Lasallian Youth Link
An Official OSA publication
Volume 1
Issue 4
November  2002

ON THE GO
FEATURED WEBSITE
 ROSARY
 POST QUEBEC 2002
 SONG
 LIFE OF A BROTHER
 A THOUGHT
 PRAYER
 TALK TO US

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---ON THE GO
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This month was a very busy one for us here in Malta.  Besides our commitment
on the International Arena with the LYL, we have embarked to strengthen our
commitment on the local scale.  Last year we have organised a Live-in for
Students in our Schools, this would be a weekend for the students full of
activates, ranging from religions, education and adventurous.  Following its
success complemented by the enthusiasm experienced in Quebec, we have
committed our selves to organise three of such weekends.

During the second weekend of this Month, we had twenty one students who are
in their final year at one of our schools who enjoyed a weekend at a
Brother's Retreat house in the North of our Island.  This was an important
experience for them since the theme we chose was careers.  Being their final
year, there might be a number of these students who will not be attending
Tertiary education and therefore we prepared them to face the working world.

Another activity was organised and animated by us was held on the 17th
November.  We celebrated Holy Eucharist at Malta's largest Cemetery, whereby
we remembered the Brothers and Students of the De La Salle Schools who
passed away.  Following, mass we visited the Grave of the Brother's where we
recited some prayers and thoughts.

Finally, in conjunction with the Parent Teacher Association of one of the
colleges, we have organised an  Advent Evening on Saturday 30th November,
whereby we lit the first candle for Advent thus preparing for this joyful
period.  Following the Advent Evening, (as if we did not do enough this
month) we organised a social activity for the students and parents of one of
the Colleges.

Well that's it about Malta for now.... We hope you'll enjoy reading this
edition of the Lasallian youth link.


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--- FEATURED WEBSITE
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International Save The Children Alliance

http://www.savethechildren.net/homepage/

This website is of an international organisation which works for the rights
of children.   It is present in a number of countries and works in over 120
countries.

Current campaigns include the following:

1. One World One Wish Campaign Save the Children (US & UK) have joined with
Marie Claire in a united effort to end the violence suffered by civilian
victims of conflict. The November issue of the magazine brings together
celebrities, Save the Children and women on the front line to share
inspirational stories, provide a global report and tell you how you can
help.

2. Beat Poverty Campaign Save the Children (UK) Beat Poverty campaign aims
to raise awareness of child poverty around the world and to lobby
governments, international organisations and donors to commit to tackling
poverty on a global scale.

3. Every Mother/Every Child Campaign Save the Children (US) Every
Mother/Every Child campaign aims to provide mothers in the developing world
with the tools they and their families need most - maternal and child health
care, including voluntary family planning, and education and
income-generating opportunities.

4. Positive Chocolate Campaign Save the Children (Canada and Italy) call on
consumer power to help end child trafficking in the production of chocolate.


5. Hotline Against Online Child Pornography Save the Children (Sweden)
campaign to stop the online exploitation of children. You can help us to
bring these criminals to justice.


Find out more about this organisation by visiting the above website.

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---ROSARY
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Pope John Paul II announces five new mysteries of the Rosary

Renewing the church's centuries-old tradition of praying the rosary, Pope
John Paul II is adding five new mysteries dedicated to chapters from Jesus'
public life. Called the "mysteries of light," the new rosary themes will
focus on Christ's baptism, his first miracle, his preaching ministry, his
Transfiguration and his institution of the Eucharist.

The Pope's innovation is contained in his apostolic letter, "Rosarium
Virginis Mariae" ("The Rosary of the Virgin Mary"), which was published Oct.
16 -- the date marking the 24th anniversary of the Pope's election.

The Pope may have drawn inspiration from a Maltese priest he beatified in
May 2001, Blessed George Preca. In 1957, Blessed Preca devised five new
mysteries corresponding to events in Jesus' public life and called them
"mysteries of light"; they are similar to those formulated by the Pope.


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---POST QUEBEC 2002
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Australia

At the moment the district is undergoing many changes.  Recently the Visitor
began a long process of identifying the changing needs of the community and
the Brothers in the district, and how to implement new plans and ventures to
address these needs.  A few weeks ago, representative young Lasallians
gathered in Sydney from all over the district to discuss possible changes
and programs which will help in youth ministry in our district, and another
will be held with representatives of all the asociates of the Brothers in
Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea soon.

