Community Update Archive - Youth Mission 2004

The Priests of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines organized a Youth Mission which has its own history and tradition.

The very first Youth Mission took place in 1992 in our former parish of Margosatubig and the following year in Kumalaran youthmission1 g. Fr. Eduardo Aguero, SCJ, and Fr. Juan Domingo Griffone, SCJ, the organizers, adopted this idea from Argentina, where Fr. Virginio Bressanelli, SCJ, the former General Superior, was the pioneer and originator of this initiative.

The main purpose of the Youth Mission is to give young people a more solid Christian formation, and at the same time to let them see

Father Indra, SCJ, celebrating Mass

the conditions in which many people are living. Furthermore, it gave them the opportunity to live, even if only briefly, in solidarity, love and sharing with the others, especially with the poor.

For several years the Youth Mission in the Philippines was organized simultaneously in Margosatubig and Kumalarang. Later on, it became a joint venture with the SCJ Vocation Program and moved entirely to Kumalarang. In 1996 it was held in one of our former parishes, Bacolod (Lanao del Norte). Since 1997, the Youth Mission has been organized in one of the parishes in

Medical Outreach

Lumbia, near Cagayan de Oro City, where the SCJ Formation House is located.

This year, the Youth Mission was organized as usual in Lumbia Parish. The total number of participants reached 78: 34 SCJ seminarians, 2 SCJ priests, 2 sisters and 30 young people from different "SCJ places." The first three days were dedicated to the spiritual preparation of the participants. This included different presentations on spirituality and one day of recollection. The next nine full days were spent in the different villages, merging with the people - sharing their houses, food and prayers. Besides morning prayer and the Holy Eucharist, the daily activities also included visitation of

Dr. Nino talking with a patient

the families, teaching catechism to the children, participation in the prayer meetings of different Church Communities, and the like.

Even though, the participants very often felt tired and sometimes had to live in "spartan" conditions, surely the Youth Mission will remain for them an unforgettable experience and ad

Distribution of Medicine

venture with God and with God's people.