Youth Night Drop-In
March. 9th & 17th.
6:30—8:00 pm
See page 2 for details.
OMC Youth Ministry’s
Up - Words
Palm Sunday — March 20th
Easter — March 27th
Our Mother of Confidence Youth Ministry Family
(Full schedule — pg. 3)
March 2016
L. A. Youth Day: #HOPEBOUND
by Alyson Huizar
by Catie Bride
What is L.A. Youth Day? L.A. Youth Day is
a day where thousands of teens go with their
churches to the Anaheim Convention Center and
spend a day, learning about God and themselves
and how they can get closer with him; with talks
from encouraging Friars, Priests and other
speakers, and music to listen to and sing along a
lot. There is a lot to do, and it is very fun. Did I
also mention good food? Because there is.
Everyone’s experience is more or less the
same, but also different. The speakers there will
tell stories of their journey with God and it
might correspond to you; I did with one. You
might also feel really better after this trip as
well, because boy, I sure do. My experience
with this trip is that I love it, I have gone to it for
2 years now and each time is slightly different in
a good way. Going in you’re hit with loud familiar music on the greatness of God; next the
speakers are really inspiring and funny; they really help you find where you are in your relationship with faith by comparing their experiences with yours; this year I finally was able to
find my ‘Story’ thanks to a speaker who shared
his.
There’s also a lot of singing; but seeing everyone sing and hearing the words and the harmony, you find yourself singing along too, and trust
me; I’m not much of a singer. During the last
hours all the groups gathered have one Mass together and it is great. It really makes us all connected in this faith and with God. Also during
an emotional song, everyone gets out a flashlight on their phone all together making the
whole arena like stars, it’s beautiful. Did I mention the food was great again? It is.
In all honesty I highly recommend that all
youth come to this event, it really is fun and
helps strengthen your connection to yourself,
your faith, to the church, your friends here and
to God. It happens once every year, and is a fun
break to go to, so I hope you attend. Thank you.
My L.A. Youth Day experience began early on February
25th. The other members and I arrived at the Anaheim
Convention Center around 8 am and saw our first speaker,
Mark Hart (a.k.a. The Bible Geek). The stories that Mark
told us about and the way that he incorporated Christ and
the Bible into them was very well done. He told us one
story about how he first started to read the Bible as punishment but by the end of his presentation, he challenged us
youth to read the Bible. A worship band came on after him
to further his message through praise music.
Our second speaker, Roy Petitfils, told us his story. Roy
grew up with the idea that he was poor, fat, and stupid. He
felt invisible to people and was not religious due to the belief that if God loved him, he wouldn’t be in his situation.
Roy ended up having co-workers who saw something more
in him. The co-workers scraped together close to $5,000 to
get Roy back to college. (He had flunked out his first semester). He went on to encourage us to share our stories,
and not think that they have no importance just because we
are young.
The next eye-opening experience we had was celebrating
Mass with thousands of people. I often find it hard to stay
engaged in Mass, however this special Mass was colorful
and musical and the priests were ethnically diverse. Parts
of the Mass were bilingual, something I have never experienced before. I was impressed by the abilities of the youth.
All of the choir and musicians, the lectors, and all of the
helpers were youth. Having such a large majority of the
people there being youth, I found it easier to engage
throughout the Mass. Altogether, I am glad that I participated in this year’s L.A. Youth Day.
Re: L.A. Youth Day
Some youth asked if they could go again next year, even
though they are getting confirmed this year.
SURELY YES. We have some that have gone as Juniors and Seniors along with the Confirmation Candidates.
This year there were 13,000 youth that participated. We
see the celebration of our faith on such a grand scale.
Look for the notes about L.A. Youth Day 2017 in the
next few months.
2 — Up-Words
OMC’s Youth Ministry family
Youth Activities
Youth Night
— “Drop-In”
Wednesday March. 9th, 6:30—8:00 pm.
Includes an Adopt-A-Senior project.
Come join in the fun, meet friends and
find new ones too.
Also on Thursday March 17th, 6:30—
8:00 pm. We will help sor t and package
food for the Easter Baskets. This will
help families to make their Easter celebrations a greater blessing.
Another Service Op —
Help Decorate Serra Hall for Easter on
Monday March 21st, 4:30—8:00 p.m.
We’ll be putting up butterflies and flowers
and more.
We are still developing a Recycling Program for OMC. Youth and Parents are
needed to help with this. If you would
like to participate, please let JoEllyn or
Ian know; we will get you in contact
with the organizers.
Help Whispering Winds as a Child Care
Assistant (CCA) at their Family Camps
this Summer. An Orientation Meeting for
youth and parents (both must attend) will
be on Thursday May 5th, 7:00—8:30 pm
in Serra Hall. Youth who have served as
CCAs had great experiences.