One of the biggest programs youth ministry is implementing in Australia and
New Zealand is Camp Lasalle.  Each state runs a camp for kids in the younger
high school years from De La Salle schools, who during the year have
suffered some hardship, maybe family problems, a death in the family,
behavioural or emotional problems.  Youth ministry volunteers apply for a
position to be a leader on the camp, which runs usually for three or four
days.  They supervise and have a blast mucking around with the kids, on many
activities, such as swimming, surfing, movie nights, sports and many other
activities.  Camp Lasalle will be run in three capital cities this year, and
from combined schools in New Zealand, and next year we are looking at
expanding the program to another two states.

There are two other programs which are going well.  Fish Lasalle is a
program similar to Camp lasalle, but the kids are taken out fishing for a
weekend.  In Melbourne an English learning centre has also started, to cater
to the needs of the local Vietnamese community, who often have trouble
interacting in the community due to language problems.

These are the main things going on at the moment, but there are many more
things in the pipeline!!


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--- SONG
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The following is a very popular song and has been an all time favourite
amongst youth since it was first released back in 1986!!

Friends will be friends Queen

Another red letter day So the pound has dropped and the children are
creating The other half ran away Taking all the cash and leaving you with
the lumber Got a pain in the chest Doctors on strike what you need is a rest

It's not easy love, but you've got friends you can trust Friends will be
friends When you're in need of love they give you care and attention Friends
will be friends When you're through with life and all hope is lost Hold out
your hand 'cos friends will be friends - right till the end

Now it's a beautiful day The postman delivered a letter from your lover Only
a 'phone call away You tried to track him down but somebody stole his number
As a matter of fact You're getting used to life without him in your way

It's so easy now, 'cos you got friends you can trust Friends will be friends
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention Friends will be
friends When you're through with life and all hope is lost Hold out your
hand 'cos friends will be friends - right till the end

It's so easy now, 'cos you got friends you can trust Friends will be friends
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention Friends will be
friends When you're through with life and all hope is lost Hold out your
hand - friends will be friends - right till the end

Friends will be friends When you're in need of love they give you care and
attention Friends will be friends When you're through with life and all hope
is lost Hold out your hand 'cos right till the end - friends will be friends
Yeah yeah


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---LIFE OF A BROTHER
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Brothers are just humans. They would love to be with their family, and to
have their own family, a wife and children. But they give up their own life
to become Brothers, to go to such a far place to run schools. To be a
Brother is not an easy life. Indeed, to be a Brother, you are really
offering your whole life to the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Every
aspect of your life is under the direction and control of the Brother
Director of your community, and your Brother Visitor as well as Brother
Superior General and the General Council. This is a great sacrifice! No one
can force them to stay. They can leave anytime they want, which a few
Brothers actually did. But our Brothers choose to stay, choose to be a
Brother. They join the Brothers not to return in undisputed loyalty, but
because they have La Salle Spirit deep inside their hearts! They want to
follow the footsteps of St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, to continue the holy
work of our Lasallian Shared Mission! They give us their whole life to
provide us the best education because they love us more than anything else!

If La Salle College is "something more", while we do have many things that
we can call "something more", the greatest "something more" of La Salle
College is the Brothers! People have said how much effort a Brother pits in
a school. This is because the school and its' students are the most
important things to a Brother; even more important than his own life! What
could be better than having these people, who truly devote all their life in
education, to run the school? La Salle Colleges around the world will
definitely not be same anymore without the Brothers! If you're proud of the
achievement of your local De La Salle College, be truly thankful to the work
of the Brothers!

We love  the Brothers. If we can do anything for the Brothers, we will do it
without hesitation.


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---A THOUGHT
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Why Go To Church

A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained
that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. I've gone for 30 years
now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons.
But for the life of me I can't remember a single one of them. So I think I'm
wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at
all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much
to the delight of the editor.

It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: "I've been married
for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for
the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those
meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I
needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be
physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for
nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

When you are DOWN to nothing . . . God is UP to something!

Faith sees the invisible, Believes the incredible and Receives the
impossible!

Thank God for our physical and our spiritual nourishment!




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---PRAYER

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Dear Heavenly Father,

You have given the saints in Heaven eternal happiness and they now live in
the fullness of Your glory. Because of their holy love for You, they also
care about me and my family, my friends, my church, and my neighbors. Thank
You for the gift of their friendship and the witness of their holy lives. I
ask our patron saints and every saint who has become especially dear to me
to intercede for us. I ask them to help us journey safely on the narrow path
that leads to Heaven.

O Lord, give us their protection. Grant us their assistance in overcoming
temptation and gaining the fullness of life with You.

Amen.

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--- TALK TO US!
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We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all and your families a
very a happy and peaceful Christmas.

The next Youth Link will be sent between Christmas and New Year.



Peace

Ivan , Mark and David.