Fifth youth preparation meeting towards Madrid

Today, on Saturday, June 4, we gathered for the fifth meeting of the youth who are preparing for the journey to Spain.

We began the meeting with songs and we learnt a new one:

"Let the heavens be glad,
and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar,
and all that fills it"

Following that we discussed the details of the journey to Madrid and we chose a name and logo for the group: the name is "Desert Flower".

At noon, we prepared lunch together, a barbecue as usual. After we had finished lunch, we went on a walk through the streets of Jaffa.

When we returned from the lunch break, we gathered in the chapel for a time of prayer. In the prayer we focused on the subject of the Holy Spirit – we read from the Gospel of Saint John, 20:19-23 – there Jesus says three things to his disciples and to us today:

1. "Peace be with you."
2. "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
3. "Receive the Holy Spirit."

After reading from the Gospel, we took a few moments in silence for ourselves and we asked the Holy Spirit to give us her gifts and to be active in our lives. Benny also read a certain passage from the Book of Deuteronomy and then explained it to us: "Your life shall hang in doubt before you; night and day you shall be in dread, with no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, "If only it were evening!" and at evening you shall say, "If only it were morning!"-- because of the dread that your heart shall feel and the sights that your eyes shall see" (Deuteronomy 28:66-67).

We read the second reading from the Epistle to the Galatians 5:22 – 23, and we asked ourselves in what way can we know that the Holy Spirit is really working within us? After reading the passage, we understood that the way is to act according to the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We must act precisely according to these fruits – we must give love and joy, which will bring us to peace and patience so that we radiate kindness and we act with generosity and fidelity which will give us gentleness and self control.

We then sang the song:

"I bow down before You
On my knees
Give You authority over my life
I praise You forever
Because You are my Lord
You alone are Jesus, the joy of my life
Holy, holy, holy are You
Holy, holy, holy are You."

Then Father Apolinary distributed pieces of paper on which were written the gifts of the Holy Spirit and he explained each gift. Each one meditated the piece of paper received and prayed that this gift and all the gifts of the Spirit might be poured out and be active in our lives.

We ended with the song:

"Let the heavens be glad,
and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar,
and all that fills it"