Youth Worship Ministry

Shepherd's Salvation: Youth Mass

2009-04-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

"All we like sheep."

Date: Saturday, May 2nd 2009
Time: 7pm sharp onwards
Venue: Basement Chapel, Church of Christ the King

Bring your friends - ALL ARE WELCOME (even if you're not literally a youth :p). We'll catch you soon!

For more info, contact Leonard at 9173 4501. P/S: If you're new to our Youth Masses, here's a sneak peek at how the preparation for the event goes on as well as what you can expect at the Mass... Psst... The upcoming Youth Mass promises better!

Checking for any errors in the Powerpoint slides.

P&W leaders Joel and Melvyn doing soundcheck (with Joel providing some comic relief).

The backup vocalists, Rachael and Dorothy, testing the mics.

The YWM band practising.

Youth mass is about to begin... Mass jitters, anyone?

The young congregation ready for Jesus.

Joel and Melvyn start the P&W session before Mass.

Proclaiming the Word of God.

You can expect a homily specially catered to youths!

If you are interested in what we do and what you may gain from our ministry about the Catholic faith (and are able to commit) - then you could be a member we are looking for! Do leave a tag on our tagboard with your email add and we shall get back to you. Either that, or:-

- Call/email Leonard at 9173 4105/ wwechampionstonecold@hotmail.com
- Email us at youthworshipministry@gmail.com (the above option is preferred though)
- Drop by our meeting on Saturday (although it's better to confirm via a call first :p)
- Approach any of our ministry members (the people running around) before/after this upcoming youth mass!

We look forward to any enquiries about our ministry =)

Hike to Bukit Timah Hill

2009-01-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

To start off, God really blessed us with a terrific weather. The sun and the breeze were just ideal. We hiked off from Nicholas's place through the nature trail to Bukit Timah Hill. Though we did not managed to get to the top of the hill due to some navigation problems, we still had a great time together. We had our very own little fellowship at a Park at the base of Bukit Timah Hill, followed by a session held by Julius on the various facades of temperaments each of us uniquely possessed. All in all, it was a wonderful hike and I am sure all of us brought home with us wonderful memories.

Christmas Bake Sale

2008-11-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

The Youth Worship Ministry will be selling brownies to raise funds for their activities.

Here are the details

Pre-order dates: Weekends of 22 & 23 Nov and 29 & 30 Nov

Collection dates: 6 & 7 Dec

Time: After every Mass

Venue: Booth in front of church

Hope to see you there!

Exam Youth Mass

2008-08-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, we are having an Exam Youth Mass soon in September. The details are as follows:

Theme: Livin' on a Prayer
Date: 6th September 2008
Time: 7 pm
Venue: Basement Chapel

Remember to bring your friends along too! All are welcome.

Welcome Tea this saturday, 2/8/2008

2008-07-30T07:09:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

YWM will be having a welcome tea this saturday. All are welcomed. This session would be a great way for all to know our ministry better!

Details of welcome tea

Date: Saturday, 2/8/2008
Time: 1pm-4pm
Venue: Church Attic

Please feel free to contact us for more information.

The forgotten art of blessing

2008-07-22T00:37:00.000-07:00

Most of us have probably heard the following old Irish blessing at least a hundred times:

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

While it is a very simple blessing, the Irish words are a powerful reminder of how important a blessing can be in our lives. Unfortunately, in our culture today, we have become a nation of cursers, not blessers. Our movies, our music, our magazines are crammed with four-letter words.

Drive down any highway and you will see people cursing each other with flying fingers and flailing fists. Visit any playground and you will not only hear cursing from the mouths of babes, but also witness the violent behavior that cursing calls forth. The act of cursing has become so prevalent in our society that we seem to be a people that has forgotten how to bless.

In the Bible, throughout the creation story, God sets an example by blessing all that he creates: “God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good” (Genesis 1:31). This goodness, and the desire for goodness, is the heart of what blessing is about.

A blessing as defined by Webster’s is, “The utterance of a wish, request or direction that good should follow, pronounced over a person or an object, or the benefit which follows such utterances.”

Cursing, on the other hand, is the opposite of blessing. To curse is to call evil or injury down on someone. It is to invoke or pray for evil. And so in life, we find ourselves offered the choice: to bless or to curse, to call forth goodness or to call down evil.