Down the Road:
Vacation Bible School (VBS) is J uly
11th-15th, and setup/decorating will be
done July 4th-10th — HELP!
Rummage Sale will be August 13-14,
with setup August 8-12th.
Look for the details for both.
March 2016
Passion for LIFE!
by Ian Mascarenhas
In John 10: 10 Jesus said “I came that you might
have life, and have it abundantly.” Jesus has a passion for life, eternal life. And He wants us to have a
share in it.
One definition for “passion” is “a strong feeling of
enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something.” That is exactly what Jesus accomplished with His life, teachings, suffering, death and
resurrection. All of that was so we could get reconnected with God and our faith family.
We are more alive through our connections and we
all encourage and support each other through our
faith journey.
“Jesus thinks that our place in heaven is more important than His, so He gave up His that you could
have yours.” — quote from Max Lucado.
So if we are not going to do what Jesus tells us:
“Love one another,” “Come and See,” “Take and
eat,” “Take and drink,” “Do this in remembrance of
me,” and share His mission (Matthew 28), then our
actions proclaim “Sorry Jesus, but your suffering and
death just wasn't enough.”
Jesus, as God, not only is LOVE, but He has a
great love (PASSION) for us to become a holy communion. Coming to Mass is not just about what we
get out of it, but also how we contribute toward encouragement & support for LIFE!
At the L.A. Religious Education Congress, the
Labryinth was set up in the Sacred Space area.
I loved sitting here in “Sacred Space.”
I loved even more that God revealed we are
“Sacred Space.” God is present to us everywhere.
March 2016
OMC’s Youth Ministry family
Raising My Family Challenged Me
to Make My Own Changes
by Art Samora
When I was younger, and my kids were younger, my relationship with my kids was more of a one-way street than it is
now. I found myself leaning on the phrase “Because I said so”
more than I should, and really if I am honest with myself, I
was relying on the fact that I was the parent of my children,
and that should be enough of a rationale for them to follow
what I say and not necessarily what I do, as my wife and I began to raise them to become adults, and more specifically,
adults with Catholicism in their lives.
But as my kids have gotten older, I found that “doing what I
say” was not enough. As I would tell my kids not to eat in
front of the TV, they proceeded to point out that I eat in front
of the TV all the time. As I was teaching my kids to drive, it
became important me to drive the speed limit, to use my signals, and to look before switching lanes. Because that is what
my kids were expecting from me as they learned how to drive,
not only from me, but from others.
Being confirmed and staying true to my Catholic Religion is
no different. If I am going to ask my daughter to believe more
deeply in my Religion, then I need to do the same. It was not
enough to give her a ride to Confirmation class. If I am going
to talk it, I’m going to have to walk it. As a result, I need to go
to church. I need to go volunteer myself to help other people
if I am going to ask her to do it. I need to practice my faith if I
am going to expect my daughter to practice hers. I feel as
though I have done that, or at least I am trying. We have volunteered with my daughter, and you know what — It felt pretty good. So hopefully, my way and I can keep working to provide Sarah with a model, so that she can continue being a practicing Catholic as she fledges and leaves home to find her way
in life.
I’m still struggling with eating in front of the TV though.
Praiseworthy
-- God is
Up-Words — 3
Confirmation Retreat
Friday March 11th — Sunday March 13th
At Whispering Winds
Please keep our Candidates and Team
and their families in your prayers.
Other Dates to Remember:
Sunday April 3rd (4 pm): Meeting for
Candidates, Sponsors & Parents, in
Serra Hall.
Thursday April 14th (5:45 pm): Confirmation Rehearsal, in Church.
Sunday April 17th (5:30 pm): Confirmation Mass; Bishop Brom presiding. A
reception follows the Mass.
Candidates and Sponsors check in
downstairs @ 4:00 pm, for a Prayer Service.
Easter Schedule
Parish Reconciliation Service (March
15th): 3:30 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. Several priests
will be available for confessions.
Palm Sunday (March 20th): Regular Mass
schedule. Begin outside with palms processions.
Holy Thursday (March 24th): Mass of The
Lord’s Supper, 7 pm. Church will be open till
10 pm for prayer time.
Good Friday (March 25th): Stations of The
Cross @ Noon. Services @ 3 pm and 7 pm.
There is no Mass on this day, but there are
Communion Services at 3 & 7 pm with veneration of the cross.
Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil (March 26th):
Mass is at 7:30 pm. RCIA Catechumens and
Candidates receive Sacraments.
Praise-wordy
-- we should not
be.
Easter Sunday (March 27th): Masses are
at 7:30 am, 9:00 am (upstairs & downstairs),
11:00 am and 5:30 pm.
May your Lent continue to be blessed and
holy and your Easter be joyful.