Parish Youth Day

Young blood says ????? Uzzo 🔥

Yes, this was what every youth member of St. Francis Xavier Chicalim, Church was chanting at the end of the inaugural Parish Youth Day.

The Parish Youth Day was held on the 15th of August, 2019 the feast day of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven and the Independence Day of India. The day started quite early, as all the youth assembled in the church corridor and were handed a star. During the entrance hymn, the youth went in a procession and placed the star alongside a statue of Mother Mary below the altar.

The altar depicting the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven

Parish Youth entering the church

A view of the Parish Youth members

Another view of the Parish Youth members

As today is Independence Day, what does freedom mean to you?

Fr. Bolmax

In the homily, Fr. Bolmax interacted with the youth, his main point of focus was "As today is Independence Day, what does freedom mean to you?"

A reading of the word

Body of Christ

Parish Youth choir

After the mass, there was a wonderful session held by members of the Diocesan Youth Center (DYC). It involved the youth taking part in different activities including singing and animation. The members of DYC explained to those present:

• The importance of forming the parish youth.
• How being in the parish youth helped them, recounting their life situations.
• How to discover and live our mission in the Church and the Society.

Fr. Bolmax interacting with the DYC team

A member of the DYC team speaks

A rapt audience

Attentive youth engrossed in the proceedings

One of the many games in progress

Later on, there was a talk by Capt. Viriato Fernandes (Retd), who spoke about serving the country and how the Indian Navy needs more young Goans to join its ranks. We also had members of the Crusaders for Jesus with Mary, inviting us to attend the 2019 Ignite for Christ Youth Retreat.

Capt. Viriato Fernandes (Retd) sharing his experiences in the Indian Navy

A member of the Crusaders for Jesus with Mary speaks

Midway, after having lunch prepared by our parishioners, there was more fun and games organized by our youth members. We ended the event with a group photograph taken by our shutterbug Crispino Faria. Finally, it was time to depart, with a promise to keep the youth group together keeping in mind, what we learnt from Fr. Bolmax and the DYC members.

Blowing the balloons

Hula hoop passing game

Dance battle on

One of the winners receiving their prize

One of the winners receiving their prize

SFX Parish Youth Chicalim