Upcoming Youth Group Dates 2023
12 November
26 November
10 December
Foundation Youth Ministry 2022 - 2023
A lot has happened in Foundation Youth Ministry this past year. For our year 5-8 and 9-12 groups, Cornerstone and Keystone, we’ve covered topics such as The 5 Key Beliefs of Christianity, Ethics and Morals, and Types of prayer. During one of the meetings, we offered reconciliation which the children were open to and eager to receive. The youth are also involved in the welcoming, reading and offertory procession at the 5:30 pm Sunday youth mass. We have also had students involved when Mercy and Pius have led our youth mass. This year has also included fun activities such as trivia, interparish sport competitions and bowling.
In Capstone, the young adults group, we have explored Holy Eucharist through the series called Altaration. We also have discussed topics such as moral decisions and Catholic teaching on 5th Commandment, evidence for Jesus' life, death and resurrection. We do participate in Young Adulds events around our diocese and abroad and also we do meet a few times a year for a Movie Night. Last year, we also joined a group singing carols at nursing homes around Christmas time.
In July 2023, five young adults from this parish, and many students from nearby schools journeyed to World Youth Day, Lisbon with our bishop, some of our priests, and the Broken Bay seminarians. This included a pilgrimage across Italy beforehand, and ended with a retreat in Fatima. The generous donations of this community helped to make this journey possible for our pilgrims who all had incredible experiences growing in faith and fellowship.
Throughout the year, Foundation Youth Ministry was led by Cailin Geraghty. We are thankful for all the hard work she has done. In July, we welcomed Sienna Klarica and Jenevieve Liem as new youth leaders, and then later in August, Bettina Ignacio as the new youth minister.
The youth group has helped to encourage young people in their faith and recently were able to sponsor a group to attend the Ignite Catholic Conference in Sydney. Around 17 young people from our parish went and were able to receive sacraments, meet others from our diocese and across Australia and New Zealand, listen to Catholic speakers, be prayed over, and lift their hearts up to God in praise and worship.
We are excited to see how the Holy Spirit will continue to use us to work in the lives of our youth!