Awakening 2011 Belfast day 42 and 43

Dear All,

God has empowered the 'Awakening in Belfast'. When we were planning to have the perpetual Adoration here, I wasn't confident as there are only two or three JYs here and some of the youth are busy with the preparation of exams. I surrendered the whole process totally unto HIS hands. The local parishioners supported us and suggested to join in with the already existing adoration committee, and so we went ahead. We could advertise about the 'Awakening' in the National Eucharistic Congress newsletter and our brochures were distributed to the parishes and the local prayer groups. The daily participation from these local communities is amazing. When the power of God works, our possibilities go beyond our capabilities because nothing is impossible to God.

I chose to sit at night in front of our Lord; it is the best time for reflection and meditation and I feel His presence deep inside. I would like to mention about a little boy of 6 yrs old who has Lymphoma since 6 months. He was treated in Kerala, but he still complained of abdominal pain. His dad took him for adoration. He knelt down, prayed to heal him in his innocent and simple words. Praise God, he did not get the pain since then till today and he told his parents that it is because he prayed and Jesus healed him. Why don't we all have this child like faith? May I request your prayers for one of my friend Mariam who is going for surgery on May 1st week for breast cancer.

Praying for the SPARK Retreat and the Family retreat too,

Thank you and God Bless,

Saramma Mathew

(Abstract form Rini Mathew's email dated 21st April )

Awakening 2011 Belfast day 40 and 41

Dear Friends,

I always believe in the power of silence. Not only in Christianity but across all the cultures I have seen, meditation is an important part of life. It gives an opportunity to reflect on where we are at present in our lives and also how well are we doing in our mission. The time I spent with Christ today was definitely one of the highlights of the year. Due to other commitments I have been a bit behind in my prayer. Not only this gave me the time of silence and reflection but more importantly time to spend with my Lord Jesus Christ. My special intentions throughout the prayer were for the growing JY all around UK and Ireland and also for the final examinations coming up for youth who are in schools and universities. Remembering the dear ones for the stress they are going through, and asking Christ to take away all their doubts and pain. In this tough economic climate we all need to remember our dear ones for a safe and secure future. I usually am not a person who spends a lot of time in adoration, but the time spent in front of my Lord took away all my pain and doubts. Reading the ever inspiring story of Padre Pio also was a big highlight for me. As I learned further about the importance of being committed to the Lord and being humble for the gifts we have received from Our Father. I intend to spent more time tomorrow and will be sharing my experience with friends and family so that they too get some inspiration to attend the adoration..

Thanks,

Ajit Leo Pious

(Abstracts form Rini Mathew's email dated 19th April )

Awakening 2011 Belfast day 39

The 'Awakening' adoration has started here in Belfast and it is taking place in St. Therese Church for 2 weeks!! We had been eagerly waiting and praying for this and I'm glad God has given us this wonderful opportunity to have the perpetual adoration here. The church has been having round-the-clock adoration since October 2010. They were planning to close the church because of Easter Holidays, but since we contacted in time, the parish Priest and the adoration team were very happy to hear about this initiative and they welcomed us thus allowing us to have it for these 2 weeks.

Today was a very special day for me because my dad and mum were celebrating their wedding anniversary. We started the day by going for adoration at 7am and spending some time before Jesus. Also, my dad who rarely sits for adoration, sat for an hour too. I’m so happy, thank you Jesus! I later had the opportunity to spend some good time sitting with the Lord in the evening as well. There was no one else in the room; just I and my Lord, wow... how wonderful were those few hours...!

Although we were having apprehension regarding the filling of slots for these 2 weeks, Our Jesus chose His people to be with Him. There are a good number of local parishioners coming in to be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. At 10 am, there were more than 50 locals and since there was not enough place to accommodate everyone, the Priest moved the Blessed Sacrament to the main altar in the Church for 2 hours.

Another person mentioned that she was really surprised and was in tears to see 20- 25 local teenagers who came in around 2pm, praying and prostrating for more than 20 minutes before the Lord. Praise God!!

Continue to pray for the Awakening in Belfast...

