09 December 2013

Hello! Welcome to IHM Youth Cats.
We are a group of young (and not so young) people who have committed ourselves to building God's Kingdom.


Please click on the links below for more information about our ministry!
(Just so that you don't get too confused, we were known as The Ark from 2009 - 2012. :)

Our Mission
Our Charter
The Family

If you would like to join us or find out even more, email ihmyouthcat@gmail.com with your name, age and contact number! We hope to hear from you!

meep!


03 December 2012

WELCOME TO Youth Cats!

Hello confirmands of 2012!

Apologies for the staleness of this page as we are still currently in the retreat house clearing up. :D (Actually Roy is playing frisbee with Benedict and Cantius and Darryl's pants just tore while trying to catch the frisbee.)



Anyway, we have received your application and will contact you soon. Check your email!
Btw you can add us on FB at if you are certain that you want to be part of YC. :)

oh and registration form can be found HERE! :)



xoxo
Jac

05 December 2011

Confirmation 2011!

We offer a warm welcome to confirmands of 2011!




IHM Ark is part of the Youth Ministry of IHM and we are very happy to be of service to you.

If you wish to officially join us, please send an email to: ihmtheark@gmail.com.

Or you can fill in the online signup form at this link:



https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDZIc25OcTFLNXhEajlaQ3hkMm1aa0E6MQ


You can't imagine how happy we are that you have joined us. :)

29 November 2010

Welcome to the Ark's temporary home

Hi!

Welcome to the Ark's temporary home on the world wide web.

Yes, we're updating this site as concamp's last night surrenders to dawn's early light.

Watch this space for updates!

Remember the important dates:

Confirmation Mass 2010

5th December, please report by 1300 hrs, Prayer Hall A B

Ark meeting:

4th December 2010, 330pm Prayer Hall A B

Those coming for the Christmas party, please bring your S$10.00


The Ark retreat:

17th, 18th and 19th December 2010

Level 3 Catechism Block

We now have a Face Book Presence.IHM The Ark.

Please poke us (Roy, Jac or Rebecca) if we've missed out on you.

Also, confirmands from the 2010 batch are welcome to add each of us on facebook to find out more. :)

04 November 2010

BOOF! (:


:D
Everyone mugging for exams, being sian through school, chionging projects, trudging through army, stuck in internships or slacking around, hang in there! <3

18 July 2010

Relationship with God

Hello everyone!
Know this is rather random, but just decided to post a summary of the session last Saturday. Heh, which was mine lol. Will try my best to make these summary thingies a regular thing, not only for archiving, but for those who miss session to keep track plus for the people lazy to take full notes, ahha.

Plus, if you have anything to share or any reflection thingies, email me, I'll post it up here for you (:

Yes, the obvious effort to revive this, ahaha.

Alright then, off we go!

I apologise if things may not tie up, it's rather difficult to explain online (am heavily reliant on whiteboard). But for all you know, it might turn out better in text. Always fancied myself a better writer than speaker >< Relationship with God

Three parts to this topic!
1. God
2. God to me
3. Me to God

1. God is love
Easiest one-word summary of who God is, for His love is shown in the fruits and blessings in our lives. Perhaps it's a tad simplistic, but (like during the session) if you throw up various adjectives/verbs/word-thingies to describe who God is and what He does, it can pretty much be traced back to love.

I Sacrificial and redeeming love

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. - John 3:16


God gave up His Son (Jesus!) for us, while we were still sinners and didn't deserve a single bit of what He did on Calvary. And it wasn't like Jesus had no choice but to die, He was battling fear and suffering up to the very end, but He still went through everything 'cause He knew that by His pain and death, He would save us.

II Unconditional and steadfast love

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. - Jeremiah 31:3

God loves us just as we are! Which is rather amazing, we sinners, we broken people, we dissatisfied people. God will love you just as much if you become a better person, but He will also love you just as much if you make mistakes and fall on the way. What varies between these moments is you ability to respond to His love (we'll get to that later). Case in point: the prodigal son; he disappeared off and got really messed up. But his dad never stopped loving him while he was away squandering his dad's estate, and was just waiting for his son to come home.


