Youths of St Dominic strengthen their spirituality

Jul 11, 2014

LAHAD DATU (Herald Malaysia): On 22nd June 2014, the Parish Youth Apostolate team from Lahad Datu had its 5th Parish Youth Gathering with the theme Gift of the Holy Spirit. The theme was chosen to open the minds of the youth of the parish of St Dominic as well as to strengthen them spiritually.

The programme began with an opening prayer led by Miss Mariewill and continued with an ice-breaker conducted by Miss Mazdollyna. The team also invited Sr Evelyn Tivit to share her understanding of the gift of the Holy Spirit, in line with the chosen theme. She shared on the doctrine of the Christian faith where God is present in 3 persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and all 3 share the same status, significance, power and glory.

The youth also had the opportunity to learn of the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are :

1) Fear of the Lord
2) Fortitude
3) Piety
4) Counsel
5) Knowledge
6) Understanding, and
7) Wisdom

Grace is given to those who have been baptized and who have faith, hope and love. As promised by Jesus Christ, ‘And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.’ (John 14:16)

The 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit are signs that the Holy Spirit is alive within us and helping us live the Catholic faith in our daily lives. They are as follows:

1) Love
2) Joy
3) Peace
4) Patience
5) Kindness
6) Goodness
7) Generosity
8) Gentleness
9) Faithfulness
10) Modesty
11) Self-control, and
12) Chasity

A Taize Prayer followed after the sharing session. Taize prayer produces a unique form of worshipful music with meditation. The music emphasizes short passages from the Psalms or the Bible that can be repeated or sung. Music has become entrenched and blended into the Christian faith and through songs, we obtain serenity and hope. Taize Prayer was led by Sr Evelyn, the readings were done by Mariewill and prayers for petitions by Elaine. Throughout the Taize prayer, music was played by Alfian and the songs were sung by the Parish Youth Apostolate team, joined by all the participants. After the Taize Prayer, all the participants were invited to come forward to pray to the Holy Spirit and to ask Him to look into their hearts and to choose for them one of His gifts.

Bookmarks that showed the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit were given to all the participants. The intention is to help them gain self-reflection and to develop His gifts that they have received by sharing them with others.

This 5th Parish Youth Gathering strengthened the spirit of the participants to help them continue to grow stronger and braver in their faith and to encourage them in their faith journey that was taught to them by Jesus Himself. We hope that the same spirit will always be with the youth for them to continue with Christ’s mission in establishing his Kingdom on earth. We look forward to seeing everyone again at the 6th Parish Youth Gathering.