LCCC: Saints + GT Committee Visit

Friday March 15th was a busy night. Half of the members either had an exam during the cell, or an exam the next morning—we hope St. Aloysius Gonzaga was able to help and guide you during your exams! Who is this saint you might ask? We learned about different saints in this cell meeting, with each exec presenting one of their favourite saints.

Gary spoke about St. Aloysius

• Patron saint of young students
• Aids patients
• Plague Victims
• Caregivers

So if you need help in your exams, or struggling with your studies as a young student, he's a saint for you!

Seline spoke about St. Kateri Tekawkwitha

• First Native American Saint
• Survived smallpox 
• Canonized on October 21, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
• Had many Reputable Miracles
• 2006 – Jake Finkbonner
• Click HERE for a beautiful story of how St. Kateri Tekakwitha was able to heal this little boy 

Jason spoke about St. Matthew

(well... Alana spoke on behalf of him because he was writing an exam during the cell)

• One of the four Gospel Writers (although he is not the first Gospel writer, which was Mark)
• Matthew wrote as a learned Jew, for an audience of learned Jews
• Was a tax collector before becoming an apostle

If you are studying accounting, he's a saint for you!

Alana spoke about St. Therese of Lisieux

• Therese experienced 2 major losses in her childhood (her mother's death, and her sister going to the convent) which caused her to be very sensitive
• Christmas Day 1886 – her "full conversion"
• Known for Simplicity, Spiritual Childhood and her "Little Ways"

Annette spoke about St. Maria Goretti

• One afternoon in 1902, her teenaged neighbour Alessandro attempted to rape her. She refused to submit and he stabbed her repeatedly
• Before her death, she expressed forgiveness towards Alessandro
• While Alessandro was in prison, he dreamed of Maria handing him lilies which went aflame in the palm of his hands
• After being released from imprisonment, he sought the forgiveness of Maria's mother. She forgave him and they went to mass together the next day

After our cell meeting, 3 lovely ladies representing the Eastern Canada Chinese Catholic Living Camp Committee drove from Toronto to talk to us about this annual retreat that happens on Labour Day Weekend. For more information about this retreat, please check out this link. Many LCCC members have gone before, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask any one of us :)

We went for dinner at Congee Chan (having fish congee and vegetarian fried rice and seafood yummm) and then we played some games at 168 Tea Shop. We played One Night, which is similar to the game Mafia, which was a lot of fun—it involved Alana lying and tricking Jason into thinking he'd won!

LCCC: Soup Kitchen - A Night of Many Firsts

On Friday March 7, LCCC went to The Ark Aid Street Mission for the first time to serve dinner to patrons of the London community, and for many members, it was also their first time serving at a soup kitchen in general.

We arrived early to help set up, and we were ready to get started! :) Some of the roles included:

Handing out dinner tickets and ready with a hand sanitizer

We served a hot meal, with a choice of 2 different types of salad and a fruit mix for dessert

We served tea and coffee, while greeting and talking to the patrons

Towards the middle of the night, half of us traded off the floor to begin washing the many dishes. With LCCC, even washing dishes can be fun....

We wiped down the trays in prep for others to begin washing the dishes

The JJ Dishwasher Story: We were having a lot of trouble with this particular dishwasher because it kind of stopped working half way through our dishes. Janet was pressing the button to try to get the dishwasher going, and just as Jason walks into the kitchen, the dishwasher works. For the next load, the dishwasher stops working when Alana tries to press the button. Janet tries to press the button, nothing happens. Jason comes into the kitchen, and keeps his head down. When Jason finally looks at Janet (as she's pressing the button) the dishwasher works. Coincidence? Doesn't matter, because we (literally) LOL..so loud, that everyone could hear us outside. Plus, we broke out into song, and (tried) to sing "Just the way you are" from Pitch Perfect, with harmonies and all, which only generated more laughs.
The Coordinator for the Dinner Service passed a comment to Alana later that week of how "[he] really enjoyed having LCCC that night, especially because [he has] never had so many people laughing while washing dishes"

It was also Karaoke Night at The Ark!!! Seline shared her beautiful talent with others and sang some songs on the guitar.

 Many of us didn't know what to expect from serving at The Ark. Would the people act differently? Would the people be overly demanding or rude? As the night continued, our expectations slowly melted away as we were greeted with warm smiles, and good manners. The Ark is especially different because it is grounded in the Christian faith. Many people who come to The Ark call it "their church", and have a genuine respect for each other. The Ark was very much like a community, and we were very glad to be a part of it.

POST SOUP KITCHEN

After smelling and staring at food for several hours, our stomachs were screaming "FEED ME". So we decided to give our stomachs a little treat and we went to Marble Slab (for some of us, it was our very first time!)