As Christians, we need to understand the implications that accompany this choice. If we are to be a people of God, we need to relearn the forgotten art of blessing.

To offer a blessing is not a difficult task. In fact, a blessing can be so simple that all too often we take the act of blessing for granted. The priest, for example, blesses us at the end of each Mass (provided we haven’t ducked out early). Whether we are aware of it or not, we bless ourselves each time we make the Sign of the Cross. Despite this inherent simplicity, the act of blessing can take on more meaning if we come to understand the three basic elements that comprise a blessing, such as our Irish blessing.

The Elements of a Blessing

The first element in any blessing is that there has to be a relationship with God. When we bless, when we ask for goodness, we ask from the source of all goodness, we ask God. When things are going well in our lives—when the road seems to rise and meet us—our relationship with God will be positive. Cursing is the furthest thing from our minds.

When things are not going so well in our lives—when the road does not rise to meet us—everything in life can seem like an uphill struggle. It is during these times that we run the risk of losing our relationship with God. If we allow this to happen, we are unable to bless. We become like the embittered psalmist who can only curse. Relationship with and belief in God are essential to blessing.

The second element in a blessing is the ritual of transfer of the blessing or the goodness. Historically, this transfer of the blessing takes place physically through words that we pronounce and gestures that we make, such as uplifted arms or actual laying-on of hands. The person giving the blessing transfers the blessing in such a manner that it will somehow be experienced by the receiver.

The sense of touch, whether it is the wind at your back, the sun shining upon your face or the firm hand of a priest blessing your forehead, can convey an enormous life-sustaining power. A blessing is the bridge between heaven and earth. The transfer of the divine that occurs when we bless is truly a sacred moment.

The third element of a blessing is the enhancement of the receiver, wherein we envision the goodness of the blessing. Even Jesus, when he pronounced the Beatitudes, envisioned a goodness that would give comfort and hope to millennia of believers. We have in our possession the ability to envision virtually any future for humanity. The power to bless is incredibly awesome. It is the vision of divine enhancement, of a people resting in the palm of God’s hand, that is the hallmark of a blessing.

Opportunities for Blessings

Our days are filled with endless opportunities to practice the art of blessing. The best place to start, however, is by personally calling down God’s goodness by blessing ourselves with the Sign of the Cross. Morning after morning, we can begin our day by choosing that divine vision, not only for ourselves, but also for all who we might encounter in the course of a day.

We might also choose to use this opportunity to include a brief morning prayer. This self-blessing through gesture, touch and words can become an important ritual that will help us to spiritually center our day.

Our mealtimes provide yet another important opportunity for blessing. We know from our New Testament reading that Jesus would traditionally bless food at the feeding of the multitudes and at the Last Supper.

In our society of abundance, we take our food supply for granted, indulging and overindulging, even to the point of impairing our health. Why not take a moment at each meal to pause and bless the nourishment before us? Mealtime graces from The Catholic Prayer Book include:

Before meals:
Bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts which we are about to receive from your bounty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

After meals:
We give you thanks, Almighty God, for all your gifts, who lives and reigns, for ever and ever. Amen

Our homes, the core place where we spend our lives, can also be blessed. Many priests are willing to visit and bless a home. In Christian homes a cross or crucifix can be prominently displayed as a sign of God’s benevolent presence in the home. Similarly, in Jewish homes the mezuzah is placed on the doorpost. Part of the Jewish tradition is the touching of the mezuzah and the reciting of the wonderful blessing: “May God protect my going out and coming in, now and forever.”

We all need that reminder, whether we are just sitting around the house or venturing out into the world, that the goodness of God is with us.

Perhaps the most important of the blessings that we can bestow in life would be the regular blessing of our children. Who can forget the Old Testament account of Jacob stealing his brother Esau’s blessing and the richness of their father Isaac’s vision for Jacob: “May God give to you of the dew of the heavens and of the fertility of the earth abundance of grain and wine” (Genesis 27:28)?

Today, we give our children everything that is material and little that is spiritual, then we are surprised when a child does something amoral. Like Isaac’s vision for Esau, we find ourselves in a position where the only blessing that we can muster comes out sounding more like a curse: “Ah, far from the fertile earth shall be your dwelling; far from the dew of the heavens above!” (Genesis 27:39).

