Hello All,
The NE sub-regional (NJ/Staten Isl.) winter retreat was held on Saturday, November 28, 2009 at our St.Mary's parish in Bergenfield, NJ. The day kicked off with Holy Qurbono in English by our guest speaker, Fr.Jacob Joseph (Saji Achen). For those who woke up bright and early for the 8:30am Holy Mass, I'm sure you'll agree with me that it was truly a blessing to hear Achen's amazing voice again. After breakfast, we started the retreat session with an icebreaker led by Jaijo Paulose and Sreya Samuel. Thanks to both of them for making the time in arranging this. I'm proud to say we had approximately 70-75 youth who represented our various churches in the NE region; more than 45 coming from the New Jersey/Staten Island sub-region. The Carteret youth led our praise & worship and concluded the program with a game of Bible jeopardy. I want to thank them for their hard work and commitment. Saji Achen, to no one's surprise, showed his creative skills in a day filled with games, learning new songs, and an enlightening sermon that focused on the theme, "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism" from St.Paul's letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4:5. Achen's biblical interpretation of the concept of unity helped us to realize that we share one common goal and that is to strengthen our faith and love for God and the Church. But if we want to be successful in reaching that goal, all of us must work together NOW. I am truly excited and looking forward to working with each of you, especially for the upcoming Family Conference in July 2010.
Special thanks goes to Dn.Shiryl for his continued support and prayers throughout the planning process of this retreat. And I can't forget both Tina and Mable who did a phenomenal job at helping to coordinate the event.
Regards,
Justin Mathew
St.Mary's Bergenfield
Attached is Saji Achen's powerpoint for those of you that missed the event.