Ice cream makes everything better

But we all know Marble Slab isn't real food....so we went next door to Prince Albert's to grab a bite to eat. Oh! And it's first Friday of Lent, so veggie burger and fish was the way to go.

Overall, we all had a great time having the opportunity to serve our London community at The Ark. It was a night filled with smiles, laughter, friendship and service. For those who weren't able to join us, we hope you'll be able to participate next year. It's a humbling and beautiful experience.

“To love God and neighbor is not something abstract, but profoundly concrete: it means seeing in every person and face of the Lord to be served, to serve him concretely. And you are, dear brothers and sisters, in the face of Jesus.” - Pope Francis

YOU are God's GIFT to a world that needs YOU

JU Retreat 2014!

This year’s JUCCC Retreat can be summarized with four phrases: plumbing, crazy hour(s), hipster priest, and snowman roadkill. It was a packed two days and two nights, a whirlwind of taking on and off shoes twenty three times a day, but not a moment passed by that an incredible memory wasn’t created.

We arrived at Fair Havens Ministries on Saturday night and began our retreat with a toaster activity that doubled as an icebreaker and a midnight snack. Strange toppings that should never be seen together on toast—carrots and ketchup? bacon bits and sweet ‘n sour sauce?—were eaten by anyone who had the toast pop up from the toaster while they were answering a question.

A mini singspiration and opening mass conducted by Father Kuzma set the spiritual tone for the rest of the retreat. This year’s theme was “Faith in Action” where Father Kuzma gave several talks about the importance of mass to Catholics and the seven deadly sins. Father Kuzma was not only an incredible speaker who answered many of the questions we young people have surrounding our faith, but he was also quick to make jokes, down for jamming out on the piano during practise, and a proponent user of calling fellow male friends ‘bro’. I mean, he asked to do a group picture like this:

How cool is that?

Singspiration, Divine Mercy, and Adoration music was led by LCCC (and the amazingly talented pianist from MCCC!) on Sunday, where they brought the beauty of their voices to praise the Lord in song.

Although a plumbing incident forced all the girls to relocate lodges, this mishap allowed the wonder of God’s presence to be reflected through the way everyone pulled through together. The retreat coordinators generously provided another lodge for all the girls (one with incredibly soft mattresses, individual washrooms, and double beds), the drivers shuttled the girls between sites even if it was 3am in the morning, and everyone helped to make sure the girls had everything they needed for the night. Things don’t always go according to plan, but God certainly never leaves us stranded!

Not only did everyone grow spiritually through Father Kuzma’s talks and the liturgical aspects of the retreat (thank you, MCCC), but everyone had fun chilling, playing games, and talking till all hours of the night. Old school music was unashamedly sung throughout the night, heartfelt messages were written for one another, and some crazy muscle skills were exhibited.

The retreat ended on Monday afternoon with many sad goodbyes—but not without a final laugh when a snowman was built and filmed as it was run over by a car (we’re not sadists, I swear). All in all, the retreat was a wonderful time for people to reconnect with old friends, meet new people, and rediscover their faith with God. With the hustle and bustle of school, we often forget what it’s like to take a break from the world and spend some time with the Big Man upstairs—and what it’s like when thirty people sing backstreet boys together at 2am in the morning!

Fighting over Cindy, current LCCCer and QUAACCCer!

Files from QCCC. Blog written by Wendes Keung, photos from Terence Wong.

LCCC: Chinese New Year Party 2014!!

I FORGOT WHAT HAPPENED BUT IT HAPPENED ON JANUARY 25 AND THE EXECS DID A LOT OF RUNNING AROUND BUT IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS AND A LOT OF PEOPLE CAME AND SHERMAN AND BELLE CAME AND SURPRISED US YAYY!! 新年快樂!

Pre-Party Fiesta:
1) The Mission to Get to Gary's House
- Chris and JLo were having lunch somewhere on Richmond Street, and decided to give Alana a ride to Gary's house because it was a blizzard outside (big surprise). They go to Cheryl's house to pick up Cheryl and Alex, but then Gary missed his bus at Nat Sci, and so Chris decided to pick him up as well. Good thing we're all relatively close, because we all had to squish in Chris' car (yay to 6 people in a 5 person car :D)
2) Gary's Near Heart Attack
- Gary left his laptop at Nat Sci...but thankfully Jasmine (?) picked it up
3) Banana SPLIT
- Half of execs go to Food Island to shop for food, while the other half stayed at Gary's place to clean and set up
4) Would People Come?? - Execs were worried about the weather stopping people from coming to the Chinese New Year party....but it stopped snowing just in time, and we had a great turn out!

twins

awkward family photo

SO MUCH LCCC LOVE <3