Jesus Youth Movement & More

  Maranatha! Come, O Christ! (By Dr. Edward Edezhath - Reflection in preparation for the Germany JY Lumen Conference, 2025) “Maranatha! Come, O Christ!”  — This ancient prayer of the Church is also the cry of our hearts today. Whenever a true Christian revival takes place — whether in a family, a community, or even a whole culture — it happens because that space has come under the loving sway of Christ. In 1983, at Cochin, a religious sister challenged a group of professors and students:  “Why are you afraid to bring Christ into the campus?”  Those were turbulent days — student unrest, violence, and confusion dominated the college atmosphere. Her words sparked prayer, dialogue, and daring initiatives. From that moment, a wave of young people began opening their campuses and their lives to Jesus. What followed was the remarkable growth of Jesus Youth among students. Scripture offers us a striking image of this moment. Jesus stands at the door and knocks (Rev 3:20). Pi...

Gathered as a family: the JY Household Today, in the Jesus Youth movement, the buzzword is ‘JY Households.’ In different parts of the world where Jesus Youth is active, there is an effort to gather the active members of the movement scattered in a locality into a single group. This is redrawing the image and even the very life of the movement. Jesus Youth have an active presence in and around this European city. The active Jesus Youth families and youngsters meet on the third Saturday of the month at the parish hall of the Divine Mercy Church. About 35 of them regularly gather for this two-and-a-half-hour JY Household meeting. “Household meetings have brought the Jesus Youth movement in this city to greater intimacy and a newfound enthusiasm,” says Thomas, one of the leaders of the movement. “We follow the general meeting plan given by the international team. Kids meet separately, often more in number than the elders. The activity plan specially prepared for kids makes these gatherings...