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

JU: LCCC at the Loo!

What a day! LCCC joined UTCCC, MCCC, and QCCC as we all ventured to the land of Waterwaterwaterloolooloo for another great JU Local Visit. 

For those who don't know, JU (Joint University) Local Visit is a time for the CCCs of Ontario to gather at a host university for a day-long program of fun activities, faith sharing, speaker talks, and Singspiration. Every year is unique in its own way as the CCCs rotate venues, giving CCCs a chance to visit various campuses in Ontario. Waterloo CCC was up for the task, as they were fantastic hosts on a beautiful, sunny day.

LCCC started the day bright and early (or perhaps dark and early might make more sense)—they had to catch a 6:45AM Greyhound to Kitchener! The 8 members (a new high for us, yay!) arrived at the bus terminal via taxi, bleary eyed and sleepy. Thankfully, most of us were able to fall asleep on the bus :) When we arrived at Kitchener, we were graciously picked up by our friends at QCCC, who drove us to Waterloo campus. [Thanks QCCC :)]

Local Visit started with a couple icebreakers from UTCCC, who had developed a solid reputation for icebreaking at JU Retreat 2013 (they'd brought in foam noodle things to help us whack each other!). They didn't disappoint, as laughter and shouting filled the room.

Alana having her ice broken... by her cousin -.- (defeats the purpose of the game!!!)

Two LCCCers breaking their ice with each other... (DEFEATS THE PURPOSE OF THE GAME!!!)

That's more like it.... WAIT NO I SEE TWO LCCCers TOGETHER!!! (AHHHH!!!!)

Next up was Waterloo, who gave us a detailed and adventurous campus tour, taking us from one building to the next. No offence, but we all personally think Western's campus is a lot nicer ;)

Team Tu-Tu ...

Lunch followed the campus tour, which was perfect since this blogger was pooped and hungry after the lengthy walk. Platters of subs from SubwayEATFRESH were ordered in. After lunch was an activity led by QCCC. We were divided up into four teams as we played Family Feud, with a twist! We attempted to solve questions about things like the most common names in the Bible and what Noah would have been described as. Team Tu-Tu won by a landslide, so now we should all memorize the faces in the above photo and shun them forever. Kidding, I'm just a sore loser.

A talk by our speaker, Fr. O'Mahony, followed. He gave an enlightening talk about the little things about Pope Francis that a lot of us didn't know. The next time you check your phone, it could be a call from Pope Francis himself! MCCC followed up with a great faith sharing activity, using a passage from the book The Imitation of Christ. We were all invited to participate in an Examen, basically a time to visit with Christ in a personal reflection and meditation. 

Finally, it was LCCC's turn to show their stuff! With the help of LCCC alumna Viatrix and honourary member Chris, we sang our hearts out for our Lord as we led Singspiration. With hearts of worship, we sang of ten thousand reasons to crown Him, the beautiful one; why He is mighty to save; and why we should exalt him with songs of hosanna. (BAM!) 

<3

The day ended with—what else?—mass at St. Michael's Parish, just a few minutes away. Fr. O'Mahony celebrated the mass, a fitting way to end Local Visit 2013. LCCC was driven back to the Kitchener St. Charles bus terminal by QCCC again (obrigado!), and we boarded our 7:15 PM Greyhound back to London. We got back around 9 PM and then had dinner at Prince Albert's Diner to conclude the long (but fun) day :)

LCCC @ JU Local Visit! (minus Ms. Janet Tsoi, who was in the washroom :( )

JU Local Visit was a total blast, so hope you're all hyped for JU Retreat coming up in February! That's going to be an unforgettable weekend :) 

Photo credits for this blog post also go to QCCC's Colin Cheng and Terence Wong. :)

LCCC: On Prayer and Singing!

      After an extended three week holiday, LCCC finally met once again for our weekly general meeting. The meeting offered members the opportunity to take a much-needed break from the constant flow of midterms and assignments. This week’s theme was “How to Pray” and emphasized the process of communicating with God. All of us shared our thoughts on prayer. Before we began our set of activities, we once again asked members to share their weekly happenings with the rest of the group. Certain weekly highlights mentioned include: An unfortunate bump on the head from a falling parking gate, an eventful dart-throwing excursion, and a memorable trip to see a significant other in Kingston.

To set our members into the mood, Gary and Cheryl created their very own LCCC Vending Machine, with a wide selection of goodies ranging from chips to various Asian snacks. Later, members were offered one item they wished to have from the machine. However, many were surprised to find that the listed item they selected did not always correspond to the one dispensed from the machine. To explain, one request for an eraser actually resulted in the dispensing of pencils, but another request for an Asian snack actually led to an Asian snack.

Confused, members were told that the activity was created to compare vending purchases and prayer. It is often known that when people ask for things from God, they may not always receive what they ask for. Thus, this same concept was demonstrated in the form of unpredictable vending purchases.

