Who We Are
The Youth of Saint Anthony (YSA) currently has 8 youth ministries active in the parish. The variety of ministries enables youths to discover our individual charisms and be able to build the Kingdom of God with them. The youth ministries provide an opportunity for us to be a part of the smaller community of the parish and equip us with skills needed to fulfil our mission as a disciple of Christ.
There is formation across all ministries which directs us toward the vision and mission of the parish and enable us to grow as a disciple of Christ. On top of that, there is also individual training for the skills needed for each particular ministry. These formations, relevant to our ministerial charisms, include the aspects of faith, organization, character building, personal growth, as well as spiritual growth. We learn to organize and execute events at a ministry, youth movement, and parish level. This is essential in the formation of our youths as it teaches us structure and how to organize our own lives.
We encourage youths to be part of a youth ministry to have a stronger support of the community. The friendships made and bonds created in the ministry provides youths with a sense of belonging to the parish as well as a sense of identity as a young Christian.
There are several parts that make up the Youth of Saint Anthony ethos:
1) Prayer
First and foremost, prayer needs to be placed at the forefront of our Youth Movement. This is why every meeting starts with Lectio Divina or some other form of prayer. As a Catholic movement, it is important that we do all things with God in mind, and praying before we start every meeting helps to put us into that disposition.
2) Punctuality
We endeavour to start all events on time, regardless of whether all participants are present. This is to show that we do take our time seriously, and that we will not short-change those who made the effort to come for our events on time. We believe in honoring our word, and starting at the planned time, so that others can see that this is what is called from a disciple of Christ: to have a reliable word.
3) Relationships
The Youth of Saint Anthony do not allow relationships of the romantic nature for those who are below the age of 18.
To choose to date someone is to make a decision to love that person and to journey to marriage(after all, if marriage is not your goal then why are you dating?).
At that age, the mind of the individual would not have developed far enough to be able to properly make a decision to say: I choose to love you. Love is a decision, not a feeling, and the ethos of our movement states that a healthy relationship for those under the age of 18 is to remain and journey as friends and not to make the relationship exclusive or romantic.
Past the age of 18, the members of the youth who are in relationships may journey together with older members of the Youth movement so as to allow there to be a constant connection with the community. This also provides them with an outlet to approach for advice or prayers.
4) Movement, not Ministry.
No man is an island, and no ministry is a silo. All youth ministries are called to view themselves as a part of a larger movement, and expanding on that, a part of a larger church. Members in the ministries are asked to be open to interaction with members from other ministries. The Youth of Saint Anthony does not believe in a ministry that stands only for itself, but one that works in tandem with all other ministries, growing together in one community.
5) Encounter Driven
We take everything we do seriously, because we believe in doing everything for the glory of God, but we must not forget the in the end what is important is the growth of the person. So we believe not to be too caught up in the work, and instead to remember about fostering encounters with God.
6) Children of the Light
As in all families, there will be disagreements to be had. It is of our belief that such disagreements need to be brought out into the light, as in Matt 18:15 'First go and be reconciled with your brother, then come and offer your gifts'. This should be done in a manner that is befitting of a Christian, and not to be just held within yourself to allow for hate and darkness to breed.
The Youth Coordinators are always open to hear and mediate on any differences.
These are the various Youth Ministries in the Church of Saint Anthony, and together we form one Body in Christ – a Qahal.
Hidden Treasures
Who We Are
Hidden Treasures is a formative programme to train selected youths in becoming leaders, trainers and speakers in the youth movement. This programme equips us with the skillset and knowledge to guide teenagers toward Christ and the building of His Kingdom. Our training includes every aspect of our faith and life. Faith formation and scripture understanding is crucial in our training and there is a focus on spiritual growth as well.
When Hidden Treasures members finish the programme, they remain in the ministry and continue training as leaders and mentors in the YSA. The youth movement then continues in a self- regulating cycle as members start to train the other youths and new members. There may be some who will have the call to join the Catechists or to become speakers for other ministries.
Signatures of Love
Who We Are
Signatures of Love is a group of youths who come together, as one body with many parts. Our name, originates from the celebration of the Eucharist, and embodies the different aspects of liturgy. As Christ’s death and resurrection showed His immense Love for us, the Eucharist becomes the source and the summit of our lives as Christians. It is like the Father’s Signature here on earth. Similarly, we see the different aspects of the liturgy as forms of Christ’s Love. And so we are named to reflect God’s love; to become signs of His Love and to bring that Love to others.
