What is the difference between being childlike and childish?

In Luke 18:17, Jesus says that anyone who does not receive the kingdom like a little child shall not enter into it. Childlike faith provides entrance into the kingdom. And yet many Christians confuse having faith like a child with actually behaving like a child. There are many who may or may not have childlike faith, but who behave in childish ways. Jesus wants us to be childlike, not childish.

Childlike faith trusts. Childlike faith knows no bounds. Childlike faith listens to what is said, and believes it. My daughter Taylor loves to paint and color. Almost every night when I get home from work, one of the first things she says is, “Daddy, will you color with me?” Those of you who have been in our house in recent months have seen the art gallery in our kitchen of all of her work.

A few weeks ago, as we were sitting down for dinner, Taylor noticed a beautiful sunset out of the western window. Wendy told her that Jesus had painted the sky. She thought about that for a moment, and then said, “Mommy, can I paint the sky with Jesus?”

That’s childlike faith. Taylor knows that we love her and only have her best interests at heart. We have told her that Jesus loves her too. Taylor also knows that she loves to color. And so, when she sees something that Jesus has colored, she believes that since He loves her, He wants to color with her just like Mommy and Daddy color with her. And I don’t know how it all works, but we told her that probably, when she gets to heaven, Jesus will let her paint the sky.

Of course, in order to do that, she realized that she needed wings. So she asked if Jesus would give her wings. I told her that Jesus would probably give her wings so she could fly like a bird into the sky to paint it. Taylor looked at me very seriously and said, “No, Daddy. Not like a bird. Like a Taylor.”

Childlike faith. It believes the most amazing things. Taylor believes she will paint the sky, and that to get there, she doesn’t need to be like a bird, she can go just as she is, with the minor addition of wings. Childlike faith is simple. It is pure. It is honest. It simply believes. It is beautiful.

Childishness, on the other hand, is not beautiful. What is childishness? Childishness is childlike behavior gone sour. Childishness is a refusal to grow up. Childishness is when a person of any age acts younger than they are. While it is natural for children to act like children, it is expected that they will grow up and stop acting like children. When they do not, they are being childish. Childishness is when people who should know better throw temper tantrums and pout when they don’t get their way. Childishness is when people are irresponsible and behave as if the world revolves around them. Childishness is when people make petty demands and selfish complaints.

Children are born with the natural tendency to disobey, to throw temper tantrums, to cry when they don’t get their way, to scream at the top of their voice when they get a little bit hungry, and to fuss when they get tired. It is a parent’s responsibility to train and discipline these things out of child. If a boy turns eight, and consistently throws temper tantrums in order to get his way, he is acting childish. If a girl turns fifteen, and still pouts and cries when asked to vacuum the living room, she is acting childish. These sinful tendencies must be trained and disciplined out of a child. Children must grow up.

Acting like a child is okay and expected when we are children. But as we grow up and mature, as we are trained and disciplined, we should leave childish ways behind. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” When you are a child, it is okay to act like one. But as you grow up, you should put away childish behavior.

Source: http://www.tillhecomes.org/Text%20Sermons/Luke/Luke%207%2031-35.htm

We will also be having a Youth Sponsored Mass on the 29th of August. Please do come and join us in the choir or as a warden wearing any Youth Rally t-shirt from previous years.

The Youth in the Experience Seminar (YES), which touched on these topics was conducted by Martin Jalleh, a renowned speaker and 3-time SIC Youth Rally facilitator and assisted by the Junior Youth Ministry of St. Ignatius. Held on the 17^th and 18^th of July in the Costantini Community centre, the seminar kicked off at 9 a.m. on the first day with a short praise and worship session by Augustine Ow.

Then came the first session by Martin – the ins and outs of prayer. From this, the participants found out about prayer and how it is important in daily life. Martin even included biblical examples to further explain what he talked about, the most prominent one being Jesus and his ministry.

One interesting aspect of prayer that was also introduced during the session was silence. This particular element did broaden the perspective of the participants on prayer and certainly helped to clear certain misconceptions.