III Providing and faithful love

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. - Psalm 23:1-6

God always provides, and He knows exactly just what we need. In the creation of the world, God didn't just throw Adam and Eve into the dimensionless chaos on Day One; instead He perfected (and made good) everything else before bringing Adam and Eve into the Garden of Eden, where everything they needed was right there. In Matthew 6:26, Jesus says that His Father provides even for the birds who do not work and toil, what more will He provide for everything we need too!

2. God to me
God shows His love in your life through the various events and people you meet in daily life. Write a gratitude list of what you're thankful for this week. It's increasingly difficult to list as you write, but dig into your week and discover the little blessings! All these little incidents have at least one (or two, or three) of the elements of His love in them, because His love is shown through people and circumstances, even you.

3. Me to God

Responding to God's love

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. - James 4:8

Remember the thing earlier about God's love being constant? It is, He's just channeling all His love to you non-stop all the time! Like the sun, the amount of heat and energy radiating from the sun onto us does not change, we have to way to change it from the source. But what changes is the barriers we put to the sunlight. If you shield yourself with an umbrella, it does not change the amount from the sun, but limits how much sunlight you receive. In the same way, our experience of His love in our lives also depends on if we look to Him and receive the great immense love.
At the same time, we cannot be totally engrossed in His love. To return to the sun analogy, you'd get sunburn! His love is shown to us through the people around us and the various communities in our lives. Not only should we bask in His love, but we also have to do our part in showing His love to others in word and deed.
Awareness; perhaps it is the key! Of His love and faithfulness, and of the people around us as well.

Your relationship with God is a gift by His grace

Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. - John 20:29

While we need to take effort to see God reaching out to us, a relationship with Him is not established independently. Rather, it itself is a gift from Him. A friend once taught me to flip that verse around, instead of the conventional interpretation that we will be blessed if we can believe withough seeing. We are blessed to be able to believe without seeing to begin with.

The relationship at work

They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them. - John 14:21

Jesus reveals Himself through this relationship that we build with God, like all relationships, where people get closer and want to know more with each other. There's this epic paragraph in the CCC, article 2015, "He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows." Haha, yeah cheem stuff! Wish I had a whiteboard to explain it properly by drawing. But we'll have to make do.
Three things: Love, Knowledge and Truth. So the love of God we experience pokes us to want to know more about Him. Then the knowledge we gain reveals truths about Him. The amazing truths we realise inspires more love in our hearts for God, which whets our appetite for even more knowledge of him, and the truth we learn from that knowledge stirs up even more love in our hearts... Yeah it goes on. You can start from any one of the three, and it just keeps accumulating and we want more and more of God.

Sidenote: Converse to this equation-of-sorts could be - as speculated by those at session on Saturday - one of sin; Hate, Ignorance and Lies. Might sound a little jedi-ish, as Kim pointed out that day, but doesnt it make sense? Think about it :D

What if we fail?

If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9

What if we fall of that happy positive God cycle of Love, Knowledge and Truth? Or perhaps even are on the scary-sounding cycle of Hate, Ignorance and Lies? Remember, God loves us 100% no matter what! What is crucial here is (again) our response to His steadfast love, and thus repentance. Sin means turning away from God (seniors: Fr Luke's session ages ago!), so we can choose to keep facing away from God. To reuse the earlier analogy, face away from the sun, open umbrella, etc.. Our refusal to repent or fear of His "wrath" only blocks us off, blinds us from His love that is trying to reach all of us. So acknowledge you've been an idiot or a bobo, that you've done bad things and committed sins, then allow the God who loves you completely to bring you back to Him and heal your brokeness.


Maybe I sound very optimistic, and simplistic. But give it some consideration, maybe things with God don't have to be complex and difficult (:

Jump on the bandwagon of Love, Knowledge and Truth!

<3
Bucca

22 April 2010

Seniors' Retreat 2010

Hi everybody,

Seniors' Retreat starts on Friday, 23 April 2010 at 7.15pm at CAYC for Fr Antoine's session on adoration for youth, after which we will take public transport back to the IHM Retreat House for the remainder of the retreat. We will end at 5.30pm on Sunday, 25 April.

Catholic Archdiocesan Youth Centre (CAYC) is located just off Upper Serangoon Road, at 2 Lorong Low Koon.

For the Y1s, no session this week! :)

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Roy, Jacqueline, Eugene or Rebecca. :)