It is crucial that our children taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Simple daily gestures—a hand on the forehead and a “God be with you,” as they head out for school in the morning. A tracing of the Sign of the Cross and a “God keep you,” before they sleep. Never to let a day slip by where we don’t, in some small way, call forth the vision of goodness into the lives of our children.

The Importance of Blessings

Blessings, whether they’re Irish or Jewish, ancient or modern, are an important part of our faith life. We need to forget cursing. More than ever, we need to continue to bring the flow of the divine into our lives. Just as in Moses’ time, our generation needs to learn the art of blessing: “The Lord said to Moses: Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!”(Numbers 6:22-26).

Like Aaron and his sons, we too hold that awesome power to bless. We just need to use it.

By Sascha T. Moor
Taken from: http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Oct2000/feature2.asp

Famous Catholics

2008-07-19T00:37:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what famous people share or have shared our Catholic faith? From authors to movie stars, below is a list of just a few of these famous people.

Jim Caviezel – actor
Sean Connery – actor, movie star
Gary Cooper – actor
Bing Crosby – actor, singer
Salvador Dali – Surrealist painter
Clark Gable – Academy Award-Winning actor
Alfred Hitchcock – film director
Bob Hope – movie star, comedian
Casey Kasem – Media personality, radio DJ
Grace Kelly – Academy Award-Winning actress
John F. Kennedy – 35th President of the United States
Rachael Lampa – singer
Vivien Leigh – Academy Award-Winning actress
Jack Lemmon – Academy Award-Winning actor
Rich Mullins – singer, songwriter
Brooke Shields – actress
Nicholas Sparks – New York Times best selling author
John Michael Talbot – musician, singer
J.R.R. Tolkien – Fantasy writer (Lord of the Rings)
Oscar Wilde – poet, playwright, satirist

Those who are in the public eye become role models whether they want to or not. We should all be role models for Christ. One of my favorite sayings is, "If your Christianity isn't contagious, then it's contaminated." We don't have to be in the public eye to influence and impact those around us. Think about your everyday life and those you come in contact with each day. Do you spread the Good News through your actions - even with a simple smile?

Whether we are a famous in the eyes of the world or not, we are ALL famous and precious in the eyes of our Lord. We are each a celebrity in our own way. God made each of us unique and special. We are one of a kind. And "God don't make junk!" (That was on a button I received at a retreat in college, and I love it!)

By Melissa Knoblett-Aman
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51417.asp

New tagboard in town

2008-07-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hello dear beloved members and friends of YWM,

Please take note that you can now leave your comments on the TAGBOARD on the right side of this blog!

So pretty please, leave us a note alright?

XOXO
Youth Worship Ministry

Year of St. Paul

2008-07-04T00:27:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard... It's the year of St. Paul! The pope announced that the year would begin from June 29 2008 to June 29 2009, and would be dedicated to the life and teaching of St. Paul. To learn more about St Paul and his teachings, click here.

The following is as excerpt from the Year of St. Paul website.

New Life in Christ

Paul wanted people to remember that in Christ and the Holy Spirit, new life is possible. God gives us the grace to live the moral lives we are called to as Christians. In 1 Corinthians, Paul listed the misery of the peoples’ sinful lives before they had received Jesus

Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6: 9 – 10)

Paul explained that they were now a new people:

That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)

In reminding us of the price of our salvation, Paul was reminding us of the dignity we have as children of God and temples of the Holy Spirit.

Taken from Temples of the Holy Spirit.

This is what YWM is...

2008-06-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Watch this video to catch a glimpse of what life in YWM is like.

Toodles and enjoy!

Are we in tune with God?

2008-06-30T05:09:00.000-07:00

Just as we struggle with our everyday living, be it working, studying or serving the church community, sometimes we have to reflect and stop to ponder about our relationship with God. Are we in tune with God's love or are we just serving God for the sake of doing it.

Well, if it's the latter, we will have to sit back for a moment and fine-tune our relationship with God.

Question to ponder: Are we in tune with God?

A big applause for the new blog

2008-06-28T09:04:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the new blog for the new Youth Worship Ministry!

We hope you'll continue to visit this blog to learn and spread the message of God.

If you're interested in knowing more about Youth Worship Ministry (YWM) and what we do, you can approach one of our members in the Roman Catholic church of Christ the King (Singapore). If you're keen on joining but are too shy to approach us or phone us, please drop us an email at youthworshipministry@gmail.com. Thanks!

With love,
YWMers