After a hearty lunch right after the first part, Ivy Philip led everyone into another joyful and reflective praise & worship before Martin continued, this time on postures of prayer. This brand new element was introduced by means of a video showing the myriad of postures one can utilize while praying. After the video, Martin invited the participants to try out a few of the postures demonstrated in the video. While some felt uncomfortable, soon everyone caught up on the idea.

Following postures was the basis of the signs of prayer. Martin gave a little quiz to test the participants on how well they know the actions of what Catholics do often, such as the sign of the cross and signaling the forehead, lips and chest whenever the Gospel is proclaimed. Some of the questions really tested their knowledge and laughter ensued while quite a number of incorrect answers came up.

Rounding off the first day was another introduction to another form of prayer – chants, short sentences that are repeatedly said or recited while praying. Martin taught 4 different chants for the participants to try their hands on. During this session, for every chant, everyone was deep in prayer and certainly in the presence of the Lord.

The next day of the seminar showed an interesting twist to the program when Martin used the power of imagination to evoke thinking among the participants. Two storylines were used in the process, where everyone thought of how to react to certain circumstances and scenes. A few participants shared their thoughts and what they did during the exercise and Martin went on to explain that the way everyone reacted to the storyline reflects on their personality in real life. That session really surprised everyone and they were also able to relate to everything they had done.

The last session of the seminar touched on contemplative prayer, yet another method of prayer which requires one to be still and aware of the senses to connect with God’s presence. Through contemplative prayer, participants were able to understand that sometimes, no words are needed when conversing with God in prayer.

Wrapping up the whole seminar was a jam-packed praise & worship led by Michelle Lai. Dancing and singing out to the Lord got the whole crowd hyped up and moving to the beat while praising.

It truly was a beneficial weekend where everyone left with new ways to pray and worship the Lord.

The Saint Ignatius Church is proud to have conducted its first ever Musical Concert of Love! The event took place over the weekend of 26th and 27th June 2010 in support of the Parish Integral Human Development (PIHD) program, Rumah Kanak-Kanak Impian (RKKI) shelter homes, the orang asli, prison ministry and other deserving groups.

Both nights kicked off with Michael Jackson’s ‘We are the World’ and ‘Heal the World’ by the SIC Youth Choir, Children’s Choir and Klang Chamber Choir. After giving the crowd a taste of that, 14 young talented girls from the Children’s Choir stole our hearts by singing a piece entitled ‘Noah’s Ark’.

Before more performances could go on, SIC’s beloved parish priest, Fr. Philip Tan (who has since been promoted) came to share a few words with the crowd. Laura Sta Maria, Michelle Lai and Rachel Lai took the stage next with their rendition of ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ followed by a energetic blacklight dance by the graduates of the 2009 Outreach Team choreographed by Zachary Emuang and Michael Ho. The SIC Youth Choir continued serenading the crowd with ‘I am His Child’ and the medley with a solo by Laura Sta Maria. After a 15 minute interval, 45-member Puchong Community Orchestra conducted by SIC parishioner Xavier Anthony wowed the crowd with their synchronization and passion. Next up, everyone got hyped up with a little football fever! Everybody got on their feet, dancing and singing to Zulu, one of the major languages in Africa.

The Children’s Choir reminded us of our childhood by singing songs like ‘My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean’ and a Flinstone’s medley. The youth choir then took stage again performing ‘When You Believe’ and Fr. Philip brought the house down when he accompanied the choir with his solo in ‘I’ll Make a Difference’. The last performance of the night, “Shout Glory” got everyone clapping and cheering encore because the crowd didn’t want the night to end!

 Of course, none of this would have been possible without Mr. Lee Shiak Yao who was their conductor throughout the night. All of them have been training together for 6 months to put up 2 incredible nights for us, all for a good cause. Last but not least, none of this would have been possible without the Lord Jesus Christ!

Click here to see pictures of the event!

Ever wondered how we can pray to the Lord?

Or how many types of prayers are there?

Need a boost in your prayer life?

