E.mail: boscoypt@iafrica.com

Three years ago exactly I launched the Catholic-Youth-Link as a monthly newsletter for the Youth Department of Johannesburg Diocese. In January 2001, having been sentenced back to Bosco for another term of office, I left the Youth Department and the concrete jungle of Jozi, and have settled back into life in the peaceful country-side between Walkerville and Daleside. No traffic jams here, but we are still not far from cash-in-transit heists… Two have happened just down the road in the last few months. In one of them, one of our Salesian Brothers from Bosco community was shot in the foot with an AK47 as he drove past. Luckily he escaped fatal injury, but he is still on crutches after innumerable medical visits.

Today, as we celebrate World Youth Day with our fellow believers around the globe who commemorate that first Palm Sunday, we are happy to launch the Bosco-Link which is intended to keep you in touch with developments at Bosco Diocesan Youth Pastoral Centre and also provide resource materials for anyone involved in youth ministry. It is available on request to anyone who wishes to receive it, but only in electronic (e.mail) format. It is sent out in dual form – pasted into the body of the e.message, for easy reading off the screen of a monitor, and as an attachment as an MS Word document for printing out purposes. We refrain from including any graphics and photos to avoid it becoming too heavy to download. Enjoy and please feel free to send in news for inclusion which may also be of relevance.

After 7 years of committed dedicated service at Bosco Youth Centre as Managers, Carlos and Norma Rodrigues, have decided it is time for them to move on. It is with sadness that the Bosco community, the staff, and all who have benefited from their service here at Bosco, will bid them farewell on the 30^th April. It has been difficult to find persons with the all-round skills they possess as a couple, to fill the gap they will leave. Provisionally (till the end of the year at least and longer if this works out), three people will fill that gap: Jerry Masitha (Past-Pupil of Bosco) will assume responsibility for all bookings and hospitality tasks; Mary Brogan, (parishioner) will assume responsibility for catering; Marcel Nicolay will oversee all maintenance on the premises. We wish them all the best.

At present the team consists of 5 young adult volunteers (all aged between 19 and 22) who have committed themselves for the year to serve God in the young people who participate in our retreat and other programs. Their names are: Dona Mhlanga, Elizabeth Letseng and Dipolelo Mahase for the 3 great girls, and Bonolo Mothotse and Richard Starak are the three great guys. We hope to tell you more about them in our next newsletter. With these five "peer ministers" are Sr Agnes Mukoma fma (Salesian Sister from Zambia), and Frs Bryan Gamba sdb (who was ordained on the 16^th June 2000) and Francois Dufour sdb (who is the old toppie on the team) The team runs over 80% of all the programs which take place at Bosco.

They also have the prayer-back-up of the two Salesian Communities that live on the premises.

- To Sacred Heart College matriculants, Marian College (all standards from Grade 3 to matrics), St David’s, Holy Rosary Convent…

- To Aloe Ridge, Maponyane, Goud Park, EW.Hobbs, primary schools…

- To Confirmation candidates from Northriding, La Rochelle, St Augustine’s (Germiston), Robertsham, Eldorado Park parishes…

- To Brentwood Park Parish youth group,

- To Mayfair Convent teachers, St Theresa’s (Alberton) Bible study group, catechumenate group from St Margaret’s, Diepkloof…

- The picnic/swimming pool/recreational area has been well patronised too.

- We also assisted in some of the groups who were running their own programs too, like Victory Park’s Life in the Spirit seminar and Sr Miriam Duggan’s Education for Life Training workshop.

- Some groups, schools and especially other denominational churches have enjoyed their stay, and we have appreciated their clientele.

To each of you Christ repeats: "Anyone who wishes to come after me, must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me".

Beloved young people, this is precisely the theme of my message for the 16^th World Youth Day which will be celebrated in every diocese next Sunday, Palm Sunday.

Christ has high expectations of his disciples, and the church does not hesitate to propose again to you also, his gospel "without discounts". It has been the cross which has guided over the last 15 years, millions of young people’s pilgrimages to the World Youth Days. This cross which has traveled to various parts of the world, will next Sunday be handed over by the youth of Rome to the Youth of Toronto, the Canadian city which will host the next youth meeting in July 2002.

To prepare ourselves for this inspiring celebration, I invite you, dear young people of Rome, to come here to St Peter’s square next Thursday afternoon. Together we’ll spend a moment of prayer, of reflection and celebration. In the meantime I entrust you and your contemporaries of every nation and continent to the Blessed Virgin, so that she can lead you to another special encounter with her Son Jesus.

Celine Dion, the Canadian singer, has spoken of how a Catholic priest saved her life by persuading her mother not to have her aborted. Celine Dion was the 14th child in her family and her mother was initially devastated when she found out about the pregnancy. However, the priest persuaded her against having an abortion. "So I have to admit that in a way, I owe my life to that priest." At the time of the interview, Celine Dion and her husband were expecting their first child.

