Deo Gratias - September Edition

"Happy Birthday" Jesus youth Cardiff

Throughout this Jubilee year God has abundantly sho

wered blessings to every corner of the UK and I have been lucky enough to witness such wonders in my local Jesus youth prayer group in Cardiff. God had taken this small group into his hands and moulded us in away unimaginable to us. It has been one year since Jesus Youth set its foundations in Cardiff and this continuing journey towards God has been filled with great memories.

We celebrated this joyful occasion on the 24^th of September, which was attended by forty of theJesus youth members with their parents. This event was marked with each member bringing something symbolic representing what Jesus Youth is to them and sharing their experiences as a Jesus youth and the challenges they had to

face due to it.

It was evident that Holy Spirit was working through them and God was speaking to us individually

Pinky Sebastian (Cardiff)

The Love for the Eucharistic Lord- Awakening continues

Awakening in Northampton

A 12 hours (NIGHT) of adoration was organized by Jesus Youth along with the Cathedral Church on the 10^th of Sep 2010. It was more of a time of silence. Main intention was Papal visit,

Catholic Church, Bishop of Northampton, Youth in Northampton and JY. We did have Opening prayer at the beginning and Praise and worship songs in every 1 hour interval to make it livelier. Adoration time was concluded with HOLY MASS. There was huge number of participants for the adoration though it was it was conducted in night. There was immense sup

port provided by the priests/deacon/church community which made it a successful.

Nivin Felix (Northampton)

The Journey of the Jesus youth Jubilee Cross

Jubilee Cross Journeys through Cardiff

Another great blessing I would like tosharewith you is the travelling of the Jubilee cross toCardiff and through each JY member’s families. The two weeks that the cross travelled around the place were weeks filled with amazing grace and joy that shone through each family. The two weeks concluded with 24hr adoration conducted at St.Joseph’s church, Cardiff. The reaction to this Eucharistic adoration was fantastic as the small room was filled with people at some point or other. The unity and support from each family had been a true miracle we had the chance to witness. Our prayers for unity among families were truly heard and answered by the Almighty, as this was our main intention during those two weeks.

Pinky Sebastian (Cardiff)

Jubilee cross in Worcester

Extracts from Joby Thamas’s email the Jubilee cross travelled house to house in Worcester, when it was our home we had a wonderful time of prayer in the evening with a few families coming over. On the 1^st of September we had beautiful Mass in the evening which started off with a procession which was led by Fr. Brian McGinley, our Parish Priest who carried the cross in to the Parish hall where the Mass was arranged. Father spoke about the meaning of the Cross and how central it is to our Catholic faith. There were around 30 people who participated.Father gave me a chance to speak about Jesus Youth, the Jubilee and the relevance of the Jubilee cross. It was indeed a wonderful experience considering the fact that at first I thought really hard whether I should get the cross to Worcester since Ani and I were the only JYs here and whether it would be relevant to people here but I must admit that the Jubilee Cross has a certain special power and aura that surrounds it that is drawing people to it. I believe it is the grace of the Jubilee year.

Joby Thomas (Worcester)

Heart Speaks unto Heart –Papal visit UK 2010

Dear friends, I think that most of you would agree with me when I say that this September has been the most eventful and significant month in the life of any catholic living in the UK. Pope Benedict the XIVth’s visit made its mark in history as this was the 1^st papal visit to this country in nearly 30 years.‘Heart Speaks to Heart’ was the motto of Cardinal Newman whose beatification during this visit was a special highlight was chosen as the motto of the visit, an apt message to this country and the world in general. Today as the Catholic Church battles against the vices of this world and some of its own past I feel this message is an invitation to faith in God, specially to the youth like us to open out heart to the Lord, and be the bible in action.

I thank each and everyone for the Jesus youth for having contributed to this edition sharing their views and experiences during the papal visit, God bless.

Jocelyn Fernandes ( London).

A Special Birthday !!

