MARCH CIRCULAR LETTER

                   
                                                   
                                                     

 INTRODUCTION
  We welcome you to the month of March. Our prayer is that you continue to march unto greater heights. May God’s sufficient grace reign in your heart now and forever, Amen. As we continue on the Lenten observances of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, let us understand that this can benefit us only if motivated by love of God rather than the desire for reward or any kind of human acclaim. We are in constant need of the mercy and forgiveness of God, let us also use this Lenten season to attract this by taking part in an impressive corporal act of penitence and reconciliation.
We say “A HAPPY BIRTHDAY’’ to our National Chaplain Fr. Ikechukwu Ani who will be celebrating on the 27th of March (Easter Sunday) and to
all YCSers who will be celebrating this Month. Congratulations Fr, we pray God to grant you the wisdom to accompany us well as we wish you more fruitful years in the service of God and humanity.
We also commiserate with our Dear Alumnus Chaplain Msgr Hypolite Adigwe who lost his brother Sir Ignatius C.J Adigwe. He will be laid to rest on the 16th of March 2016 at his home town Ihiala. May his soul and that of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. YCS Delegates will be led by the National President Chigozie Onwukwe.
The opening chapter of Baruch tells us how on one occasion the Jewish exiles in Babylon “wept and fasted and prayed before the Lord, and collected such funds as each could furnish” (1:5-6). That one sentence summarizes the common penitential disciplines of God’s people since ancient times. During the season of lent especially, Catholics continue to express sorrow for their sins, and draw closer to God, through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Why should we set aside special days and seasons for these activities? Shouldn’t we be doing such things as a way of life? Of course. But with our human nature being weak as it is, the Church recognizes that if we have no time set aside specially for these disciplines, many of us will be tempted to neglect them altogether.
In the life of ancient Israel, God himself set the precedent for designing special days for penance. Through Moses he commanded the people to observe an annual Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) “on the tenth day of the seventh month” (Lv. 16:29). On this day, the people were to mortify themselves (that is, eat no food) and do no work, so they could devote the day to repentance and prayer, asking God to cleanse them from their sins (see Lv. 16:29-34). In later times, the Jewish people set aside additional days and seasons of penitential fasting (see Zec. 8:19)
The practice of penitential days and seasons was continued by the early Christians (see Acts 13:2-3) and became an established tradition in the Church. Lent, observed in the forty days before Easter, developed as a way of recalling our Lord’s own forty days and nights of fasting in the wilderness while he prayed and battled with the devil (Lk 4:1-13).
The value of prayer is immediately obvious. But we might ask, are fasting and almsgiving ways of holiness? When we make small sacrifices such as giving up food and giving away alms, we detach ourselves from the things that we tend to love too much (Ez 16:49)-thus making more room in our lives for God.

PRESIDENT NEW MONTH MESSAGE 
It is with great joy I welcome you all to the month of March, the period of lent which is a period of great reflection. In this season we are expected to pray give and sacrifice.
PRAY
We know the importance of prayer in our lives—as individuals, as families, and as a community. Prayer is especially important during Lent. The Lenten season is a time for reflection, evaluation, and repentance. As the booklet Praying Lent (Loyola Press, 2009) says, Lent asks us: “What needs changing?” Lent calls us to a personal conversion and renewal—to a recommitted life in Christ so that we might not just celebrate Easter forty days later but also feel the risen Christ alive in us and in the world. This means prayer. During Lent we set aside time for prayer that is reflective in nature and reveals places where we have failed to open ourselves to God.
GIVE
Every day we witness situations of injustice, violence, and hatred. Television and the Internet bring these into our living rooms, but we also observe and live them in our own cities and homes. The Church calls us during Lent to be especially conscious of the needs of others and to act accordingly. Giving materially to another is an act of Christian charity known as “almsgiving.” During Lent, the Church also calls us to first convert ourselves and then to transform the world for justice, so that we might serve the Kingdom which Jesus lived and preached.
SACRIFICE
Fasting and abstinence are not sacrifices for the sake of pain or vain discomfort. Sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice is not a Christian virtue. We are asked by the Catholic Church to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and not to eat meat on the Fridays of Lent. Feeling an empty stomach, or fighting the urge to have that juicy steak or candy bar does more than just remind us that for some people an empty stomach is their daily bread. Fasting and abstinence help us to ask ourselves the question: “What sustains me and gives me life?” What nourishes me on my journey of life? We will find the answer, not in the steak or the candy bar, but at the end of these forty days of Lent—in the Resurrection of Jesus. We fast and abstain because, when we do, we are reminded of who we are—followers of the risen Christ.
As Catholics, we joyfully engage in Lenten disciplines because we are disciples (and yes, both words have the same root). We pray, give (almsgiving), and sacrifice (fast) because we follow Christ, who loved us so much that gave his own life so that we might share in Eternal Life. As YCSers we are expected to participate actively in the activities of the Lenten season