The Maker of all human beings is recalling ALL units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to the serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed, "Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality", or more commonly known as S-I-N, the primary symptoms of which are loss of moral judgement.

Other Symptoms of SIN Include:

Loss of direction; Foul vocal emissions; Amnesia of origin; Fearfulness; Idolatry; Lack of peace and joy; Selfish, or violent, behaviour; Depression or confusion in the mental component.

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable or at fault for this defect, is providing factory authorised repair and service, free of charge, to correct this SIN defect. The number to call for the recall station in your area is: P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please offload your burden of SIN by pressing R-E-P-E-N-T-A-N-C-E. Next, download J-E-S-U-S into the heart.

No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, JESUS will replace it with:Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control.Please see the operating manual, the HOLY BIBLE, for further details on the use of these items.

WARNING: Continuing to operate the human unit without correction, voids the manufacturer's warranty, exposing owner to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on J-E-S-U-S.

DANGER: The human units NOT receiving this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace.

- Every teenager must know the names of all the others of her or his age group! This seems so obvious, but sometimes this essential is not even achieved.

- The youth group needs to play, pray and graft together.

- The group needs a special corner of the parish facilities which is really youth-friendly & easily accessible.

- The group needs to recruit a sponsor couple or some young adults to coach them from the sideline.

- The group needs to be visible in the parish life – so it should organize at least one "youth mass" a month, if not each weekend.

- Parents need to be involved.

A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that, if any mischief occurred in their town, their sons were probably involved. They boys' mother heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The clergyman agreed, but asked to see them individually. So the mother sent her 8-year-old first, in the morning, with the older boy to see the clergyman in the afternoon. The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Where is God?". The boy's mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there with his mouth hanging open, wide-eyed. So the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, "Where is God!!?" Again the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed, "WHERE IS GOD!?" The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and hid in his closet, slamming the door behind him. When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, "What happened?" The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied, "We are in BIG trouble this time, dude. God is missing - and they think WE did it!"

Date: Every day, but especially Sundays.

Time: Whenever you're ready. Please don't be too late though, or you'll miss out on all the fun.

Place: In your heart. He'll meet you there. Listen carefully. You'll hear Him knock!

Attire: Come as you are. Even rags are okay, as he'll be washing our clothes anyway. He promised something about new white robes and crowns - for everyone who perseveres through thick and thin.

Tickets: Admission is free. He's already paid for everyone. You wouldn't have been able to afford it ... it cost him everything he had!

Refreshments: New wine, bread and a far-out drink He calls "living water".

This will be followed by a supper, that promises to be out of this world!

Gift Suggestions: Your heart. He's one of those people who already has everything else. He's very generous in return though - just wait until you see what He has for you!

Entertainment: Joy, Peace, Truth, Light, Life, Love, Real Happiness, Communion with God, Forgiveness, Miracles, Healing, Power, Eternity in Paradise, and much more! All rated "A" so bring your family and friends.

R.S.V.P. Very Important! He must know ahead, so he can reserve a spot for you at the table.

Hope To See You There!

Little Johnny wanted R100 very badly prayed and prayed for two weeks, but nothing happened. Then he decided to write a letter to God requesting the R100. When the postal authorities received the letter to "God, SA," they decided to send it to President Mbeki. The president was so impressed, touched, and amused that he instructed his secretary to send Little Johnny a R20 bill. Mr. Mbeki thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.

Little Johnny was delighted with the R20, and immediately sat down to write a thank-you note to God which read: "Dear God, Thank you for sending me the money! However, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through Parliament, and as usual, those buggers taxed it by 80 percent!"

Good for any group size. Divide your group into any number of teams. Give each team a new (mini) bar of soap. Provide buckets filled with water- enough buckets so that one person from each team has access to one. On "GO" have teams race to shrink their bars of soap without breaking them. Team members will need to take turns furiously "washing their hands" to shrink the soap. If a bar of soap breaks, the team is disqualified. Call time after five minutes. The team with the smallest bar of soap wins. Take this a step further and add a brief study of Psalm 50 "Create in me a pure heart, O God; wash me clean of my iniquities…"

You need three or four brooms approximately the same size. Have three teams each line up behind a designated line with their broom. When you say "ride," each team must stay behind the line and put as many players as possible on its broomstick. Then players must "ride" the broom to a chosen end point. The riders must return to the starting line if anyone falls off the broom. If not all the players can fit on the broom at once, one person must run back on the broom to get the other players.

Players sit in a circle. One blindfolded person sits in the middle, with their treasure (keys, rattle) in front of them and their stick (rolled up newspaper) in hand. A thief is chosen from the circle to attempt to snatch the treasure, without making any noise to alert the guard in the middle. If the thief is swatted by the newspaper stick, (s)he must return to the circle. If the thief succeeds in stealing the treasure, (s)he becomes the new guard.

The first two pages above are Bosco News. The next 2 pages are for use in whichever way you see fit in your youth groups.