I did have great time with our shepherd and spiritual head Pope Benedict XVI on my birthday. It was such a blessing to have Him celebrate my birthday mass in Birmingham !! After which we had the golden opportunity to be on the live broadcast of the BBC news channel. Seeing the pope face to face & receiving his blessings on such an auspicious day was indeed a great experience . . .

Witnessing the 60,000people go in pin drop silence during the mass was such enriching experience. There was great co-ordination and enthusiasm in getting the beatification done among the crowd. I Must admit that Britain is privileged to get one more person beatified for the will of the Lord . . .

I am sure, our Papa's visit has brought about change in people's criticism to our church and has indeed empowered our faith to great extends .This is to revolutionise our practices and love for each other and thereby build together his kingdomon earth.

So overall it was a great day with our parish and parish members.

Justin Vincent (Chester).

A blessed experience

The excitement to catch up with the Holy Father was on the peak. As the time came closer, I remember that Friday afternoon,my Senior manager calling me to say we have a meeting and launch of Barclays new business in London, which is scheduled to be on Sat & Sunday, and that I had been nominated as the representative from the East London area. For a while I found myself lost on what to say, without much thought I mentioned about Holy Father’s visit and my plans for the weekend. A senior who never likes to receive a ‘NO’ from anyone, didn’t say anything. I took it as a yes

for my weekend plans.That was just the beginning; late evening another incident followed which put me in a situation to change my plans to witness the Holy Father’s visit. Through all the odd situation’s and challenges, my heart was praising the Lord all the time, each praise was taking me closer to witness the Holy Father’s visit.

The blessed experiences of the Night Vigil at Hyde Park, the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman and then followed with the final HolyMass at Cofton Park. I found everyone rejoicing and our Lord’s mighty grace was flowing; it was a festive celebration for more then 200, 000 Christians present at both venues. I am sure many of us had some or other obstacle to make it to the Holy Father’s visit…let’s praise the lord for blessing us, with a successful visit to see the Holy Father.

After coming back to London and I was reflecting the Holy Father’s visit in the light of the Scripture, the words of St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, gives me the personal touch. (Chapter 4:23-27, 32)

“Now your attitudes and thoughts must be consistently changing for the better. Yes you must be anew and different person, holy and good; clothe yourself with this new nature. Do not let resentment lead you into sin; the sunset must not find you still angry. Do not give the devil his opportunity. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiving you because you belong to Christ’’

The living word, as if the Holy Father was telling me personally, I came to UK and this is the message for you my son, for me that’s “HEART SPEAKS UNTO HEART”

Jitto David (London).

Psalms of the heart

Of late, I have begun more to understand the meaning and the depth of John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. The beauty and the hidden emotion of words spoken and written, the way they splash a thousand colours in the landscape of our hearts and minds, are beginning to mesmerise me.

Yet, I can’t seem to find enough words to describe the excitement and emotions during the four days from September 16 to 19. I was joyous, happy, excited, yet tears flowed out without me knowing, without my consent, every so often. I remember on the morning of the 16^th, watching the Air Italia flight landing at Edinburgh Airport, and the 83 year old pontiff coming out of the plane, I had the same feeling as coming back home after a long journey, and seeing my family at the airport. I realised, the Holy Father had become family to me. Heart was truly speaking unto Heart. I was so filled with joy that tears started flowing, and the next four days were so very special in ways words can’t capture.

Both on Thursday and Friday, we followed the regular online updates on BBC and Sky news; started early from office to participate in the televised mass at Bellahouston Park on Thursday and the joint prayer session on Friday at Westminster Abbey; all our thoughts, our talks were about the Holy Father and His visit.

On Saturday, as the Holy Father talked to the young people outside the Westminster Cathedral and as the boys and girls gathered outside cheered and waved, I guess, the joy and pride I felt of being a Catholic, was beyond words. And the prayer vigil in the evening was truly an amazing experience. Our local parish had arranged the screening of the Prayer Vigil on big Screen in our Church, with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament to coincide with the events at Hyde Park and as we knelt before our Lord with the Vicar of Jesus Christ leading us, and the total silence from the crowd, I felt the presence of Angels singing Hallelujah in God’s glory. We could not wait to reach Birmingham. And to top it all, it was truly a blessing to be part of the wonderful papal mass in Birmingham. After the mass, no one could stop talking about the miracle of the rain hiding away, as the Holy Father reached the venue.

