DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

The wild weather has really kicked in. Trees have been blown down. Beaches swept away. Torrents of water rushing down streets. Lightning and thunder coming and going. Mother nature reminding us of her power or maybe someone even more powerful! It is in a time just like the storms we have been experiencing this past week that we see Jesus at his best.

In the Gospel of Mark, we find Jesus asleep in a boat whilst everyone else is madly panicking as the power a gale whips up the seas so violently that it appears ready to capsize the boat. When Jesus is woken by the terrified disciples, he rebukes the wind and the waves and everything becomes calm again. Jesus asks his friends, “Why were you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

This is a good reminder for us, just like the storms we have been experiencing there are times in our lives that are full of trouble and unrest. These times may cause us to get anxious and worried. But it is in these times that we should remember to ask ourselves, do we still have no faith? 24:7 YM exists for us to have the confidence to answer this question with a resounding, “Yes, I have faith in Jesus!”

As we strive to Living for Jesus, Full On, Full Time, All the Time, we will find that as we journey with others in developing our relationship with Jesus we will see Jesus at work defeating any storm that comes our way! So don’t be afraid in the storms – remember they point us to Jesus!

SCHOOL MINISTRY

Confirmation Retreats – Whitford’s Catholic Primary School, St Brigid’s College & Our Lady of Lourdes ParishEucharist Retreats – Mary’s Mount Catholic Primary School, St Denis Catholic Primary School, St Maria Goretti Catholic Primary SchoolStewards of Creation Retreat – Emmanuel College Year 8

AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC YOUTH FESTIVAL

Everyone in Year 9 and above we encourage you to get excited and to get ready for what promises to be a once in a lifetime experience. The experience of being with thousands of other young Catholics experiencing this festival here in our own backyard is something that we are so looking forward to. Each of our youth groups will be launching our promotions for this event in the coming weeks so clear your calendar and keep the 8-10 December free!!!

ISTAND CAMP #2

Is Coming!! Register here
https://form.jotform.co/81259181184863

BALCATTA

Last Sunday at Balcatta youth group we drew a smaller crowd of 12 young people most likely due to the stormy weather around. This didn’t mean there was any lack of fun, rather there was tonnes of it! We played 2 new games, one was Formations, which involved spontaneous group creativity, and the other was the silent game called Passing the Giants, where two “giants” were blindfolded, and everyone had to try sneak past them. After the high energy and intense games, we looked at the next part of the story of our salvation, which was baptism. This talk presented by Justine who helped us to explore just what baptism is all about, how it changes us, and why we need it for our Salvation. We then added the blue bead to our bracelets, which symbolises the cleansing of our souls and the washing away of original sin. Next week we are adding the green bead to our Salvation bracelet. Come find out what it represents and don’t miss out!

BASSENDEAN

Last week the 20 of us had a great time learning about Superman and how he shows the fruits of faithfulness, kindness and goodness! We played Line Tag and then Georgia explained how when we show the fruit of faithfulness, we stay true to what we believe in, no matter how difficult it may be. After this, Aaron ran us in an exhilarating game of reverse Rob the Nest, where we had to give away what we had rather than keep it! He showed us that kindness is sacrificing what we have to be able to help others and give to those who need it more. Lastly, Anthony ran us in an activity of ‘Good or Bad’, where we had 5 seconds to decide whether or not the statement that was said was good or bad, He then told us about how goodness is our ability to choose the good over bad choices, and that the more we choose the good, the easier it becomes. It was an awesome night with each of us becoming even more heroic ourselves with what we learned with the help of Superman so thanks everyone for coming! This week we take some lessons from Dr Bruce Banner and the Hulk so be prepared for a powerful session!

FLOREAT

With an attendance of 20 young people and an excellent set of games and activities, Floreat last week was a whole heap of fun! Everyone got to play two all new Floreat games of Paper Jumping and Trade Winks! The fun and laughter were then followed by an awesome activity focussing on how to read the Bible in a way that makes it fun and interesting then explain it to others! We really managed to delve deep while also looking at how the role of Proclaiming needed us to consider more than just reading the scripture out loud, but the audience and the message as well. Next week will be a workshop on how to decorate and setup the environment for a Mass so be prepared to get your scissors, glue and flower arrangements out because it’s going to be so much fun!!! 

GREENWOOD

Last week there were 20 of us at youth group and we had a blast looking to the past with good Saint Patrick! We began the night with a game of Four Corners with some energetic battles and tug of wars taking place in the fight for victory.One of our volunteer leaders, Jaxen shared about Saint Patrick and his prayer life before he became a well-known saint. Saint Patrick was a slave for 6 years, during which he used to say at least 100 prayers a day! These prayers gave him the strength to keep going. In our lives we go through rough patches, but like Saint Patrick we are called be faithful and endure them through prayer.

MORLEY

Last Friday there were 17 of us gathered to enjoy a night of games and a time to relate to each other after our busy weeks! There were many activities, such as frisbee, cards, pick up sticks, table tennis, and Wii to enjoy and relax! There was some fierce Wii competitions that took place, and an awesome game of frisbee which was heaps of fun, and a great game! We then prayed and had a delicious feast of sushi and chicken curry and rice to share together to end the night. Thank you to the Ho’s and Kolarikal’s for the delicious food! We will see you all next week for a night about St Paul, with some awesome new games planned for the evening.

