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Youth

What is CMYPC?

Canadian Martyrs Youth Prayer Community (CMYPC) is an exciting outreach of the Canadian Martyrs Prayer Community for the youth in the parish. We do not just talk about Christian discipleship, we live it out! The CMYPC gathers together in the parish every 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month (in conjunction with the CMPC), to praise and worship the Lord through prayer meetings, fellowship, and other various activities. As well, the group participates in social events, seminars, and many other spiritual activities that help us get involved in our parish, in order for us to develop our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and with our brothers and sisters.

Our Mission

• We will help one another grow in our relationship with Jesus.
• We will be open to the Holy Spirit leading us in using our gifts for His glory.
• We will show our love, honour, and respect to our parents and to God.
• We will focus on developing strong, Christ-centered relationships with one another as friends.
• We will serve and participate willingly and joyfully, whenever there are opportunities in our parish and in our community.
• We will be faithful to the Gospel and share it with one another.
• We will accept, respect, and care for our brothers and sisters irrespective of their race, religion, culture, and background.

Youth Events

For a list of CMYPC events, including the Youth Retreat, please see the events page.

The following article was prepared by Rvie Tolentino

The Canadian Martyrs Prayer Community (CMPC) held their second annual youth retreat last August 1st until the 3rd at Camp Capilano in North Vancouver. The theme for this year’s retreat was titled “Come and You Will See”. (Jn.1:39).

I gotta say: it was SO much better than last year’s. We had a HUGE turnout—with 33 youth in attendance. Many new friendships were forged and we were all brought closer together not only as a youth group, but as friends and as brothers and sisters in Christ. As well, we even got a chance to spend our own personal time with God through prayer and meditation.

The talks given by our wonderful speakers were amazing. Returning speakers included St. Mary’s Youth Ministry’s Ely Bautista (well known for the famous “bear” joke he told us last year) and Youth for Christ’s Sheree San Jose, as well as the CMPC’s very own Mon Villegas. We have learned so many things from them, from understanding about God’s role in my life, to gaining knowledge about God’s part and our part in changing ourselves.

One thing I learned from the talks was about love, given by Murita Chua of the Archdiocese of Vancouver. If my memory serves me right, I learned that doing simple actions of kindness and whatnot are ways of showing God’s love to others. I also learned about the true meaning of love, as said in Corinthians 13:4-7: “Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; love does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered; love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

By replacing the word “love” with a first-person perspective, we get this passage, which shows us how we should love: “I am patient, I am kind, and I am not jealous; I do not brag and I am not arrogant, I do not act unbecomingly; I do not seek my own, I am not provoked, I do not take into account a wrong suffered; I do not rejoice in unrighteousness, but I rejoice with the truth; I bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things.”

Talks aside, we also had different activities around the retreat including swimming, volleyball, badminton, and basketball. Some of us had jamming sessions, played music in the common room and each group worked on our mini-skits, which were to be presented on the last day of the retreat. There was also a Holy Mass led by the one and only Fr. Paul, with the youth providing the music. On the last day of the retreat, we all went for a hike to the Cleveland Dam as well as the Capilano Fish Hatchery, where we hosted our group anniversary picnic.

I want to thank our good Lord and retreat head Orlando Tolentino, who was superbly supported by the CMPC leaders Fidel & Luming Gallevo, Frolin & Jeannette Ocariza, Jeff & Lydia Tang, Mon & Lorrie Villegas and Chrys Tolentino. Of course, this retreat will not come into fruition if not also for the help & support of all our parents & CMPC members. They have given me and my friends a chance to spend another great personal time with my Lord, and for making this retreat a retreat to remember. Praise God!!

The following article was prepared by Rvie Tolentino

"You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures." - John 15:16

Everyone knows thatwe save the best for last... well, maybe not really the last, but another one that turned out to be even better than I thought. (And maybe it'll get even better as the years go by, and we'll probably have to switch venues as more people start getting interested and being invited...)

The 3rd annual Canadian Martyrs Prayer Community Youth Retreat took place at Camp Capilano, in North Vancouver, from the evening of July 31st until the afternoon of August 2nd. This year's theme was titled "I Have CHosen You", taken from the 16th verse of the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John. This year's retreat has been brought to even greater heights with the attendance of 42 participants (including 2 Chinese-Canadian visitors from Toronto and an African-Canadian), a youth music ministry, and completely brand new speakers. I was amazed by the fantastic turnout and outcome of this once-in-a-year event.

As with the past two retreats, the 42 of us were split up into groups (there were five in total), with each group named a particular passage from the Gospel of John. As well, we had speakers who gave us lectures based on the purpose of the retreat. We had brand new speakers this year, including fellow CMPC Member and retreat participant Linnette Ocariza, Catholic Christian Outreach's Mark Ho, and Canadian Martyrs Parish's very own Penny Chua. All of us had learned a lot, from learning to have joy in our lives and to not lose hope, to learning to ask God for help in times of difficulty, to learning about the right attitude. Oh, and by the way... speaking of attitude, you should all know that Jesus' attitude is a contagious one - his attitude of love is like that of a disease, one that spreads to others. And we should spread his contagious love to others as well, for his love is everlasting! In addition to the lectures, all of us had time to be with ourselves and to reflect on the lectures that were given to us, to have personal one-on-one conversations with the good Lord through prayer, group discussions and sharing, as well as morning and evening prayers. An anticipated mass was also given on the evening of the second day by our one and only parish priest Fr. Paul Chu.

In terms of activities, our late-night bonfire was unfortunately cancelled due to the province-wide fire ban. This did not stop us from having fun as we swam, played volleyball and basketball, participated in jamming sessions, and made new friends throughout the three days.

On our last day after morning prayers, we set off for our annual late morning hike to Cleveland Dam and the Capilano River Fish Hatchery. We enjoyed the lush forest, the rushing waters of the Capilano River, and all of God's wonderful works. At the end of the retreat, all of the groups presented their mini-skits to the parents and relatives who were there to pick us up.

Thanks to all the parents, leaders, the participants, and most especially our good Lord Jesus Christ for the success of this year's retreat. Though we ran into many trials and obstacles along the way, we managed to push through and make this retreat an event to remember.