Faith Festival – 2015
One of the biggest projects of the Father Jordan Youth is the Faith Festival. It is a series of activities organized to deepen one’s faith through integration of catechism and bible classes, lectures, praise and worship, group sharing and fun activities.
This year, a three-day Faith Festival activity was held at the Fr. Jordan Formation House, Talon, Amadeo, Cavite from October 23 to 25, 2015. Participants consisted of the FJY and FJC of Talon and Maymangga, Altar Servers, and few other guests coming from a Youth group of the Ternate Parish.
On October 23, 2015, at 3:00pm, Fr. Hermann Preussner, SDS, led the formal opening of the event with all of at least 80 participants followed by the general orientation of the program. It was then followed by the catechism classes by Br. Francisco and Br. Briaflo. The group was divided by two – youth and children, with topics ‘General Bible Information’ and ‘Important Bible Stories and Parables’, given to youth and children group, respectively. A very solemn and prayerful adoration was also attended by the participants with the rest of the community before dinner.
As they carried on with the event, one of the invited guest speakers, teacher Nica lectured about team building in the morning of the second day. Everyone was very attentive during her talk and the fun activities she prepared. Among other activities lined up for the day and were actively attended by the participants were the CateQuiz – a follow-up activity after the class which conducted on the first day; “Discovering Mission through Knowing Your Purpose in Life (through the inspiration of the Life of Fr. Francis Jordan)”, an inspirational talk by Cl. Paul Vincent Galgo, SDS; a fun and interesting lecture on Personality Development prepared by another resource speaker, Ms. Barbara Diokno; and a lecture about “Veneration of Saints” by Novice Michael dela Cerna, which gave the participants a deeper understanding on its importance as faithful Catholics. Led by Br. Francisco, his music team, and with the special participation of the two novices, Br. Mike and Br. Philipp, an amazing praise and worship activity were held inside the chapel of the formation house at 9:30 in the evening. Fun games and activities were also prepared just before the lighting of the bonfire. The entire day was really full but also productive and memorable for all the participants. A chill-out night activity by the bonfire marked the closing of the day for all.
The third and final day started with a zumba dance as a morning exercise for all participants. During breakfast, some special awards were given to the participants. The month of October is the rosary month so one of the lined-up activities with this year’s festival is the praying of the rosary. The youth gathered in the chapel after distribution of awards for the special living rosary. It was followed by the Holy Mass presided by Fr Hubert Kranz, SDS, who were very happy for the efforts of all participants and making the event a success. The Mass served as the concluding ceremony of this year’s faith festival. Everyone was surely feeling sleepy and exhausted. Fortunately, nothing bad happened during the entire program and it all went well until everyone got back to their own houses.
It’s the third time for the FJY to hold the same activity, after two successful events held last year. The fact that each one always made time to attend is a blessing and knowing one has earned new experiences and learned new things from the activity is already a lot to be thankful for. To God be all the glory!
