Parish Youth Ministry (PYM)

San Antonio De Padua Parish

Alec Bukuhan and Raf Florendo of N2015

Vision-Mission of the Ministry

Vision To become great leaders of tomorrow by committing ourselves to God through service with compassion Mission To unite the youth in the community and bring them back to the church; To develop among the youth a deeper relationship with God; To strengthen young peoples faith and love for God and the community; and, To commit ourselves to become responsible followers of God

Regular Activities of the Organization

A mass for the youth is held in the parish every last Sunday of the month at 6:15 pm. After the mass, there are meetings held. Youth vigils are also held annually. There are also JAM sessions (Jesus and Me) are also held annually, but theres no definite date.

Our Interviewee
Our interviewees name is Marco S. Angulo. He is a 26 year old tutor for the subject English. He studied in University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

He has been a member of the Parish Youth Ministry for about 4 years. Now, he is currently serving PYM as its coordinator for approximately 7-8 months. He is the representative of the Youth* in the Parish Pastoral Council and overall head of the youth in all activities.
*You are considered as youth when you are in the age bracket of 13-39 y/o and if youre not married. (Yes sir, youth ka pa! Wag ka mag-alala!)

The Interview

Why did he join this organization?

He said that he was somewhat forced, but he was invited by the former PYM coordinator*. He was invited because he, like the former coordinator, was a lector, so they both knew each other since he started to serve in the parish.

*She is now happily married, which is why she isnt considered as youth anymore.

How does this organization help him become a better Christian?

As youth, he became closer to the church and beyond its traditions. He saw the smaller details about the church and had a deep understanding of the church. He saw its importance and his faith itself. When he joined PYM, he faith in God strengthened.

How are the speakers addressed by the parish? The reason that the speakers were disfunctional might be because of the floods during the monsoon. He said that before the monsoon last August, they thought that it was very clear. To fix it, here was a meeting held about the renovations of the church, including the speakers.

Beatitude Character
Blessed are those poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. He exemplifies this beatitude when we asked him the second question. He said that his faith in God was strengthened when he joined the organization. He also had a deeper understanding of the church.

Observing Our Organization

The organization went to a youth vigil in Comboni along Roosevelt Avenue. We were there waiting at 3:00 pm for the program to start. Our interviewee Sir Marco is just talking with the other members of PYM. The two hosts started talking, officially starting the program. Right when

the program started, we had a dance to make us feel more energetic. Everyone was having fun with the all the dancing, even Sir Marco. There were like about three or four dances, then there was a talk. The priest talked about faith and the youth being the messengers of

God. He compared a cell phone with the Bible. He said*, We always bring our cell phones, but we dont bring our Bibles anywhere. We read the texts and answer the phone calls, but dont read the Bible even once a day. This is the problem of the youth today.
*Not actual quote, but same message.

There was also a traditional ceremony called the Tai Ze prayer. It was a time of prayer and silence so we could reflect and talk to the Lord. We also ate dinner after everything that we did. Sir Marco was also helping in giving the food. Then, there were

the closing remarks by an African priest, then we were dismissed. Oh, and there were many performances by the youth!

Reflection (Alec)
Being in the organization is actually a great experience! The dances were actually fun, even though I dont really dance. The members of the organization are really close to each other and have fun with each other. The priests talk about us (the youth) being messengers of God really

made me reflect on what I should be doing. Our interviewee really has strong faith in God. He knows our parish very well. He chose to be a messenger of God. Because of his actions, I am challenged to KNOW* my parish and be a MESSENGER OF GOD!
*KNOW, not KNOW ABOUT

Reflection (Raf)
I found the organizations activity fun, especially the talk done by the speaker. His speech was very inspirational as it was about faith. It taught me that we should put God before everything else. Sir Marco also taught me that everything that happens is Gods plan for us. He

accepted the task of being the coordinator even though he didnt really want to because he knew that it was his purpose in life was to serve the church. He told us that he learned and understood more about the church when he actively participated in its activities.

He challenges not only me but also every other youth to be active in the parish for it will deepen our faith in God and our understanding about the church.