion

On Feb 2nd, we had a video based discussion. We started with Jefferson Bethke's  "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus" video from Youtube (almost 27 million hits as I write):


and went on to discuss it. This gave us a chance to delve deeper into what Religion really is for us. A definition of religion that clarifies what it means to us.

Every religion has 3 facets: Creed, Code and Cult. Creed refers to what followers of the religion believe and profess. For example, for Christians through the centuries, it has the Apostolic Creed and the Nicene Creed, which are really, essentially the same. Code refers to the morality and commandments which are followed. Cult refers to the religious practices - worship, rites and rituals.

Now everyone agrees that Jesus is greater than religion, but did Jesus really come to abolish religion?
Does religion build huge Churches and fail to feed the poor, tell single moms God doesn't love them if they've ever had a divorce? There's a lot of questions actually. So we showed another video "Why I Love Religion and Love Jesus" by Fr. Pontifex:



So, Jesus Himself said "I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill the law and the Prophets" - Matthew 5:17
and the Catholic Church is the single largest worldwide source of relief to the poor, hungry & sick.