If you have any of these questions (and more), come and join us for a weekend of informative insight into these topics! The Youth Experience in the Spirit (YES) Seminar will definitely help you to improve on your spiritual life. Check out the details…

YOUTH EXPERIENCE IN THE SPIRIT (YES) SEMINAR

EXPERIENCE THE

PERSON, PRESENCE, POWER OF JESUS

THROUGH A SPIRIT-FILLED PRAYER LIFE!

LEARN PRACTICAL METHODS OF PRAYER

(Prayer Facilitator: Martin Jalleh)

Stillness Prayer, Christian Meditation, Chants, Praying the Psalms; Praying with the Bible; Praying with our Bodies; Postures of Prayer; Charismatic Prayer, Jesus Prayer; Chants; Praying the Rosary Meditatively

St Ignatius Church, PJ

17^th July (Sat: 9am-5pm) & 18^th July (Sun: 1pm-5pm)

All Youths are welcome

For more info,

Please contact Richard Lai @019-3331002

Organized by: SIC Junior Youth Ministry (JYM)

Be charmed with an evening of songs from box office movies like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Sister Act, Phantom of the Opera, The Flinstones. Also featuring songs by Michael Jackson, Moses Hogan, Byron Smith, James Taylor, Mozart and many others!

Proceeds from this event will go to charitable organizations.
————–
Mr. Lee Shiak Yao

Born in 1980, Lee Shiak Yao is one of the most versatile and all-rounded musicians of his generation. He studied conducting with Andrew Penny and Dr. Lee Tsang, the arts of piano accompaniment with Miss June Stephenson, and vocals, first from Ralph Macdonald, Mr. Lim Cheng Hock, then Paul Wade from Opera North and Dr. Michela Bertagnolli. Mr. Lee has been extremely active in all areas of musical performance and is regularly invited to give master classes and workshops in singing, choir and conducting both locally as well as internationally. His career has brought him to Norway, Finland, United Kingdom, Amsterdam, Belgium, China, France, Italy, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, South Africa and Japan, to name a few.

As a conductor, Mr. Lee conducted Hull Youth Philharmonic Orchestra on several occasions and toured with them to Venice, Italy. Mr. Lee also conducted a highly successful Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta “Patience” and was invited to conduct another Gilbert & Sullivan operetta “HMS Pinafore” the next year.

In Malaysia, he has been active in all musical fields, being part-time affiliated to UiTM music education department; conductor of Musique Inspiration Band; Artistic Director of AXON Brass quintet; founder of Klang Chamber Choir; one of the founders of the Malaysian Choral Federation. Mr. Lee has also contributed in the Klang Music Festival, Young Singers Choral Festival as well as teaches a number of local choirs and wind orchestras.

Mr. Lee is the representative of Malaysia in the World Youth Choir and is currently a member of the World Chamber Choir, which was recently nominated for the Nobel Prize Peace Award 2010. He is also a tenor in the Asian Youth Choir.

As another year comes, another Outreach Team graduates and when a team graduates there is always the welcoming of a new Outreach Team. The camp started out with a blast on the 7th of May. Registration went smoothly and without a hitch as did the loading of equipment and luggage.

After a blessing from Father Anthony Heng, we were off. The bus ride took its normal 1 hour and 30 minutes plus duration and the next time we knew we were all unloading the bus at The Farm. It seemed God was in a joking mood as it started raining while we were carrying the equipment over to The Farm. After our refreshing walk in the rain and a quick shower we started setting up while the Outreach Team was getting settled – 27 new members have been chosen this year to represent the Youth Rally Outreach Team of 2010.

We kicked the camp of with our first session by Benedict Lo – “Why am I here?” It really opened some people up to the fact they were not there by accident. It was a real eye opener even for the graduates who learnt a lot.

After the session was a short explanation of what is praise and worship by Rachel Lai, followed by praise and worship led by Ben and Angelica. After that for dinner and went to sleep as we were tired from the trip over. Little did we know we would really need every ounce of sleep we could get for tomorrow.

The next day started early at around 7. After washing up and clearing our sleeping space we headed out for breakfast. After an interesting breakfast which we cooked ourselves, we got back for a session about “The Importance of the Bible” by Sarah (Ben’s wife). She changed our view of the bible from a text book we have to read to the living word of God. Through her session she made the bible come to live for us.

