Jesus Youth Hyderabad organized its 4th annual growth retreat from 8th-10th May, 2009 at Birdy, led by Fr. Vincent, national director of the YCS/YSM. A total of 23 JY members attended the retreat.The retreat commenced at 8 pm on the 8th of May with Rosary and was followed by P&W.

In the first session Fr. Vincent concentrated upon the meaning of a growth retreat. The focus should shift from ‘self’ to ‘GOD’ and we need to transmit to others what we have received in our journey with God. The second session after dinner focused upon the role of the Holy Spirit, which father explained with the example of Moses from the Old Testament.

The second day started at 6:30 am with P&W. Father explained that the best way to recognize the voice of God is to get familiar with it. He helped the participants categorize the gifts of the Holy Spirit into Inward, Outward and Manward virtues. At 10:45 am the Holy Mass was celebrated. In the second session the participants did a run-through on the life of Job. By quoting verses from the book of Job, father explained how Job was defocused and how God refocused him. Pre-lunch father also detailed upon two other characters from the New Testament Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus.
Post lunch the first session was on the ‘Purpose of Christian life’.

Fr. Vincent explained in detail the 7 cardinal sins that a Christian needs to be wary of. 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm was a time for personal reflection given to the participants. Facilities for confession were arranged during the same time. During the session that began at 6:00 pm father elaborated on ‘Who is a disciple’. He explained the terms ‘Traditional disciple’ and ‘Biblical disciple’ and brought out the difference between the two. Father made the participants understand that the mission of a disciple is to ‘make disciples’. We then had a beautiful time of adoration which was followed by dinner.

The third day began with P&W at 6:30 am. In the first session, the life of Saul was detailed upon from the book of Samuel. Through the life story of Saul father explained how God delights more in obedience than in sacrifices. The second session focused on ‘Discipleship’. Father explained with examples that while making disciples one should ensure that they should be made disciples of God and not of the one who is making them disciples. Father also listed down the qualities of a disciple and explained the same in detail to the participants. Father also helped the participants understand that it is important to ‘Bring God to his people’ and not to ‘Take people to God’. At 10:45 am the Holy mass was celebrated and offered specially for the participants of the retreat.

The third session of the day was on Faith and Wisdom. Through many references to the Bible father helped the participants understand the meaning of these two gifts of the Holy Spirit. Post lunch, a group discussion was organized wherein each participant recognized an area where she/he needs to work the most on in their journey to make disciples for Christ. During the last session of the day each participant shared her/ his personal experience during the growth retreat and also on their association with Jesus Youth.

The participants also expressed their gratitude for the facilities arranged for them at Birdy for the retreat to be conducted.
On all three days, hymns and action songs were taken up at regular intervals to keep the retreat lively. The participants were urged to maintain as much of silence as possible.

Each of the participants left from Birdy at 6:00 pm with a renewed zeal to reach out to the people of God and to make disciples.

Blessings '09 Video in 10 mins

BLESSINGS’09-get drenched, a retreat by the youth for the youth, was an answer to the prayer and patient wait of 5yrs, the first of its kind in the twin cities, of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

This retreat indeed proved to be a great BLESSING in many lives. With about 280 people participating from 40 different parishes from the twin cities, this retreat was conducted at St. Francis College -Begumpet from 23rd - 26th Jan.

DAY 1 := Opening Day

The retreat started with a skit and then later continued with the sharing of Br. Alphonse, who is not only a prominent member of the REX Band but also, is a famous music director from the Malayalam film industry.

Bro. Alphose’s preaching revolved around Love & Fullness of life. His teachings were inspired by the verses 1John.4: 8, Matt.6: 33, Philip.3: 7, and 1 Cor.15: 19. The day then continued with the sharing of Br. Joseph, a renowned assistant director in the Malayalam film industry.

Both these individuals greatly inspired the participants and despite being busy with their respective professional demands, the duo chose to come down to Hyderabad from Kerala and live in our midst to share their experiences and spread the Word of God.

