UB2: Bear Witness for Christ in our campuses

A total of 36 students from various tertiary education institutes in the Diocese of Penang came together for the second camp organised by the Diocese Campus Ministry in the UB series which focuses on different aspects of the YouCat.

Aug 08, 2014

By Leon Gautier
A total of 36 students from various tertiary education institutes in the Diocese of Penang came together for the second camp organised by the Diocese Campus Ministry in the UB series which focuses on different aspects of the YouCat. This is the second camp, following UB1, which focused on the introduction of the YouCat and on our faith, while UB2 focused on how the students need to be aware of what social justice is and how to understand human rights from the Catholic church’s perspective especially in the light of all that is taking place in Malaysia today

The camp was led by our guest speakers, Fiona Biggs and Kenny Rozario from the Church of the Assumption, PJ The focus of this camp was on the Church’s role in defending human rights and human dignity — focusing on the Catholic Social Teachings, the Church’s doctrine regarding matters of social justice. In this session, a seven step method was used; seven themes of the Catholic Social Teaching, seven teachings from the YouCat about social justice and how the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit help the students to be enlightened in this area. The participants were also taught how to put their thoughts into action by coming up with their own campaign.

The students came up with ideas for campaigns to provide and help the disabled, educational rights for children without birth certificates, the suppression and educational awareness of the Orang Asli, living ethical lives in our campuses and more. At the end of the discussions, Kevin Eruthayanathan, Campus Ministry officer, announced that if anyone wanted to make their campaigns a reality, they could approach the ministry for assistance.

Another guest speaker who was also at the camp — K. Sudhagaran Stanley, shared on basic human and citizen’s rights in relation to the teachings of the Church. Stanley also shared on his experiences working on social justice issues, peaceful rallies and the reality of Malaysian events today.

The students need to be alert at all times and draw their strength from daily reflection on the Word of God. This would help them to discern what the Lord wants of them and how they could stand up to be the light to the oppressed and the needy. The students had an enlightening experience from this camp. Not only did they get to meet students from other universities, they also got to know the importance of defending our human rights and social justice in relation to the Catholic Church and “to do away with youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace for those who call on the Lord with a pure heart” (2 Tim 2:22)

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