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In preparation for the CorUS, the Jesus Youth national creative summit, we had a local gathering with Shelton Pinheiro. We had a great time asking and learning about how to use our talents for the kingdom of God both in ministry as well in our secular careers. We learned about the initiative, the intentional discernments…

For the Middle School gathering in October, we visited a farm, discussed friendship and prayed together. Enjoy some pictures from the trip.

The first gathering of Pathways, a campus program, took place on October 5th, at Arden of Oakbrook (Jonathan, Joel, Amaris residence). Seven students who have committed to attending 6 sessions over the next 3 months will journey together with the two facilitators, Joel and Joe, as they meet every few weeks during this semester and…

After a long summer break, Teens gathering started back up in September at the Jacob’s house on September 19th. They spent the evening around a bonfire, had a time of praise and worship and some fun activities.

The August Household was held and Manoj and Tena Mathew’s residence. We gathered to reflect on Jesus washing the disciples feet, a slave like act done by our God, the example he is showing us to live out. The household also used this opportunity to specially pray over all the students going back to school…

Seven of our JY middle school ministry girls attended the Damascus camp in Great Lakes Michigan. You can find more about these summer camps here: https://www.damascus.net/catholic-youth-summer-camp Just like the boys middle school camp, the girls one also focuses on high adventure activities that lead to high adventure faith. Please do ask the girls about their…

We had July Household at the Bijoy’s house. Goodwin lead us in the monthly reflection on Guarding our Hearts. The reflection reminded us of the importance of rooting our heart on the Word of God and nurturing the strengths of our heart while intentionally guiding the weaknesses that can be detrimental. Many shared their own…

Community night continued at the Elmhurst house for the entire month of July. We had a blast meeting new people, having fun, and hanging out. We played football, enjoyed burgers and hot dogs, and indulged in some delicious cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, and even had a bake-off between some of us. Throughout the month, we…

At the last community night before Justina, one of our youth, left for her fulltimership, the region came together in a beautiful time of prayer and sharing of memories and graces. Many shared memories and stories with Justina in a beautiful time of experiencing the strength and love of a Christian community. This was followed…

KCA organized a fantastic time at Sky Zone (trampoline park) for many kids, young adults, and parents. It was an incredible opportunity to build relationships between different generations and age groups. I’m sure many cherished memories were made as the kids jumped alongside their older brothers and sisters in the movement. Since the event was…

Community Nights, the social gathering where ‘no plans are the best plans’ started back up again for the summer. We started off the first month of community night at the Bijoy’s house and every week we had between 60 to 80 people gathering for BBQ, hanging out, playing hoops, relaxing, playing avalon, etc. Many came…

Our Middle School ministry took some of our middle schoolers to the summer camp organized by Damascus in June. This summer camp focuses on high-adventure activities leading to high-adventure faith. Many of the kids came back sharing experiences where they had to push past their fears and in the process learning to trust in God…

Jesus Youth of the region came together to celebrate Pentecost and to commit/recommit to the Jesus Youth movement. As we went through the recommitment liturgy, lead by Fr. Joel Pius, we prayed for baptism in the Holy Spirit and prayed over each other, adored Jesus in the Eucharist, and took the pledge of Jesus Youth…

“Common Grounds” is a basement-turned-coffee-shop, open every Tuesday for an evening of fellowship. It’s been continuing for the second month and has become a fun and productive coffee shop. Many start off the evening getting some work done while sharing some coffee, matcha, water etc. Work time slowly switches to fun and games as dinner…

Household (the gathering of all JY’s in the region) for May happened at Jithin and Anjitha’s house. We started off with an action song, bringing back the spirit of JY from 2 decades ago. Angela lead us in the monthly reflection. She used creative ways to help us think of the impact our actions will…

A group of about 20 JY’s from Chicago drove up to Wisconsin to take part in the Walk to Mary pilgrimage. We start with St. Joseph (at the National Shrine of St. Joseph) and walk to Mary (at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion) to get to Jesus.  Our annual pilgrimage has impacted…

This month saw the beginning of a new initiative. “Common Grounds” is a basement-turned-coffee-shop, open once a  week for an evening of fellowship. The coffee shop ambiance allows for 2 hours of “work together” time during which attendees can bring their todo lists, personal projects, or projects to work on with others. The time can…

The spring semester, the Midwest ran its first batch of the National Campus Pathways program. The program included in person meetups of 6-8 college age students who committed to 6 sessions with 2 facilitators. The sessions included topics on Friendship that dove into how to identify good friendships, opening up oneself to deeper relationship with…

The regular Saturday Soup Kitchen group went again this Saturday to serve at the Missionaries of Charity Soup Kitchen. They attended the morning mass at Immaculate Conception in Elmhurst and then made the trip out to the city to serve at the Soup Kitchen. If anyone is interested in joining on Saturday, please reach out…

All are invited to our weekly intercessory adoration at Syro Malabar Cathedral, Bellwood, IL. As JY Midwest, we rely on the grace received during intercession to continue the mission of being a missionary movement in the region. We come together for Qurbana (Divine Liturgy) at 5:30 PM every Monday followed by an hour of intercession…

March Household was held at Jijo and Jiji’s house. It was awesome to have many of our college students who were back home for Spring Break. Bennett Kannana lead us in the reflection on ‘Waiting for the Lord‘. Many shared about their experiences of different periods of waiting. It is good that one should wait…

March monthly Teens Gathering happened at the Jacob house.

Today we had our KCA seniors gathering. We talked about Shield of Faith & Helmet of Salvation. The kids enjoyed some fresh air and worked on their Armor of God dioramas.

For the March Boys Adventure Club, we flew kites and reflected on the theme of spirituality based on this fun activity. We had 15 middle school aged boys at the gathering.

We had few people from our region go to Damascus Worship Conference in Columbus, OH. Here’s how Damascus explained what this conference was, ‘For lovers and leaders of worship- whether you are leading on stage or from the crowd, join us for a 3-day conference that will (re-)ignite your love for the Lord and equip…

The Pathways campus group did our service project by taking a trip together to the Feed My Starving Children in Schaumburg. We worked together to pack food to be sent to other countries to feed children who are less fortunate. Following this we spent time in fellowship enjoying some brunch together.

JY Teens saw a lot of new faces in February! They got a chance to meet and talk about the value of fasting, abstinence and almsgiving in preparation for Lent. In all that they do, they offer their sacrifices as a way of trusting in God!

For February Household, we met together at the Bijoys house to spend time in prayer, reflection and fellowship. Edwin shared the reflections on working hard in the kingdom of the Lord and we spent time sharing personal reflections and discussing some questions on how we pray, what songs or bible verses that we use in…

The Jesus Youth Young Adults organized a Super Bowl party for all the youth in the region including High Schoolers. They used this as an outreach opportunity to invite friends and share in fellowship and fun. While enjoying the game, everyone spent a lot of time talking to each other, enjoying the different dishes everyone…