The evening ended with the sharing of facts from the Holy Quran by Br. Mario, an acclaimed preacher from the Divine Center in Potta, Kerala. Br.Mario was a former Maulavi-a Muslim cleric. At 18 he was one of the youngest clerics in our country. What was most inspiring was his claims to have found the answers regarding his doubts about the “One And Only True God” through the Quran. He stated that the Quran greatly praised and appreciated the works of JESUS the REDEEMER. And because of this he was inspired to know more about JESUS which later forced him to go to POTA and join the bible study classes.

His sharing left many amazed and were driven to consider the fact that when a Staunch Muslim believer could so greatly believe in Christ, where did one stand in terms of faith, in spite of being born and brought up in a Christian families. With this thought the first day came to an end leaving most of the participants eager to experience the love of Christ.

DAY 2 := GOD’s LOVE

“When I praise God nothing happens to God but something good happens to me.”

The second day started of with Praise and Worship by Bro. Alphonse . When he said these words, everyone was greatly moved and the initial hesitancy to praise GOD vanished and they praised God freely. Bro .Mario whose sessions were greatly awaited, then further continued the session. He explained hat -We are all the children of GOD, created out of love. We have a GOD who stands by us till the End of Times; We share a Father-Child Relation with GOD, which is contrary to the Master-Slave Relation quoted in the Quran. Bro.Mario continued to speak to us about loving one’s own enemy even though wounded.

Following this session there was Holy Mass. Unlike other masses this mass was different and really caught our attention, as there was an inclusion of power point slides, which supported father’s sermon. “God gives the best to those who leave the choices to him” was the tag line. After some time of break Bro Adolf, the elder of Jesus youth –Hyderabad spoke to us about the importance of knowing the Word Of God.

“There are 8000 promises in the bible!!!” he told us. As the day progressed, we got to see more of Bro. Mario’s powerful preaching.

He specified about the various kinds of spirits that were quoted in the bible… Isa.19:14 is about the Spirit of confusion; Isa.29:10 is about the Spirit of deep sleep; Mark.9:17, 25 is about the Spirit of muteness & deafness; 2Tim.1:7 Spirit of fear; Acts.16:16; Mark .1:21; Luke.13:11; 1Kings.22:22.

He also stated that the bible also provides the remedies needed to heal wounds that are both spiritually and physically inflicted. He gave us these verses, and asked us to remember them in times of crises-2Cor.5:11; 1Peter.2:24; Gal.3:1-13; 2Cor.8:9 .The evening ended with more testimonies from Bro. Vijay and Bro. Rodney followed by the adoration

DAY 3 := INNER HEALING

The day started at 7:00.a.m, with a complete series of action songs and praise and worship rejuvenating the souls. Later the participants were shown a clipping by Br. Rodney on “I Am Confused”. He further added that this situation could be avoided if we had the sense of Self Worth.

Br. Rajan then continued and told us that we could receive Abundant Graces from God if we are obedient. He gave everyone the following quotes John.10:10, 35; Ps.6:5; Rom.6:16; Jer.23:29, and asked the participants to derive strength from them when weak and in despair.

The next session was an important session that left everyone speechless. It was a series of clippings on the most controversial topic till date “Abortion & Euthanasia” :Isa.43: 4 says ‘You Are Precious To Me” and this verse conveys that we have no right to destroy or kill God’s creation. This program was an initiative of JY’s Prolife Ministry. Post lunch we had a beautiful session on confession by Bro Rhodney, who explained to us the meaning and purpose of confession. Many of us youth, had a good confession after a very long time, as it was then that we got to know the real meaning of confession.

Holy Mass followed which was celebrated by Fr. Sagairaj in the evening. The sermon was based on the lines of the Prodigal Son. This was followed by a time of divine healing which was lead by Fr. Cyril, “I will provide all the needs of your heart”, says the Lord, this verse when read out during the healing session brought great hope to many. This session enabled everyone to feel the power of the Holy Spirit. It also made everyone thirst more for God. Every single soul rejoiced, as they got drenched in the Redeemer’s Spirit. Many youngsters were healed and anointed by the Holy Spirit.