Although people talked about the rain stopping, I guess the real miracle was in the lives of people like me. From all the sadness of the immense negative press before the visit, to the Euphoria of the crowds on the streets, to the picture in my mind of the sea of papal flags being waved at Bellahouston Park, to the songs of the youth outside Westminster Abbey in the evening on Friday, to the expectant wait in the rain at Cofton Park, and to the power of His message; it was a journey which I undertook with the Holy Father, without my knowledge. He travelled, He greeted, He spoke; and I, I was right there with him, through my union in the Holy Catholic Church. Moments like these are rare, but rarer still are people like Pope Benedict, who has the courage to stand firm for what is right, and be a glowing example for hundreds of thousands like me.

Thank you dear Papa, and thank you Lord.

Joseph Anthraper (Eastleigh).

Making to the News headlines

It was truly a wonderful experience being a part of the papal visit, and what made it even more eventful was that some of our Jesus youth friends even made it on national news !! At the Hyde park vigil some received phone calls from near and dear ones who spotted them as a group or individually on the live news broadcast. Even at the Beatification mass a group of us were captured on the 'Skynews' channel recordings, while some had the opportunity to be interviewed by the news presenters. The online edition of the 'Guardian' even published the a small write up on Wilma's (London) experience.

The Papal visit was truly a great platform for the Catholic youth to make an impression on the world around, an example to behold not just in words but in deeds proved by

the vast numbers of pilgrims, around 80,00

0 at the vigil in Hyde park and just about 65,000 at the beatification mass at Birmingham. It is estimated that there were around 100 odd members of the Jesus youth friends and family at Hyde park alone who where lead as one

group lead by Shan (London) not inclusive of those that came along with their own parishe

s. At Corfton Park in Birmingham too there was a vast representation my the Jesus youth in many smaller groups during the Beatification mass.I count myself as blessed to have had th

e opportunity to be a part of this congregation showing my love and support for my Holy Father, an event that I will always hold dear to my heart, a memory I would cheris

h for the rest of my life. Praise God

Jocelyn Fernandes (London)

Living a missionary life by example beyond ones calling ..

A gist of Jeffy’s experience in Kolkata , way to go girl.. We are all proud of you.

After two years of prayer and preparation my Lord finally allowed me to take a one-month commitment to do charity work in Kolkata. I went along with 3 other girls. During our stay we were mainly working with the Missionaries of Charities; at a home for children called Shishu Bhavan........................ Before I came to Kolkata, I had a motto- which was to live for yourself, not others. But after the project, I'm feeling different about it. The Lord is present in each one of us...living for others is the same as living for the Lord... serving them is the same as serving the Lord......... it was truly a life-changing experience...it is way beyond words and I hope that each of you will have an opportunity to do something for the poor. I have received many blessings from the Lord ever since this project.

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=14_Km6p5iI_y24II2YCbdcEuSOKXL9gShoQOCV_JabqY&hl=en&authkey=CK2PspAL

A bit more detailed version of Jeffy’s experience is in the link attached. It is truly inspiring. Thank you so much Jeffy for all that you have done here for the Jesus youth movement in UK, in a very special way for all your hard work and effort put in to make the initiative of the Deo Gratias magazine a reality, on behalf of everyone, I take the opportunity to wish you all the best in your future endeavours, may the good God continue to bless and guide you, and may his love shine through you wherever you go.

Upcoming events

includes the JUBILEE CELEBRATION on the 23rd of October 2010 at Ratcliff. Please do make sure you are there to thank God for the gift of this wonderful family of the Jesus youth.

Contributers to this edition

I take this opportunity to thank Jeffy, Jitto , Joseph, Justin, Joby, Pinky and Nivin

for their contribution to this edition.

God bless you all .