Compassion Walk in St.Thomas, Kuantan

A first of its kind since its inception, the Lenten Compassion Walk travelled to St Thomas Church for a never-before-experienced journey which previously was only held within the Klang Valley.

Apr 24, 2014

By Fiona Biggs
A first of its kind since its inception, the Lenten Compassion Walk travelled to St Thomas Church for a never-before-experienced journey which previously was only held within the Klang Valley. This year’s Compassion Walk saw some 930 from all over the KL Archdiocese gather to discover more on this course of their faith life while making a statement by witnessing to Christ with their presence in Kuantan and to each other as one body in Christ.

Running with the theme Pro Family – Same Book, New Chapter; the youth were placed in groups and given a mission and / or to receive formation to discover the various dynamics to family life. Four categories were listed in order to accommodate the large number present. One group was sent out to the local BECs, while another group was put on community service duty at the beach to clean it while witnessing to Christ in their capacity as friends of all should they encounter people outside the faith. A third group made their way to homes for the needy and nearby convents to be with the religious. The fourth group remained indoors and received a 2-hour formation on family values.

The Lenten Compassion Walk was headed by Dianne Priya – a youth from Good Shepherd Church, Setapak, together with a work force of 20. The Kuantan team was headed by Riclan with 15 members. All in all, the programmes ran as scheduled but suffered a few hiccups when organising and communication failed. Though some of the youth were left feeling disheartened, most agreed that there was a spiritual lesson to be learned from it, a lesson to compromise with compassion as its module for love and understanding.

A debrief session was conducted after the mission on Saturday followed by Taize – a meditative form of prayer. The following day started off with the Divine Office followed by testimonies by the youth. Testimonies were delivered in sheer Muhibbah style with youth coming forward to speak in various languages – BM, Tamil, Mandarin and English. Our African brothers too came forward and led the 900 odd crowd into a spontaneous worship with an old hymn - Freely.

At the closing Mass, Fr George Packiasamy concelebrated with Frs Mitchel Anthony, Philips Muthu and Peter Bretaudeau. Fr George advised, “Stay true to the 4th Commandment.

This mission was not only for you to find new friends and new families but to remind you of the importance of family. And so, moving forward, return home and be of service to your immediate family members particularly your parents.”

He went on to stress that this journey should also serve as a reminder that the discomforts experienced at this Compassion Walk — the lack of sleep, bags for beds and the absence of lavish meals — is precisely what our parents strive to avoid by working hard to provide the best for us children today.

He placed a challenge before the youth: “Do something nice for your parents every day. Be it in works or words of encouragement. Place a smile on their hearts every day. And the graces will abound in your life and your family.”

And with that, the mission was concluded and the youth returned home to their place of origin after a large group photo session and an enormous number of ‘selfies’ that continued for the next 2-3 hours or so, over lunch and till they parted at the gates. It saw complete closure when the last group to depart — the youth from the Church of the Assumption, PJ, performed a Spiritual Creativity called Pick It Up for the working committee and religious present.

Till next year, let us lift up the youth as they go on refreshed from a journey with the Lord together with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

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