DAY 4 := HOLY SPIRIT INFILLING

The last Day of the retreat, started of with an enriching experience of Praise and Worship by Bro Adolf Goldwyn. The participants were told about the importance of personal prayer by Bro Rodney, after which they were asked to spend some time in prayer. Later Br. Rodney emphasized on the six aspects of JY-PRAISE, which means

P - Praise
R - Repentance
A - Adoration
I -Intercession
S - Supplication
E - Evaluate.

During the later part of the day there was Infilling Of The Holy Spirit led by Father Vijay, and since most of us witnessed such a session for the first time as they were greatly moved by it. Following this session there was Holy Mass celebrated by Father Solomon, during which everyone were greatly able to experience Christ after the Infilling.

After a break time, there was a skit based on the story of Happy Prince; the skit was beautifully conducted and helped the participants to praise GOD for his goodness.

Following this session Bro Rodney spoke about the six pillars of JY. Another speaker -Bro Manoj , a important member of National Catholic Charismatic Youth Movement, who spoke about the importance of Fellowship, Bro Vijay the Coordinator of JY –Hyderabad, continued the session giving an orientation about what JY is, and how being a part of JY fellowship will help grow in faith. He later divided the participants according to their parishes and asked them to discuss plans about the future in continuing the prayer mission in their respective parishes after which everyone shared their thoughts. A small prayer after this then brought down the curtains on Blessings.

These four days were drenched in prayer, sharing, and spiritually enriching messages. So inspiring were the messages that everyone truly believed that they are the “Chosen“ ones, and the answers to all the questions one faces in life lies in the Holy Bible. At the end of it all everyone believed that reading the word of God and meditating upon it, would enable them to witness ‘God’s Grace In their Lives’, something that the youth craved for and just couldn’t get enough of.

What kept us glued to our seats moreover was the creative display of the stage for every session. The creativity and ambience created on stage added to the spiritual environment and helped us stay focused without getting distracted.

BLESSING was an inspiration, an experience, an encounter to know GOD and HIS immeasurable love, a time to reconcile and forgive and the hope to live on with our helper the Holy Spirit to seek HIS guidance, HIS BLESSINGS always and move on ………

SHALOM ALEIKIM - (PEACE BE WITH U)

Explore’09 a JY Hyderabad teens ministry initiative, was a retreat conducted for the students of 8th, 9th & 10th class of St. Ann’s High School-Secunderabad on 7th and 8th of February-2009

The program started off at 9.00am on 7th morning with action songs. This was followed by an Ice breaking session wherein the participants got to know more about themselves. Immediately after the Ice breaking session Russell led the students into a small time of worship.

This time of worship helped prepare the students for the next session, which was taken by Vignan. He spoke to the students about “God’s Love “ for the entire mankind. The clipping of the “bridge” presented during this session touched everyone.

The second session was on the topic of Obedience, taken by Vandana. A very interactive session, wherein many participants shared a lot about themselves. This session was a great motivation for many.

After a break for lunch, Fr.Vijay from Suraram colony parish celebrated Holy Mass. This was then followed by a group activity where the participants were divided into small groups. Each group was given a parable to enact. The students came forward with a lot of creativity and humility. They were so spontaneous in everything that they were doing on stage that it was really touching for many of us elders.

After this wonderful activity, Lucy Akka took the next session on “Sin & Repentance”. For this session, all the teachers, nuns and volunteers around were asked to sit in the adoration chapel. Since this session was the most important session for all the participants as it helped them have a meaningful introspection in to their lives. After this session the participants expressed the feeling that their heart have become less burdened and freer.

Immediately after the session we had Adoration conducted by Brother Adolf . For this
time of adoration, the stage was decorated in a special way in order to create the necessary ambience that would help the participants focus on the LORD. At this wonderful time, Bro Adolf took the participants into a time of commitment and surrendering. Many participants cried and shed out their tears and were greatly touched by the lord’s awesome presence.
The day hen concluded with a decade of rosary after dinner.

