Confirmation Retreat at Holy Name of Jesus

Last Saturday, I led my very first Confirmation Retreat with my fellow Youth Council members! It was a wonderful experience. The students were from various parishes around the bay area that had too small of a confirmation group to hold their own retreats. The day started when the students entered and the leaders had the task of checking them in and mingling with them. I was one of the main people mingling with the group. I mainly wanted to get to know them, where they were from, and if they were excited for the day. Later, we introduced the song and theme for the retreat. The theme was "Journey with Faith" and the song was "Son of Man" by Phil Collins. The first testimony was on experiencing God's Love. Next, we broke off into small home groups, where we held discussions after every testimony. My group and I got really close because we discussed what we learned from each testimony and how it related to our lives. My role was to be the facilitator of the discussion and provide support for people to volunteer. Next, I led the quilt activity, which involved each student to draw a picture of what their faith means to them. Then, we quilted them together in the shape of a cross to symbolize that we are not alone in our journey with faith. The next testimony was on facing challenges and finding your faith through challenges. The last testimony was on sacrifice and transforming with your faith. Throughout the retreat, I got close with many students and talked to them about growing their faith. It was interesting to get to know them individually. I found that my passion is getting to know people and helping them grow in their own faith. Overall, it was an amazing retreat. The students not only grew in their faith, but I did as well.



Hours logged: 10 Hours

Youth Council Meeting on February 7th

On February 7th, I attended the monthly Youth Council meeting. Today, we reviewed the agenda for the upcoming confirmation retreat at Holy Names parish on February 21st. In this retreat, I will be leading the quilt activity where all the students will draw a picture on a quilt of their faith. Later on, 3 members of the Youth Council practiced saying their testimonies, or talks, about their faith. The first speaker talked about the challenges she faced in maintaining her faith, but realizing God's love in the process. The next speaker talked about overcoming hardships in life and how that affects our relationship with God. His main message was to always go back to God when facing challenges. The last speaker discussed his path to choosing God and being transformed with his faith. In the end of each talk, the audience gave positive and constructive feedback to the speakers. I contributed by giving the feedback of connecting the talks to confirmation, keeping eye contact with the audience, and keeping the audience engaged. Lastly, we briefly discussed the Food Fast that we will be planning for on April 18. All the events we are planning for will hopefully introduce youth to their faith and help them build a personal relationship with their faith.


Hours logged: 2 hours