A stimulating discussion followed as members shared their insights on what prayer means to them. Certain ideas that were shared include: Prayer as a means that find a significant other, to lose a significant other, to thank God for sandals and to thank God for the nature that surrounds us.

To wrap up the meeting, LCCC had its first Singspiration, to the delight of its members. As St. Augustine said, “He who sings prays twice”. Classics were sung, including Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord, Mighty to Save, and Amazing Love (You are my King). Each member’s beautiful singing voice was showcased and a few even harmonized with the others throughout parts of the songs. The “Prodigal Son” story from the Gospel of St. Luke was then read and was used as a leeway in between the songs. And that’s a wrap J

LCCC Conclave

Friday, October 18th was a big meeting for LCCC as we gathered to learn lots about the Pope! We started with a fun game of Pope Jeopardy, which had a lot of difficult questions! But that's okay, that just meant it was more of an opportunity to learn :) 

Pope Trivia!

Congrats to our winner, Seline (1550 pts). George was in a close 2nd place with 1250 pts... Jason was last because he's dumdum

We followed up the Jeopardy with a fun animated video summarizing how to become a Pope:

Then Jason went on a long-winded spiel to share about his World Youth Day experience in Rio de Janeiro over the summer. It truly sounded like an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience that all Catholic youths should try to go to at least once. 

His spiel was long-winded for a reason, though, because just as he finished, their special guests from Toronto arrived! Viatrix, LCCC alumnus, and honourary LCCC member Chris made it in time for the last part of the cell, which was the best part - the LCCC Conclave! 

We did our best to mimic the papal election process, using boxes and plates and saying the proper lines. 

"I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected."

Our ballots, which say "I elect as Supreme Pontiff..."

After six rounds of ballots, Jason was finally elected as LCCC Pope. Unfortunately, we weren't able to burn the ballots inside Middlesex College, so we played a video of white smoke instead! Jason arbitrarily chose the name of Pope Stephen, although "Pope Urban" came in a close second. 

A hand for Pope Stephen, everybody.

And thus concluded one of the best cells of the year so far :) Afterwards, LCCC went out to dinner at Congee Chan with their special guests and then hung out at Janet and Sharon's apartment, playing Mafia and Telestrations, having a blast. 

We'll be gone for a couple weeks as we take a break for exams and Fall Study Break, but hope to see you the first week of November!

LCCC Cells (Collage and God's will)

On September 27, LCCC members were given 2 questions ahead of time:

Because who doesn't love arts and crafts?! 

Members had to either bring in a picture/object/quote, and discuss in small groups how it relates to these 2 questions. We generated a lot of great discussion. Thank you everyone for sharing! Afterwards, we all gathered for a fun collage-making time!






The meaning behind this activity is that the church is like a collage—we're God's collage. Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do". We all come from different walks of life, and with the help of Christ, we're able to make create a work of art altogether.

We were all able to channel our inner creativity :)

Final product of the night:

So is the last time you'll see this collage? Guess you'll have to wait and see.....

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For our cell on October 4th, we discussed God's will. We started off with a couple of ice-breakers (Spiritual Telestrations). We also played an activity where LCCC members were given scenarios and had to choose between two options that would lead them to different areas in the UCC (along the way, snacks were provided). We gathered to discuss what our opinions of God's will, what does His will mean for me, how do I follow His will etc. It was a great night filled with lots of food, fun and good discussion.

LCCC Pre-Year Social

On Friday the 13th, for the first time ever, LCCC gathered before Clubs Week to have some fun before we were all simultaneously attacked by homework and notes and textbook readings and exams and whatnot. What started out as a LCCC 2012-13 reunion quickly turned into a newcomers' gathering anyway, as almost half our number consisted of visitors from outside London and first-time LCCCers.

The evening began at Jason's apartment, our new off-campus gathering venue that will quickly become familiar to this year's LCCC members. The off-campus venue used to be within walking distance from campus, but then Viatrix decided to grow up and graduate, so it's her fault that everyone has to take the bus now.

Anyway, the plan was to have the members help with our new presentation board for Clubs' Week, but we ended up being distracted by funstuffs like socializing and air-shooting bazookas.

Attempting to put together our board...

... nah, let's shoot each other instead.

Our big event for the night was at Fleetway, where all current/old/honourary LCCC members were promptly owned in bowling by our newest frosh, Chris.

Current LCCC members were redeemed when Cheryl, or "Mama Chan", bowled a nifty 116 in the next game. Phew. 

It was an especially fun night, as we were not only joined by familiar visitors from Waterloo, Guelph, and UTM (CCCs are ERRYWHERE), but we also had two completely new members of LCCC, Nicholas and bowling sensation Chris. Nothing makes us more excited than having new members. Hope that wasn't creepy.

If nothing else, the night is sure to be a glimpse into the 2013-14 year for LCCC... lots is in store, and Clubs Week hasn't even arrived yet.