2nd day
The second day started at 7.00am with a small prayer. After the prayer, Prashanth Veneer took all the teens to a silent place. He asked them to listen to spend time in prayer alone and listen to the Lord’s call in silence. He stressed on the importance of Listening and not just hearing God’s call.

After a break for breakfast, Vijay took the next session on
Responsibility. He stressed more on aspects like
“How I as a student am responsible for myself, my studies, my parents, my life etc”? Most of the participants then shared their experiences about their family situations.

After the break, Russell started music and had some more Action songs.

This was followed by a talk on “Prayer”; by Vignan. He clearly explained aspects like “How to pray, how to be in the presence of the lord, etc”? After the session, the participants became a little more serious regarding their Prayer life.

Immediately after the session, the teens were asked to sit in groups. There was a group activity wherein a story was told to the participants, after which some questions were asked. The story was about “Broken Pot”. In this session, the participants had a great time-sharing their personal experiences.

After lunch and small time of worship we had mass celebrated by Fr.Philip. After which we had a powerful hour of “Infilling of the Holy Spirit” led by Adolf Bro. During this time of Infilling, one could really experience the powerful presence of the Lord. There were many who gave testimony about their powerful experience with the LORD.
With this, the retreat came to an end.

All Glory to God who led us so mightily throughout this retreat.

Blessings '09 Promo Video , View & Download

Blessings'09 is a youthful blend of parish and campus youth with an added flavor of working professionals, coming together from Jan 23, 5pm to Jan 26th 2009 for an initial retreat, by the youth for the youth.

Blessings Brochure - Download

Blessings Poster- Download

Blessings 09 PPT backgrounds - Download

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You are invited to be a part of it. Come and experience three days of grace and an outpour of blessings.

Why Should You Be A Part Of It ????

Well, because this is one opportunity wherein you can witness God's presence in a personal way. Why wait till your old, come and experience HIM now and be the rightful owner of your share of his blessings.

What will you Gain From This Retreat ???

Come and see for yourself and you will not be dissapointed. Trust me there is something in store for each one of you. You will not lose anything if you do not come but you will definitely lose out on something precious if you miss it.

We the Jesus Youth want to share Jesus with all of you, Come and Taste the Lord who is so good. Come and Experience his goodness.

Whom To Contact ??

Shibu Devasia ( General Coordinator ) : 9885722430
Vijay Veneer ( Jesus Youth Coordinator ) : 9848729492
Vandana Maria ( Jesus Youth Asst Coordinator ) : 9866461979

How Can You Help ???

You can help this retreat touch many souls by letting many youth know about it. Please ask your children, brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces to come and join this retreat. Be a blessing by mobilizing as many people as you can.

More Information

Venue of the retreat : St Francis College
Dates: Jan 23, 5.00 p.m.- Jan 26,5.oo p.m.

( Its a stay in retreat ) ,Registration amt: Rs 200

Blessings Caller Tune.mp3 - Listen & Download

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Blessings 09 Theme Song, Caller & Ring Tone Lyrics in PPT-Download

Dear all,
Praise God!!!
Continuing in the spirit of hope, preparation & longing for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we- the JY Hyd came once again to celebrate the Lord's day with God's children at St. Francis college from 2.45pm onwards.

MC of the day Sachith started off with a small activity of finding out new things about the people in the group. It was fun with people scrambling around to find out unknown facts about our bros n sis in Christ.

Sr.Mary supported by Vignan on guitar led this time the praise & worshop session. True to her style & the presence of Spirit, she led us into a very powerful time of praise which prompted the people to join in wholeheartedly and subsequently worship the Lord with full heart, mind & soul .No one realized that 45mins went by in the presence of the lord.

Today we continued our preparation for advent by studying bible in groups. The gospel reading of the day mark1: 1-8 was taken up for study. After sharing n reflecting in groups, each group shared what they can take back for their life from the verse. Its as follows:

1.Getting out of comfort zone like John the Baptist for Christ.
2.Discovering the hope in people around us & answering their hope by giving them Christ.
3.Have to be present at the right place to give Jesus to others.
4.Be like John to atleast one person around us i.e. preparing one to receive Jesus in their lives.