God bless,

Love n Prayers

Jesus Youth Belfast

(Abstracts from Rini Mathew's email dated 17^th April 2011)

Awakening 2011- Macclesfield for 48 hours

Awakenings adoration 48 Hours in Macclesfield

Dear friends

We successfully completed 48 hours adoration in Macclesfield church, which started on 15^th morning with Holy mass at 9.30 till 9am morning of the 17^th of April.

Our parish priest Fr. Peter Burke and Fr Varghese Thanamavunkal gave all their support for the adoration. 90% of participation was from the English community, but our small Malayali community also made sure of their continual presence in front of Blessed Sacrament.

In total more than 80 people come for adoration . A lady named Claire spend all 48 hours in front of Blessed Sacrament with fasting. Some students from All Hallows Catholic college spend hours in front of blessed sacrament too. On the night of the 15th, from 10 pm to 12 am parish music ministry lead a beautiful time of Praise and Worship. They played all the instruments, which was just wonderful.

Thanks for your prayers

Siby James

(abstracts from Siby James's email dated 18th April)

Awakening 2011 Sheffield Finale

The Awakening in Sheffield concluded on the 17^th of April, just before the Palm Sunday Mass. The past 7 days has brought a lot of blessings to everyone. To many it was an amazing experience as they were able to spend quality time in prayers in the very presence of our LORD. Despite all sorts of difficulties everyone found time to attend the adoration be it day or night. It was a great feeling to see a lot of local parishioners and also a good number of people from the Kerala community, especially youngsters.

The adoration ended with a small procession of the Blessed Sacrament from the side chapel to the main altar and a final blessing by Fr Peter Hurley. The Awakening and intentions of Awakening was also specially mentioned at the intercessory prayers during the Holy Mass.

I personally think the best way to share the experience would be to write some of the amazing feedbacks we got from the general community who attended the Awakening.

· Love to be here!!!

• What a wonderful spiritual experience. Thanks be to God for Jesus Youth.
• Thank you for me being given the opportunity to experience this. A lovely way to pray.
• It is a privilege to be with God and feel him through his words. Very consoling and touching.
• A beautiful meeting with God. Let’s have another next year + every year.
• It was a wonderful experience. Felt the real presence of God. The time passed through freely and very fast. Jesus gave the guidance to lead the prayer.
• I was with God in depth. I realised who I am. He told me to pray for the world who is suffering.
• A tranquil and spiritually refreshing hour. Thank you.
• Really awakening the hearts.

These were some of the comments that were written down. But I am sure that a lot of other people have also been through the similar experience and have not written it down. It’s enough evidence that something special has happened in Sheffield this last week.

Wishing all of you a prayer filled Holy Week and have blessed and wonderful Easter!!!

Please continue to keep all of us in your prayers!!!!

Thank you and God Bless!!!

Noamson Pillai

(Abstracts from Noamson Pillai's email dated 19th April )

Awakening 2011 Sheffield Day 37

Fourth day of our Awakening has been a very special one, as we had a surprise visit from Bishop John (Hallam Diocese). He left a message with Fr Peter Hurley, who said that Bishop was really impressed with this initiative.

During the day we had the usual parishioners coming through to spend time with our Lord. In the evening we welcomed our Rotherham JY prayer group. A praise and worship was led by our very own Rinto. We also had elders from Rotherham prayer group in attendance, who by the way are taking over the full day tomorrow. We pray that it brings a lot of blessing and grace to all.

Please continue to pray for us.

Thank you and God Bless

On behalf of Sheffield Jesus Youth,

Noamson S Pillai

(abstracts from Noamson Pillai's email dated 14th April )

Awakening 2011 Sheffield day 36

The 3rd day of the Sheffield Awakening has continued to bring more blessings. More local parishioners attended during the day. We also had a few youths coming through to spend time with our Lord.

We have been using the format given by Tom , which has been very useful. Everyone has been fully taking part during the praise and worship. We also had local parishioners take more active role by praying the Stations of the Cross.

Tomorrow Rotherham JY prayer group are coming for the afternoon session which we are all waiting eagerly. We request all your prayers at his time as they hold the future for evangelisation in this region.

Thank you and God Bless!!!

On behalf of Sheffield Jesus Youth,

Noamson S Pillai