Our next session was with Novia Natania, a lay leader originating from Indonesia. As her specialty is creative arts, she helped the 2010 team express their creativeness. She showed them through a game that instructions are not always as they seem. Later they were asked to mold some play dough into whatever they envisioned. The results were a stunning array of colours, shapes, sizes and characters. There was even a Spongebob model spotted in the midst of it all. When that was done with and everybody snapped a picture with their very own creation, the 2010 team was divided into 4 groups. The group were then given several items and asked to think creatively to advertise the item and elaborate on its uses. After the presentation everyone was already looking forward to lunch.

Lunch was followed by a session of praise and worship. While we were all in a singing and dancing mood Novi stepped up and asked the musicians to play the song ‘God with Us.’ She gave us some actions and then pulled one of us out at a time to make our own unique actions for the song. It was great fun and a real good way to open us up and make us dance for the Lord. Once this was done she made everyone sit in a circle where she taught us another song. Next was Ben’s session – basically a game where certain people were “deprived” of certain senses and abilities such as talking, walking, seeing and so on. The objective was to get all of our teammates to the finish line. This really cultivated teamwork among everybody and brought us closer together. After such an expressive activity we were all drained and tired but we all was have enough energy for a group “picture”. We all gathered at the edge of the dock to pose and the next thing we know we are all enjoying a nice dip in the pond. Sadly it began to rain again and we all had to go inside.

After a quick shower we all got ready for Mass, celebrated by Father Philip Tan. Once mass was over we have a picture taken with Father and the Graduating Team of 2009. The Graduating Team did something special to show their appreciation to everybody for the entire journey. Once that was done, we were all famished and could smell the barbecue in the air. Everyone was happy and merry enjoying some delicious lamb chops and other types of food.

After dinner we had a prayer session for the new team and Ben led us into a very deep and prayerful mood. Tears of healing flowed freely and he asked us to write our very own personal letter to God. We wrote down our sins, victories, failures and whatever else we wanted to say to the Father and nailed it to a cross.

The night concluded very solemnly and we went for supper. After supper we said our various goodnights and went to bed.

The next day started around the same time. We had Ben’s final session and by the end of it we could all answer the question he asked us on the first day – “Why are you here?” We all learnt so much from Ben, Sarah, Novi,  and Edward. We had a nature walk where we all took our Bibles and tried to find a verse that meant something to us. After that the 2010 team broke into 3 groups – drama, dance and singing. They each explored their creativity and came up with their own items.

Once that was done we all had our lunch and began to pack. It was raining heavily while we were packing and some of us were very tempted to sleep but we pulled through in the end. After the usual loading we all just collapsed into our seats and took a much-deserved rest. The next thing we knew is that we reached SIC. After the loading and a quick briefing we all said our good byes and went home looking forward to the coming Friday for our first practice. We thank all the graduates, facilitators, our advisors and most of all God for letting us have a successful training camp.

This morning at the 9.00a.m. mass, Fr. Philip Tan handed out the annual Vendargon Awards (Archdiocese level) to youths from St. Ignatius Church, PJ who excelled in their school results, Bible knowledge and faith leadership.

Samantha Ho, 16 years old receiving her award for “Best PMR results”.  Samantha is currently in the 2010 Coordinating Team for this year’s Youth Rally assisting in Administration and publicity.  She is a frequent contributor to the JYM Website.  Samantha is a graduate from the Outreach Team of 2008.

Arthur Lim Khai Shing, 18 years old receiving his award for “Best SPM results”.  Arthur is the music director in charge of music arrangements.  He has served in JYM since completing his term on the Outreach team of 2007.

Roeshan Gomez, 18 years old receiving his award for “Best results for SPM Bible Knowledge”.  Roeshan is currently the JYM Co-chairperson and has been actively involved in the youth ministry since his graduation from the Outreach team in 2008.

The youths in SIC who sat for the SPM Bible Knowledge paper (2009) also secured the highest number of “A’s” (7 altogether) at the Archdiocese level and was also given a Cash award of RM1,000/=.  Congratulations SIC!