If last time we burned slips offering our self to Christ, then this time we took 3 slips each to play Secret Santa to 3 other people during this Christmas time. We have to pray for these 3 people and keep it a secret till Christmas. If possible we can do any creative things for that person.

Announcements
1.Jy family gathering on Dec14 Sunday from 10am to 4pm at St.Francis College.
2.CPG outreach to mother Theresa house of destitute on Dec21.
3.Jy Hyd initial retreat from Jan23-26 at St.Francis College.

CPG - every sunday 2.45pm onwards at St.Francis College,Begumpet.

Dear all,

Praise God!!!
Last Sunday which was the first Sunday of Advent, we all came together to prepare ourselves for this season at the CPG (Central Prayer Group).

After starting off with the rosary at 2.45pm, Preethi led us into a beautiful time of Praise & Worship supported in music by Adolf cheta. She asked us to keep the coming of Jesus in mind during the Praise & Worship time as Advent means coming or arrival.

After the P & W, Bro Gordon Morris took a session on Advent based on Word of God & church perspectives and also what it means to each one of us, our communities etc. Finally he led us into a personal exercise of self-purification as a preparation for this Advent season. Below are some of the major points from his prayerful & informative session:

1. The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve (Dec 24).

2. The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Scripture reading for Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.

3. Advent symbolizes the spiritual journey for us as individuals. So that we live in a way that symbolizes that that the Kingdom Of God is at hand. This implies that our lives are holy living as we live "between the times" and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as God's people.

4. Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. It is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world, as was first expressed by Israelite slaves in Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression.

5. Pope Benedict XVI 12/11/08 says, “Paul speaks of this return of Jesus, called the parousía, the advent, the new and definitive and manifest presence (cf.1 Thes 4:13-18)”. In other words, the awaiting of the parousía of Jesus does not dispense with the work of this world, but on the contrary, makes us aware of our responsibilities before God regarding our way of acting in this world. It is a call to prepare for the Day of the Lord.

6. Pope Benedict tells us "Advent is a time to be in close contact with God, the one who knows and loves mankind and that it is necessary to be in contact with God. God knows us, he knows me, he knows all of us, he loves me, and he won't leave me."(5/12/07)

Personal Reflection

• After having examined the various aspects of the waiting for the parousía of Christ, we need to ask ourselves:

1. What is my fundamental attitude as a Christian toward the last things -- death and the end of the world?

2. Is my attitude one of certainty that Jesus has risen, is with the Father, and because of that, is with us forever? And no one is stronger that Christ, because he is with the Father, who is with us?

3. Do we live in fear of final judgment or are we conscious of being in Christ at all times and because of this, we are secure and free of fear?

4. As a Christian, Christ has left us the task of living in this world according to his way of living. If I am in Christ does my life reflect the light of Christ to my family, my neighbors and to the world?

5. Christ has given us talents; what is our attitude and responsibility toward the world, toward our brothers and sisters in the Church and the world?

6. Is this Advent and Christmas going to be just like all the others or is there going to be a change?

Personal Exercise
What is that one thing that is a block to my intimacy with Jesus and the coming of His Kingdom?
Each one of us wrote one aspect, which is blocking us from the love of Jesus and burned the paper in front of all. This is was our Christmas gift for Christ Jesus.

Overall it has been a wonderful start for our advent preparations. We will be continuing advent thoughts in the coming week also.

Do join us with your friends & family for our weekly JY hyderabad central prayer group(CPG)every sunday at St.francis college from 2.45pm onwards.

The Ministry Team Gathering was conducted from 22nd November evening to 23rd November evening.

Number of participants: 25

Day 1 (22nd November-Saturday)
The MC for the day was Sachith

As per the schedule the meeting with the rosary led by George Bro at 5:30 PM.

Then there was a time of personal sharing. Each member was asked to introduce himself or herself and had to share about how they spend the day and a small sharing on how their week was. Based on this there was a question answer session in which one person would ask a question based on the sharing and others should give the answer. The star of this session was our Besto Bro who exhibited his brilliance by answering almost 90% of the questions and asking some wonderful questions.

