|
Experiences
from Spera in Deo, EDYD 2009 (5 Sept 2009)
By Samantha Chan
5 September 2009 - Over 700 East District youths met
on 5 September 2009 to celebrate the East District Youth
Day 2009, titled "Spera in Deo" ”or
"Hope in God" in Latin.
Significantly, this is the first time the East District
Youth committees had worked together on an event of
this scale, in recent years.
Casually referred to as EDYD, the East District Youth
Day is part of the Catholic Archdiocesan Youth Centre's
(CAYC) first-ever District Youth Day initiative which
decentralised the Archdiocese Youth Day into various
districts of the North, City, East, Serangoon and West.
At the east, participants and helpers came from all
5 East District Parishes of Holy Family, Holy Trinity,
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, St. Stephen and Our Lady
of Queen of Peace.
Following the footsteps of the previous Archdiocese
Youth Days, Confirmation 3 youths were invited exclusively
to attend the event.
It took 9 months to conceptualise and execute the entire
programme. The youth committees from each eastside parish
agreed that they needed to retrace their Catholic roots
by focusing on the Eucharist. In order to develop a
deeper trust and hope in God, our young people need
first to recognise the Living Christ being present in
the Eucharist.
As a result, "Spera In Deo" or "Hope in God" was birthed,
where the confirmants, catechists, as well as youth
ministry helpers and parent-volunteers were mobilised
in this 1-day programme to celebrate especially the
theme of, "We have set our hope on the living God"
(1 Timothy 4:10).
This theme is based after the Holy Father's Message
to young people for the Twenty-fourth World Youth Day,
which was celebrated on 5 April, Palm Sunday, this year.
The programme was two-fold. Each parish first hosted
an afternoon session on the theme of Hope in God, reflecting
on minimising our distractions and exhortations to train
oneself in Godliness. There was also the Adoration of
the Blessed Sacrament.
Following the parish segment, each church proceeded
to gather at the CHIJ Katong Primary school hall for
a combined night rally. With local actor-host, Randall
Tan as the event emcee, there were songs of praise and
worship, a testimony by OLPS parishioner and altar server
James Chan, and a talk by Fr. John Joseph Fenelon (Fr.
JJ) on the Eucharist.
"I was personally moved by
the sharing of James Chan. His desire for the Eucharist
has further encouraged and motivated me to desire
and receive the Eucharist as often as possible. Thanks
for the enriching experience. I went home and shared
the testimony again with both my sons who are altar
servers." Edwyn
deSouza, Youth Coordinator, CAYC
Finally, the Holy Mass itself was the highlight of
the night. With music provided by Holy Family's 25-year-old
choir, Genesis II, the Mass was celebrated by Archbishop
Nicholas Chia, together with all the East District Priests.
The decision to make the Mass the main highlight of
the EDYD was a challenging one as it also highlighted
the fact that our youths are in need for a greater understanding
of the Mass. At one point of the night, our bishop Nicholas
Chia was compelled to comment on the need for proper
attitude, silence and reverence during Mass. He then
encouraged all present to actively participate in the
Mass so as to exercise and develop our faith further.
Overall, the East District Youth Day brought together
youth helpers and parent-volunteers from all eastside
Parishes in such a scale for the first time! With the
experience and friendship gained from collaborating
on this project, the eastside youth ministries are now
further motivated to organise more combined eastside
events in the future.
SPERA IN DEO in action!
 
Back
to Top
|