NEDLANDS

Last week at Neddies we had 23 young people altogether and kicked off our night with a game of Roaming Charades. In our next game a great deal of competition was afoot playing Shoe Relay, aided by some sneak(er)y tricks from a few of our leaders! Our talk this week was given by the inspiring Derek and Karen Boylen, who spoke to us about relationships, shared some of their own story, answered some of our questions and even stayed to talk with us over dinner. Derek and Karen were able to address some concerns and to give our young people some insights into their own experiences of romantic relationships, dating and marriage. Moreover, their evident respect and care for one another and genuine interest in each person they engaged helped everyone to understand and appreciate the Catholic perspective on family life, dating and marriage. Next week we have the incredible Paul Kelly coming to visit so be sure to come on down to Neddies this Friday with all your curly questions!

OCEAN REEF

Last week we were able to attract 39 young people to St Simon Peter’s parish to share a night of fun, faith and friendship! We started off playing the game “4 Corners” which tested all of our strength. We then played Bobsled which very quickly induced a lot of chaos and panic in everyone as they tried to remember what each of the commands meant! After this, we had the Youth Mission Team present to us about Consolation which started off with a clip from the Lion King and continued with the drama “New Heart”. Anthony then got up and spoke about how Consolation is a time in our live when we feel close to God and that we should use this time to evangelize. Nat followed up with an amazing testimony about how she used a time of Consolation in her life to do mission work. Next youth group will be on the 23rd of June and we will be exploring the topic of Desolation and what this means for our faith life. Also get pumped for our Youth Mass on the 30th of June.

OSBORNE PARK

 We had 44 of us take on the night at Osborne Park starting with a game of Balloon Facts, followed by a large and intense game of PVC Pipe! With blood pumping we then engaged our brains and gave 24:7 Director Mario Borg our attention as he spoke to us on Leadership. With leadership a role on display everywhere in our lives and one we may also have to already take up, this was a topic that truly deserved a good look to help shape ourselves. Mario highlighted the difference between leading with charity and leading with solidarity. Through sharing many stories, we discovered the strength of solidarity and how important it is for a true leader. Join us this week for some more fun and games!

SERVITE

 We welcomed 31 youth back to 24:7 Serve youth group this week for a great afternoon! Firstly, we played a game called Animal Challenge run by Elysha, which was hilarious fun! Then, we moved into a Kahoot on The Bible. This was to break open our theme this week of The Path. In doing this, we helped youth to grow their understanding of The Bible. Following that, we moved into a talk from Fr. Dave Callaghan on The Path. He explained how when our hearts are hard, like the path, nothing can make an impression on it. This means that although we are loved every day by God, our families and friends, we don’t feel it because our hearts are too hard. If we soften our heart though, we will be able to receive love, and open ourselves up to richer and greater lives. Coming up at our next youth group, one of our Youth Interns will be sharing! She’ll be sharing her experience of faith. You won’t want to miss this one.On the 16th of June (this Sunday!) after the 5pm Mass at Mary MacKillop Parish, we’ll be having hot chocolates! Would be great to see you there!

SOUTH

 What a great night was had by the 34 of us who gathered despite the threatening weather! With the Youth Mission Team joining us the fellowship time was a blast with a game of Keep It Up being most notable before everyone was gathered back in for welcomes and prayer including our Scripture of the Month, Ephesians 4: 31-32.We then launched into a game of Crows vs Cranes and everyone had to be ready to listen for the trigger words in the story before running or chasing! An energetic round of 4 Corners Dodgeball then followed with much daring and dodging in order to be the last one standing and earn their team points! We then launched into our Hood Night as we invited Luke and Antoinette from the Youth Mission Team to share their perspective and understanding on brotherhood, sisterhood and single vision as as part of their mission. Luke shared how his understanding and appreciation of brotherhood developed from school to something continually deeper and meaningful through his time on Youth Mission Team. Antoinette gave her encouragement of how both brotherhood and sisterhood should be about supporting one another. She also revealed her perspective on single vision as allowing us to get to know people as people and not as prospective spouses or assets. The night was then opened up to everyone for questions which were followed by a game of Human Knots with boys vs girls and a breaking open of why we played it. It was a wonderful night filled with laughter and companionship that celebrated both Brotherhood & Sisterhood. This week we have our Encounter Night with the with Pentecost just being celebrated the Holy Spirit will be the topic and you don’t want to miss it!!

SUBIACO

 We had a wet and windy great night at youth group. With 12 young people gathered together it felt very much like the Disciples gathering in for a time of sharing good times and faith. With a few new games and an awesome talk by Volunteer Leader, Peter we explored the big question of where we get strength from in our lives? We resolved that God does provide for us in lots of ways and we can draw from the many graces he provides for us through the life of the Church.We have another big youth group being planned so come on down, and to those preparing for Confirmation we look forward to spending a bit of time with you all during your class this week.