What We Do
Journeying together as one, we have constant formation to expand our knowledge and skills in the liturgy. We use what we learn to provide a prayerful environment to celebrate the Eucharist and to enable our fellow youths to celebrate in every way possible. We also have spiritual formation in the hope of being builders of the Kingdom of our Father. As a liturgical ministry, we plan monthly Eucharist with Youths and intend to branch off into other forms of liturgy, such as Para-liturgical sessions, service of the Word and adoration. We use our talents to bring the message of Love from our Father to our fellow youths. We hope that through the liturgy, we will be able to leave our brothers and sisters with a lasting impression; a signature of God’s Love.
Squires at the Banquet
Who We Are
The Squires at the Banquet is the youth wing of the Stewards' ministry. Shepherded by our priests on this journey with the Youth of Saint Anthony, we aim to help
one another grow deeper in faith and love. We strive to know more deeply our Father's love for us and build His Kingdom!
What We Do
It is our mission to reach out to everyone in the community with hospitality and warmth. As Christ welcomed the rich and the poor, the proud and the lowly, we too strive to be like Him as a servant of our Lord. We take on the roles of the Stewards, ensuring that those at the Banquet of the Lord have a prayerful atmosphere and that they feel welcomed at the celebration. It is an honour to ensure that the Eucharist runs smoothly and reverently as much as possible, especially in the times where our Lord is in His most humble yet vulnerable form, the Blessed Sacrament.
Ministering alongside with the other liturgical ministries, we make sure that His sacred Body gets to His people during Holy Communion without much obstruction, and that His Body is received appropriately, that being highest on our priority list. We also deepen our faith and knowledge in the areas of hospitality and servitude, guided by the humility of Christ.
Unicus Vocant
Who We Are
Our name, Unicus Vocant, translates to “Unique Call” and we are the youth vocation ministry. We aim to reach out to the youths to hear their unique vocational call and to inspire them to the calling of a priestly and religious life. Most importantly, whether religious, family, or singlehood, we hope to be able to discern with them to listen to our Father’s Voice.
What We Do
We research and reflect the scriptures to gain understanding and knowledge of how God the Father calls His Chosen. We learn about and study the leaders of the Church, our forefathers, the prophets, and the early Christians, to use them as an inspiration and to discover who God calls. We hope to conduct workshops in the future for the children and teens for discovery and discernment. We hope to create materials that can be given out to the youths to help them listen and follow His Call.
Altar Servers
Who We Are
The Society of Altar Servers is for boys P3 and above. We assist the priests during the Eucharistic celebrations as well as other aspects of the liturgy. The society provides a structured training for recruits to be able to become a server at the altar.
What We Do
In addition to liturgical formation and service, the servers also provide a brotherhood of support to the members of the society. We have frequent fellowship, outings, and bonding sessions to build the camaraderie among us. We strive to bring our sense of service and love beyond the Celebration.
Crossroads
Who We Are
Here at Crossroads, we welcome anybody into our diverse family to grow in faith and love together as one. We are made up of a mixture of different people; some baptised, some not; a few in secondary school, a few in university; people with different backgrounds, different personalities. Everyone is accepted and we welcome anyone to join us.
What We Do
We engage in a fun and alternative way of learning the faith. Sometimes we have outings, external presenters, group work and much more! Ultimately, all of these culminate into our sole purpose of learning how to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
We meet once a week for prayer sessions, input, sharing and of course, bonding. We provide a comfortable avenue for youths to come and express themselves with each other and at the same time, slowly integrate into the larger community of the Youth of Saint Anthony and into our Parish. Our journey together takes some of us through steps of baptism, confirmation, and conversion, and it takes all of us into His Kingdom here on earth.
Mystic Brushes
Who We Are
Our main objective is to bring the Word of our Lord to the kids during the Eucharistic Celebration. We do so in a fun, interactive, and creative manner. We hope to create an environment every session where the children are comfortable, engaged, and learning joyously about our Lord’s Word. We hope to be able to reveal a little more of God’s mystery to them, and that after each children’s liturgy session, they will bring home a little more knowledge and conversion in themselves.
What We Do
We undergo formation and workshops to further enhance our understanding of scripture, liturgy, our skills with children, and additional skills and methods of bringing the Word of God alive. Some of these methods include drama, puppetry, and story-telling. We reflect on the readings of the following Liturgy before our meetings and start forming possible ideas. We then have our weekly sessions on Sundays where we brainstorm, plan, and execute the program for the 4th Sunday.
Crescendo
Who We Are
We are a young ministry which focuses on using our voices to glorify our Father in Heaven. We hope to be able to hone our gifts and use them to build the Kingdom of God.
What We Do
We are under training first and foremost to become a choir. We have weekly sessions for formation as well as voice training and singing practices. We will then move on to musical instruments to be able to guide our fellow youths to bring glory to God through music. We also have bonding and fellowship sessions and use these opportunities to grow closer to one another and to build our community.