Youth Ministry Newsletter
Issue 8, December 2009
The Gecko
Inside this issue
>
YCS action
>
ERC invitation
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Spanish Corner
The Gecko
From the Editor
What a busy year! Camps,
conferences, councils (DYC),
catechesis's ...the list goes on
and on. We hope you’ve
enjoyed our events in 2009,
and we look forward to many
more such meetings next year.
From all of us in the Youth
Ministry Team, we wish you a
very blessed and happy
Christmas. And may the
holidays be a time of rest and
renewal for you, spent with
loved-ones by your side.
This will also be my final
edition of The Gecko as
editor, as I prepare to return
to my teaching career in the
new year. I wish you all the
best for 2010 and beyond.
Anna Anderson
JOIN US FOR THE
ADVENT PROGRAM!
Each Friday night during the four weeks of Advent we will have time for prayer, reflection and
discussion. Join us from 7.30pm at The House of Prayer, Pimlico.
Dates:
27th November
11th December
4th December
18th December
The Gecko
Youth Ministry Newsletter
Page 2
YCS
Reflection
On Monday the 9th of November, Columba’s YCS completed
their first action against racism. YCS members used face
paint to paint their faces and then eventually, limbs of
students at the Mt. Carmel Campus. YCS is a student run
group that aims to change issues in society that are harmful
by putting our faith into action - so far we have looked at
racism and body image. We did this to show that the colour
of our skin (or paint) doesn’t matter because we are all
human beings underneath and deserve respect and equal
opportunities. Paint was drawn on a few people but soon
students from every grade were asking to be painted. The
message behind the action spread like wildfire. This was
such a success; we plan to repeat this action at the
Townsville Diocese YCS Christmas Gathering in late
November, which three of our excited Year 9 future leaders
are attending.
By Jessie Fauntleroy and Peta Meehan
Page 3
The first generation of Christians believed that the Lord would
return very soon to complete his messianic work. They were
dismayed when some believers began to die and still he had
not come (1 Thess 4:13-18). The later writings of the New
Testament, the four Gospels included, all address this
problem. It may be that the Lord will not come tomorrow, next
year or even before this generation dies out. But come he will
in a time known only to God (Mark 13:32). Meanwhile, this
time of waiting is not just empty space devoid of meaning –
like time spent waiting at a bus stop. This 'in-between' time is a
sacred time, a time for the Church to proclaim the Gospel to
every nation (Mark 13:10; Acts 1:6-8), to make sense of the
present, while never giving up the hope that God’s Messiah,
Jesus, will have the last word in history.
Advent, in my understanding, is the season that honours and
celebrates this waiting aspect of Christian life. Because we live
in the time following the first coming of the Saviour, the prime
focus of our waiting and our expectation is upon the second
coming of the Lord. But because salvation is not complete,
because we are so conscious of a world standing in need of
full redemption, we can identify with the prophets and holy
men and women who hung upon the promise of salvation
before the first coming of the Lord. Their cries of need, their
utterances of hope express our own longings and hopes for a
liberated and just world.
Believers must be like people expecting visitors but unsure as
to when exactly they will arrive. The time of waiting requires
attentiveness and a sharp spiritual sense. Anything that dulls
the spirit (debauchery and drunkenness) or causes it to be
distracted (absorption in the cares of life) must be avoided.
Advent is a time for examination in such areas. It is also a time
for exploring our deepest longings and desires and allowing
them to surface. They can ride up, so to speak, on the
scripture texts that the Church puts before us at this time.
God’s only wish in our regard is to communicate to us the life
and love for which we long. Each Advent should expand both
our longing and our capacity to receive the gift of God.
© Brendan Byrne SJ
Humour
Sunday Readings:
5-6 December
Baruch 5:1-9
Psalm 125
Philippians 1:3-6, 8-11
Luke 3:1-6
News
Global
12-13 December
National
Zephaniah 3:14-18
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:10-18
19-20 December
More people in the US believe a
statement about giving "justice
to the poor and homeless"
came from President Obama
instead of its true source, the
Bible, a survey commissioned
by the American Bible Society
found.
Dr Dan White, executive director
of Catholic schools in the
Sydney archdiocese, is urging
parents to consider encouraging
their kids to participate in other
ways than "Schoolies Week" to
celebrate the end of school.
Join us at “Stable on the
Strand”, December 1923. We’ll be at the youth
section...see you there!
Micah 5:1-4
Psalm 79:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-40
25 December (day)
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 97: 1-6
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14
Youth Ministry Newsletter
Page 4
Spanish Corner
In preparation for 2011 in Madrid, Spain—It’s time to start learning Spanish!
A Spanish Conversation:
Buenos días. Como están usedes?
(Good morning. How are you?)
Muy bien, gracias Y usted?
(Well, thank you, and you?)
Yo me encuentro bien, gracias.
(I’m well thank you.)
Ways to stay in touch:
•
Join us at our events: We’d love to see you there!
•
Join us on facebook: The group is “Townsville Catholic Diocese”
•
Join us on our website: www.youth.tsv.catholic.org.au/
The Gecko
Includes links to other youth ministry sites, other groups within the diocese, and
our calendar of events.
•
Contact us: See below for how!
Sign up to “The Gecko” via the youth website, or via email: [email protected]
WANT TO BE A REPORTER FOR “THE GECKO”? Contact the above email address to volunteer.
Contact details
Diocesan Youth Office:
Anna Anderson
Diocesan Youth Ministry Team Leader
(Ph) 4726 3251
(M) 0418 738 822
(E) [email protected]
Edmund Rice Camps:
(Ph) 4726 3263
(E) [email protected]
Dan Bowmar
Diocesan Vocations Promotions Officer
& Youth Ministry Development Officer
(Ph) 4726 3252
(M) 0428 263 200
(E) [email protected]
Carmen Thorman
Administrator
Cameron Harris
Indigenous Youth Development Officer
(Ph) 4726 3262
(E) [email protected]
Web: www.youth.tsv.catholic.org.au/
Our little elf in the office….
YCS:
Vicky Burrows
National Coordinator
(Ph) 4726 3241
(M) 0412 529 656
(E) [email protected]
Erin Elwin, Anna Isnard & Dane West
Coordinators
Web: www.erc.tsv.catholic.org.au/
Vinnies:
(Ph) 4771 4077
(M) 0400 764 618
(E) [email protected]
Ashley O’Sullivan, Karyn Redmond
& Duncan Webley
Facilitators
Web: www.erc.tsv.catholic.org.au/
vinnies.htm