This was followed by a time of fun. We played the musical chair. There were some great performances by Shibu Bro, Nidheesh but again, the person who stole the show was Besto Bro with his Dancing skills. This continued till 7:10PM

The next one hour, we spend in the presence of the Lord. We had a beautiful time of adoration lead by our elders Lucy and Adolf Goldwyn.
At 8:15 PM we went for dinner.

Assembling back at 9:15 PM, we had an action song followed by individual sharing on "why we are here and what is our expectation out of this program". A briefing followed this on the purpose of the program.

The day ended at 9:45 PM and with the announcement of being back the next day by 6:30 AM.

Day 2 (23rd November-Sunday )
The MC for the day was George Chettan.

6:30 AM - After getting ourselves out of sleep by dancing for the Lord (Action song), we spend the next 30 minutes in Praise and Worship lead by Prashanth.

This was followed by a time of Personal prayer.

At 7:30 AM we had our breakfast.

8:30 AM we had our 1st session of the day by Adolf Bro on "God's WILL"
To have Complete trust in him
To be where our Lord want us to be,
are some of the points the session was focused on.

After the 45 minutes session we had an activity to know ourselves better and to evaluate our spiritual life. A "CHECKLIST OF A CHARISMATIC LEADER" was distributed and we had to answer the questions in that and evaluate ourselves.
George Bro coordinated this.
There was a discussion on some of the questions also.

10:30 a.m. we took a Tea break.

We all assembled back at 10:45 AM. Action songs kept us energetic and active.
The 2nd session of the day started at 10:55AM.
" Setting priorities, Knowing Will Of God, Balancing, Comfort Zone".
This was an interactive session coordinated by Shibu Bro.

The question on setting priorities in life was asked to Lucy Chechi
"God is number 1 priority in my life everything else is 2nd and 3rd " .Lucy Chechi
The main focus point was to give GOD No:1 position in our life.
Adolf Bro's testimony strengthened this point further.

The Next question was on " How to know the will of GOD" , this was answered by Sr Mary
"When you are in deep love with a person you know his/her likes and dislikes without the other person telling you. Similarly if we are in deep love with God we will know his will" ...Sr Mary
Always seek the will of god, for even the smallest thing. This was the focus of the sharing that went on.

"Balancing ministry activities and studies and other day today activities" was what Prashant was sharing on.
" I have not lost anything because I got involved in JY activities in fact it has helped me grow more. My memory power has been strengthened, my communication skills have improved and JY elders have guided me and helped me be a better student.From an average student to a good student" ... Prashant
Focus of the discussion-Being a JY we have to be the best in whatever we are .

"What is Comfort zone and how do we tend to be in this comfort zone " This was the question that was asked to Vignan.
Focus point - Don't be in your comfort zones. Challenge yourselves to go forward and take up responsibilities.

The whole session was summarised by Adolf Bro.

At 1:00 PM we went for Lunch and we were back by 1:30 PM.

The next was ministry level updates and sharing.
All the team members sat with their respective teams and had a planning session for the activities for the next 6 months.
The entire session was for 2 hours.

This was Followed by Holy Mass at 3:30 PM celebrated by Fr Vijay ( Youth Director).
During the Mass the names of the new coordinators for the ministries were announced.
Following which the anointment of the coordinator and team were done.

Coordinators
Intercession - Antony
CPG - Nidheesh
Teens - Prashand Veneer
Campus - Jarald
Nurse's - Anila

The program ended with a lot of joy and happiness congratulating the new coordinators who will be leading the ministries and the new teams.

Dear all,
Praise God!
Greetings from the central prayer group of JY Hyderabad!


Last Sunday the JY Hyd family once again came together to experience a time of prayer, worship & fellowship.

This time the praise & worship was beautifully led by Sheeba, a student of Vijay Marie nursing college. She was fully backed by the entire girls from Vijay Marie; they supported her with their melodious voices and also sang some new songs. In fact they led it so well, that we all felt the urge to praise & thank God for his blessings in our life.