NATIONAL TEAM MEETING
The National Team meeting/Study session has been scheduled to hold in Gboko Diocese from 5th – 8th April 2016. Beside the statutory members (Provincial, Diocesan Chaplains and Coordinators) area coordinators can also participate in this session as we will be sending forth our Out-going National Chaplain and receiving the In-coming Chaplain and the Deputy. Registration for Chaplains is Five Thousand Naira (5,000.00) and others Four Thousand Naira (4,000), this will help us to meet up with the necessary logistics for the celebration. We request Arch/Dioceses to please come along with a brief history of their Arch/diocese (not more than one page), the names of the existing sections and the numerical strength of the students in each of them, report of the just concluded National Day Celebration. Also do not forget your YCS materials, typed report e.t.c. In the meantime, furnish us with the list of delegates to the National Team Meeting on or before March 15th 2015.

CHAPLAINCY MEETING
There will be a Chaplaincy session in the course of the National Team Meeting taking place in Gboko Diocese, April 5th-8th, 2016. All YCS Chaplains are therefore requested to be present at the Team Meeting.

LAITY WEEK
The 2016 laity week is scheduled from Sunday 13th through Sunday 20th March with the theme: “Merciful like the Father”. The week activities are scheduled as follows:
Day 1: Opening Mass- National Presidents address to be read at all Masses in Catholic Churches Nationwide.
Day 2: “Blessed are the Merciful for they shall obtain mercy”
Day 3: “Corporal works of Mercy”
Day 4: “The co-responsibility of the Laity in the celebration of the Year of Mercy”
Day 5: “Family grounded in Mercy: Like House built on rock”
Day 6: “A new Springtime of Mercy: The Church, The Family and The World perspective”
Day 7: Parishes are encouraged to engage in works of Mercy-medical mission, feeding the hungry, prison visitations e.t.c.
Day 8: Grand finale-Laity Collection in parishes nationwide.
We request active participation in this regard.



YCS NATIONAL DAY
We thank all those who commemorated the YCS National Day on the 28th of February and ask the good Lord to bless you abundantly. Do send us your report and the picture for documentation and equally begin now to plan for next year.

WORLD YOUTH DAY
The World Youth Day which is held every four years comes up this year in Poland from the 25th through 31st  July 2016. The interview took place as scheduled 24 and 25 of February 2016 at Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria at Lagos for Lagos and Ibadan province and Abuja for others. Orientation for the successful candidates comes up June 14th -16th  2016 at Daughters of Divine Love Retreat and Conference Centre Abuja, Registration is 15,000 only.

ONE STUDENT ONE BLOCK
We won’t grow tired in reminding us to respond actively on the project “One Student, One Block” which calls on all members, friends and well wishers of YCS to contribute at least one cement block or more @ the rate of N150 for the building of the YCS National Students Centre in Abuja.
The Posterity Register has been created; ensure you submit the proceeds along with the project form to enable us fill in the register. We appreciate all those working hard in this regard and request all others to mobilize their team and members to follow suit. The team requested all levels to put up proactive measures towards actualizing this e.g. including the N150.00 to our diocesan convention registrations, e.t.c.
We also appeal to all who pledged during the TYCS Convention in Abuja and the National Convention to please endeavour to redeem their pledge to enable us start work on the centre THIS YEAR. You can come with the proceed to the Team Meeting.

WORLD MISSION SUNDAY
The world mission Sunday 2015 has come and gone. Dioceses and provinces were requested to remit their proceeds but till date it is just Port Harcourt and Umuahia diocese that has complied. Others are still awaited to do so. The importance of this mission collection cannot be over emphasized. We request all other Dioceses and Provinces to carry out this collection if they have not yet done so and remit the proceeds to YCS account for onward transmission to Rome through the Pontifical Mission Society without further delay. You are to remit not later than 8th of April.

KADUNA 2016
Following the alphabetical provincial hosting order for the YCS National Conventions, Kaduna province will host the 2016 convention. It will take place from the 22nd through the 26th of August 2016 in Kaduna Archdiocese. We urge YCSers and Dioceses to sensitize themselves and members against speculations but to be focused on realities as regards to their safety and faith.
We will keep you abreast on further developments and information.

YCS NATIONAL ID CARD 
The YCS National Plastic Identity Card has been approved by the National Team. The team after due consultation has pegged the cost of production per Identity Card at N350.00 and request dioceses to work towards it. The form for the Identity Card is also attached to this Circular. The first submission will be During the National Team Meeting in Gboko Diocese.    

God’s loving care for us is as sure as the rising sun. This love is revealed in Christ Jesus who enters our lives as “the Good Shepherd”. We pray God to direct and strengthen us, that by our service in YCS we may earn unending MERCY through CHRIST OUR LORD.





Chigozie K. ONWUKWE                                                   Uchenna J. ENEBE
National President                                                           National Coordinator



Very Rev. Father. Dr. IKECHUKWU  J. ANI                      Very Rev. MSGR HYPOLITE  A. ADIGWE
Incoming National Chaplain                                             Outgoing National Chaplain