What if you were polled?

The Amigos de Jesus youth group met for its regular Friday session outside the Hope Room at Annunciation Church on on August 27. The session began with the recitation of the Rosary. Afterward, Brother spoke about the necessity of an active prayer life. Using a story about Blessed Mother Teresa, he told the youth that in order to love as Jesus loves, to give of ourselves for others even in difficult situations, we must be rooted in a relationship with God.

Following the Rosary, the youth broke up into groups. The assignment: come up with a news broadcast announcing the return of Jesus Christ. Some of the results were hilarious, but there were important common elements to them all: the need for repentance from sin, confession, and a life of prayer. Afterward, Alejandra spoke of living with a spirit of expectation and waiting and not putting of conversion until the last moment. We never know when the last moment will come.

The youth broke up into their two smaller groups for reflection and sharing. Br. Joseph's group looked at a result poll by Univision regarding Hispanic youth. The results of the poll concluded that younger Hispanics are losing their Catholic identity, are less likely to practice their faith, and often reject traditional Catholic values, especially regarding abortion, contraception, and homosexuality.

Taking the roll of the poll interviewer, Brother asked the youth to pretend they were in their high school setting and were asked the same questions the youth in the poll were asked. How would they respond? A very candid and lively discussion followed. Just as Leslie was about to wow the group with a poignant response, the session was interrupted. A representative from Centro San Juan Diego arrived to give the youth a presentation on next week's Encuentro Juvenil 2010.

The session came to a close with a reminder about Thursday's planning session for service opportunities, including helping with this year's Confirmation classes and door to door evangelization.

Chocolate brownies provided a wonderful ending to the evening. Below is a slide show presentation of images from the session.

Reminder: Thursday is the planning session at 7:00 pm at youth office. There is no regular session next Friday as the youth will be participating in the Encuentro Juvenil on Friday and Saturday. For more info, call Br. Joseph 303.893.6770.

God's peace!
Br. Joseph