Lenten Recollection for Single Young Adults

From Perak, the Northern, and Penang Deaneries, 20 single young adults encountered Christ in their journey of faith in the Lenten Recollection for Single Young Adults in the Penang Diocesan Pastoral Institute.

Mar 27, 2015

By Dymphna Magdalen Constantin
From Perak, the Northern, and Penang Deaneries, 20 single young adults encountered Christ in their journey of faith in the Lenten Recollection for Single Young Adults in the Penang Diocesan Pastoral Institute (PDPI) with the theme Discipleship: Where Am I In The Journey?

On that beautiful Saturday afternoon on March 7, the Lenten Recollection commenced with a short Bible Enthronement animated by the Single Young Adults Core Group. The Scripture reading was taken from Colossians 1: 24-29, where St Paul talks about bringing each and every person into God’s presence as a mature individual in union with Christ. To facilitate the young adults in equipping themselves with a healthy personality and a sense of self, the first speaker of the day, Mayette Bugaoan spoke on the Eight stages of Psychosocial Development by Erik Erikson. In the acquisition of a healthy personality and a sense of self, the speaker explained the crises that occur in every stage of the lifespan model of development. The basic virtues acquired upon the succession of every stage of development are what shape the sense of identity in an individual. Among the basic virtues that the participants explored were hope, will, purpose, competency, fidelity, and love. During the session, they were asked to journey through every stage of their psychosocial development.

Mayette then led us into the second session, The Walking Stick and Hand phone. This was a rather interesting session which required us to use critical thinking to recollect the personal values we had acquired to date. Then we participated in the self-knowledge workshop to recognize our personal values and to rank them according to their weakest and their strongest values.

Christian Meditation was taught in the third session of the day by the Rector and Spiritual Director at College General, Fr Gerard Theraviam. He gave the young adults insights on how and where Christian Meditation was initiated. He prepared for a 15-minute silent meditation. Some of us experienced a sense of peace and serenity, while others were a bit distracted because it was their very first experience. At the end of the session, Fr Gerard encouraged us to keep a consistent routine when doing this meditation so as to integrate power in one’s life, giving depth and perspective to everything one says and does, as taught by Fr John Main, who rediscovered this meditation which was initiated by the Desert Fathers in the 4th century.

After the intense sessions during the day, we had a rather good time at night. At 8.00pm, there was praise and worship led by one of the Single Young Adults Core Group member, Angeline Lam, from the Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. After that, we gathered in a circle for Faith Sharing. We were asked to identify the kind of traveller we are in our journey of faith, and what we need to be a better traveller. A guided examination of conscience was the final prayer before calling it a day.

Rt. Rev Bishop Sebastian Francis was the last speaker for the Lenten recollection. The second and last day’s sessions were highly interactive, with the Bishop on the very theme of this Lenten Recollection, Discipleship: Where Am I In The Journey? He explained what the terms ’discipleship’ and ‘journey’ meant. He challenged the young adults’ intellect and critical thinking skills on how to bridge what we practise in our faith to the secular world. He reminded us of the mission he had sent all the baptised on last year, in the Year of Faith, with the theme Discipleship: Called, Chosen, Sent. He equipped us with the weapon of faith and intellect to survive our journey.

The Lenten Recollection culminated with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Sebastian at 11.00am. We said our goodbyes in the hope of meeting again in the upcoming Penang Diocesan Youth Network for Single Young Adults overnight encounter on Human Sexuality for Single Young Adults, which will be held May 9-10 in Perak; June 20-21 in the North; and July 4-5 in Penang island.

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