18/09/2016
HURRAY!
Approximately 450 youth participants from the 67 GKKs of St. Michael the Archangel Parish have come together and actively participated in this year's Vocation Olympics held at four different venues, September 17-18.
This event was spearheaded by the Catholic Youth Ministry-SMAP in partnership with Lay Vocation Promoters (LVP) in celebration of the Vocation Month.
Day 1 (Sept. 17)
Notre Dame of Siena College was the first venue of the said event where youth participants were lectured on "Three Kinds of Vocation" (Single-blessedness, Marriage Life, & Religious Life) by respected speakers from various congregations and by representatives of each kind of vocation. Right after the talks, a mass was celebrated by Rev. Fr. Alex Salas.
By 1:00 PM, youth participants were instructed to transfer to Habitat Phase-B, a nearby place. One of the highllights of this Vocation Olympics was the which is resembled from the trending gaming application, Pokemon Go. However, instead of looking for Pokemon monsters, youth participants are instructed to look for the different stations where tasks are to be accomplished. Also, for purposes of creating a more united SMAP CYM members, youth participants were divided into 10 small groups in five big groups (or 50 groups, in total). After completing each task in every station, the station managers give out puzzle pieces which the groups will form by the end of the game.
Around 3:00 PM, youth participants walked their way to SMAP's Spiritual Center (or more commonly known as 1-hectare). To enable the youth participants to take some rest, a 1-hour break was given.
The life lessons in the conduct of the five stations in the game were amplified by the start of the evening gathering. After preparing the youth participants, a resource speaker (Sister from OND) delivered her talk about her own personal experiences in living the vocation that God has called her for.
After Sister's talk, the youth participants took their dinner and was immediately followed by the last part of the evening program- Taize Prayer- where youth participants actively participated in. Those who wanted to enter the Sacrament of Confession were catered while others continued praying in the Taize Hall.
Day 2 (Sept. 18)
At exactly 4:00 AM, youth participants started preparing for the Morning Journey of Faith where they marched from 1-hectare to Our Lady of Fatima (OLF) Chapel located in Brgy. Mabuhay, in front of the Brgy. Hall, to attend the Culminating Mass.
The Fellowship Meal was prepared by the OLF ministries. It was followed by the Untangling & Giving of Keepsakes where youth participants wrote on a piece of paper their message to their new-found friend/s. Some also gave their valuable thing/s to their new-found friend.
The Bound to Commit and Live portion enabled the youth participants to express their learnings, observations, and suggestions with regard the two-day activity.
At around 10:30 AM, the Vocation Olympics officially ended with high hopes for a Year 2 so that more youth participants can experience this one of a kind event and be able to "live a life worthy of their CALLING".
