On Wednesday, February 12th the High School Youth Group explored the history and prayer style of the Ecumenical Taize Community in France. The Community's message of reconciliation, unity, and simplicity is greatly needed in our fast-paced and divided society. The night began with a short presentation on the founding and history of the community, this video was shown as part of the presentation: Following the presentation, members of the youth group were invited to experience Taize Prayer in a service put together by their peers on the leadership team. To help them connect more deeply with God, the adult team constructed this prayer environment in the Church (sorry that the photo resolution is so bad): In a large group discussion following the service, participants commented that this type of prayer and simple life style teaches us to slow down and allow ourselves to encounter God in stillness. Quite a few upperclassmen were also preparing to ask Fr. Ron for permission to go visit the Taize Brothers in France! This experience clearly resonated with them.
For more information on the Taize Community you can visit their website! Make sure to click around to learn about the many different pilgrimages the brothers have made to the United States, including to Chicago, Pine Ridge, and Austin. Spotify users can also click here to listen to some of the music that has been written by and for the Taize Community. Notice how easy it is to pray the songs that are not in your native language! Spotify is free if you have not already signed up for an account. I would like to thank Rick Cucchi. our music minister, and Mary Kay DeBrito, church cantor and youth group parent, for joining us and leading the music during the service. This evening would not have been possible without their support! I just want to thank the teens and parents who made our trip to the 2014 Rainbow Conference a huge success last weekend! It was a great experience for all who attended and, for those of you who were praying with us at home but not able to attend the conference, I wanted to share some resources with you! First, the Detroit News wrote a wonderful article about the conference-- you can read it here. Second, the conference theme was "Ignite the Light". Keynote sessions focused on how Christians are commissioned by Jesus to show their love and shine His light into the world! The conference scripture verse was Matthew 5:14-16. On Saturday evening, Archbishop Vigneron encouraged the young people to go out and form relationships of love and service with individuals in their community. Third, the conference Keynote speakers were Jackie Francois and Cooper Ray. Here is a great video of a presentation that Jackie gave at Steubenville, which I feel captures the heart of her Spirit and her message! Finally, on the last day of the conference our group was able to thank Jackie and Cooper for their amazing testimonies and take a group photo with them! Again, I want to thank the participants for being so open to the Spirit during the conference. I also want to thank Resurrection Parish, our "buddies" during the conference for helping us to dive deeper into the message of the weekend. We plan to attend the 2015 Rainbow Conference next year, I hope that you consider joining us! -Chris
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AuthorsContributors to this blog are teen leaders, adult team members, staff members, parents, alumni, and other supporters of SJN Youth Ministry. Archives
November 2014
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