Fr.Bosco, who had just come back from a trip to Kandhamal a district in Orissa, took the second session. For those who are not aware the kandhamal distict in Orissa was greatly affected by communal violence recently .The Christians were constantly tortured through violence and harassed by the communal forces there.


Fr.Bosco’s sharing and subsequent video presentation was very heart touching. The real facts were far more shocking and heart moving than the news we were fed from media. Father joined a medical team from Bangalore to gain access to the affected area.

The conflict that is portrayed in Orissa is not between the tribals and dalits as portrayed by Bajrang dal and RSS but is a well-planned and well-coordinated attack on Christians. The Christians were helping poor people to come out of slavery, that they were bound in for ages, this disturbed the rich very much. So they were waiting for a chance to drive the Christians away. Swami Lakshamanandas,who himself is charged with several cases gave them the chance they were eagerly waiting for.


Fr also stressed the need for standing united before the perpetrators, something that was lacking among Catholics of that place. Several priests from that area and from Hyderabad also are coming together and trying to figure out how to handle this situation effectively in future.

The team from Hyderabad have also decided to gift an amount of Rs 5000 as Christmas gift to each Christian family in Orissa.Father urged, all those who wee interested to come forward and contributefor this mission. He also requested prayers for the families in Orissa as the VHP and RSS have called for bandh on Christmas. Not only this they attacked the Christians, last Christmas also. Fr. right fully urged us all to pray and stay courageous as this can happen to us at anytime. He even invited us to come and stay over at kandhamal for a weekend for helping them.

As a catholic youth movement JY is also trying to help out bhuvaneshwar. Both the JY coordinator and asst.coordinator visited bhuvansehswar and talked to bishops and priests of that place. An adoration center is opened for the same. Also a group of 10people went from kerala to build houses for them for free.

Announcements

1.JY hyd team gathering on Nov 22-23 at satyodayam. Please pray for this imp gathering of all ministry teams in hyderabad.

2.JY hyd family gathering on dec14 for bringing together all people under one roof, a Christmas celebration is also planned for the same.

3.Next Sunday CPG, we will be having adoration with the presence of blessed sacrament and also divine office(official prayer of the catholic church)
--

CPG : every sunday at St.Francis college from 2.45pm to 5pm

-CPG Team

About 320 Catholic, Christian and Non-Catholic students along with the non teaching staff of St.Francis College for Women, Begumpet, gathered together from October 31st to November 2nd, 2008 for a Retreat based on the Word of God, conducted by Jesus Youth of Hyderabad.

The Retreat began with a story of a musical concert. Begalin, a violinist, completed one of his musical concerts with just one string on the violin, leaving the audience in awe. In the same way, we have just one beautiful life. And this one life of our’s matters most, whether we’re dynamic or not. We’re all conceived in the sight of the Lord’s mind even before we were formed in our mother’s womb. In spite of all our sinfulness and broken heartedness, we are all special in the sight of the Lord, because we are unworthy but are made worthy by the Lord.

The violin was in the hand of the master musician. In our lives, we’re in the hands of the Master Musician-Jesus. It doesn’t matter what you have. Just one thing matters-“Where You Are Placed”. With this story in mind the 3 day retreat continued with the following themes, put forth by the preacher.

Word of God: The Word Of God is full of God’s promises and is all about His love for us. We need to see, hear, touch and experience the Word of God. The Word of God heals, changes and gives life. There are words of consolation in the Word of God. John 6:63-“My words are spirit and life”.

We cannot cherish the Word of God unless we know and are hungry and thirsty for it. Those who love Jesus will keep His word. We need to find and experience the treasure-The Word “Jesus”.

Faith and the love of God are closely related. Faith transforms our lives and makes us new. God’s love is beautiful and holy.

Today, we’re asking darkness to hide our inner selves. The lord wants us to listen and open our inner selves to Him. Faith is the experience of the love of god.

