Youcat for youths from the Northern Deanery

Mar 26, 2015

By Roslyn Rafaela
It was March 13. Everyone gathered at the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. They were all so hyped up as they had been looking forward to this camp the moment Marcella Maisie, the Coordinator, told them about it.

They then made their way to the Church of St Anne. After them came the youths of St Anne’s, followed by the youths of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (NBVM).

Simon Chan was the presenter. Despite the wide age difference, he never failed to amuse us and give us really cute demonstrations. Simon introduced us to the Youcat. It is a yellow catechesis book especially for youths. He explained how we can use this special book, which is a simplified version commissioned by Pope Benedict XVI from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Later that night, Simon talked about himself and about his life so that we could get to know him better. Once it was done, we had supper. Then we spent some time with the Lord in the chapel as our way of joining the universal Church to pray for peace.

The next day, we had our first session with Simon. It was about “I believe in God the Father”. He raised a question, “Why do we seek God?” None of us could answer. Then Simon said, “The desire to seek God is in the human heart”. That sentence itself is self-explanatory.

After the break, we were organized into six groups. Simon told us to go through the Apostle’s Creed. Then he told us to create our own versions of it. We brainstormed and came up with the best that we could. Then, we were told to present our personalized creeds. The afternoon session was spent watching a movie, Facing the Giants. It was a movie about a football coach who trusts God with all his heart and soul. The movie taught us that with God, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. The interesting verse in the movie that made us guilty was, “If we WIN, We Praise God! If we LOSE, We Praise God!” It relates so much to our lives now. Most of us only seek God when we are sad, or when we have problems. What about the times when we are happy and glad?! Something to ponder.

Our third session with Simon was about I believe in the Holy Spirit. Later that evening, Maryann and her group from NBVM Church guided us through Prayer Experience, where we spent time with the Lord for inner healing. This was the time we let God truly touch us. This was also the time we let the Holy Spirit just drift us away from all the troubles and problems we had. We sang praise to Jesus at the top of our voices. Maryann then told us to write down all the things we’ve done in our lives. Together, we crushed the papers and threw them into a basket as a sign of renewing and surrendering ourselves to God and God alone. We then lighted up our own little candles, and arranged them into a big cross as a symbol of committing and representing ourselves to the Lord. It was definitely a day well spent, with the Lord.

On the last day, we attended Sunday Mass at St Anne Parish. Fr. Henry Rajoo’s homily was about being stuck in the darkest place that we could be: that is, being addicted to something like pornography, which is disturbing because it only sees persons as sex objects and not as pro-creators. He also shared that when it is Jesus who fills our hearts, we will have no need of pornographic materials to fill our time, our minds and our hearts. After breakfast, we had our fourth session. It was about Mary-the Church’s first and most perfect member.

Our very last session with Simon and the Youcat camp was about The Four Marks of our Catholic Church.

After that, it was time to say goodbye. We sat around together and talked about our experiences in this camp. We cherished each other’s company. Cynthia Joseph, aged 16 from NVBM, said that the camp was very good and very informative. “With God, all things are possible,” seventeen year old Jessica Anne from St Anne’s said with a wide smile across her face.

I found the camp really unique and I look forward to Part 2 of Youcat. I can’t wait for it. We had Maisie, the Northern Deanery Youth Coordinator, giving her final speech and thanking everyone who had made this camp a reality, especially the PDYN Staff, Daniel Roy and Mayette, committee members and Northern Deanery Parish Priests for their support and encouragement.

Before we closed this door of Youcat Part 1, to prepare for Part 2 from December 4 to 6, we did our last song. We traded our sorrow, our shame, our sickness and our pain. All we need is the joy of the Lord and that’s the only thing that matters. We danced and enjoyed one last time as one huge family of love and joy. At last, I took great memories and friendships home with me.