Obedience: Today we’re not able to listen to the voice of God and be obedient because we’re in a noise (the world is speaking to us). Obedience and faith are the two sides of the same coin.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith, which needs to be functioning in our lives, is the evidence (in God’s Word) of things unseen. We believe that God is a faithful God and so we believe that God has an unseen blessing for each one of us. Christ like faith or Christian faith is when we believe and then we see. Our actions prove our faith (like Abraham’s sacrifice). Faith should please God (like Enoch). Exercising faith means we are obeying the Lord. We cannot compartmentalize obedience from faith. When we obey the inspiration of God, we are pleasing God and so our faith is operative.

Without obedience we cannot have faith. Obedience puts our faith into action. Obedience is inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which is the voice of the Lord. It helps us move away from the noise of the world.The Word of God is connected with obedience. We have to tie the Word of God around our neck. When we by heart the Word of God, it becomes a part of our life and obedience becomes easier. With obedience comes the abundance of blessings.

Personal Prayer:Prayer is an intimate conversation and communication with God. When you pray you can expect miracles. We need to come before the Lord with an open, humble and repentant heart. We need to be persistent in our prayers. Prayer, which is the greatest gifts, requires commitment. Nothing on this earth is more powerful than a person at prayer.

10 commandments: God never stops his blessings. It is we who put a block in His way. Many a times we miss out the greatest blessings of God because we hold on to our selfish desires and personal pleasures.

The wages of sin is death. Suffering is a process of purification. We cannot escape the consequences of sin. Dynamics of sin: Sin has a pleasure principle working behind it. There is first a desire to commit sin. Every sin has the power to captivate or attract. Sin begins in the mind. Today we’re in a series of bondage.

Humans have a choice to exercise their freedom, to choose to do good or evil. If we love the father we will not love the world.

The greatest problem today’s humanity is facing is…there is a loss of the sense of sin.

Testimony by Br.Mario from Kerala: Suleman, a born Muslim, who consecrated himself to Allah when he was eight years old, completed all the Islamic studies and achieved M.F.D-the highest degree in Islam.

As he grew up reading the Holy Quran, he realized that the Quran could not provide for his unanswerable doubts about Jesus, Mother Mary, and Prophet Mohammad. He was inspired to read the Holy Bible when he was taken back by a verse in the Quran which mentions that if at any point you have a doubt on what is written in the Quran, one could refer the Holy Bible.
After constantly praying and reading the Holy Bible he was convinced that Jesus is the Living Lord.

Today, this faithful Christ follower, who was once a Muslim Priest, has converted himself into a Catholic calling himself Mario Joseph, and is being used mightily by Jesus as a witness for the last 10 years.

He shared with us that the one who came on Earth is the Word of God. Jesus, who is the Spirit of God, is the Word of God. Jesus is the only Son of God and only those who receive and believe in the name of the only Son of God have the right to become children of God, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

Session on the Holy Spirit: Without the Holy Spirit we cannot live our spiritual life. The Holy Spirit is the gift of Jesus. We lay our foundation for tomorrow’s future. Our spiritual foundation has to be a strong foundation. Every human is soul, mind and body. God created us this way. But today, the body, which is controlled by the world, Satan and the fleshy desires, wants to control the mind and thus the mind becomes a slave to the body and the soul gets tainted. Sin has entered into us reversing the entire system and we need to change it by realizing and getting back our original identity by being ‘holy’. The Holy Spirit controls our holiness.

Inner healing Session: Was a time of grace where the awesome presence of the Lord was felt mightily. Almost all of them received the grace and gift to forgive. They were so many who received the gift of joy, the true joy that comes only from the Lord. So many had seen visions and a few healings took place.

Determination is a must for our spiritual life. God has kept a gift (Eternal life) for us and we need to run for it. We need to train our body and mind so that we can attain eternal life. The ultimate goal is to live as a child of God. Each one of us is called to do something, as we’re all pilgrims journeying on this earth, which isn’t our permanent place. On the way of this journey, we’re preparing ourselves in a distinct and clear way to reach to our goal.

At the end of the Retreat, the students and non-teaching staff of St.Francis comprehended the love of God and cherished the spiritual endeavor they gathered for as children in the presence of the Lord.