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Young Priests' Gathering in Penang |
| Jun 03 2009 |
May 23 , 2009
By Lucia Lai
PENANG: Thirty-seven young priests from all over Malaysia and Singapore discovered the importance of brotherhood and spiritual direction when they gathered together for the 2009 Young Priests’ Gathering at Stella Maris from April 20 - 24.
The theme for the gathering was Companions in Search of the Sacred. The priests were welcomed by Msgr Stephen Liew who gave a brief history of the Young Priests’ Gathering.
Fr Bernard Paul then followed up with a session Rediscovering the God who called us, which took the priests on a journey to remember their initial call to the priesthood. On the second day, Fr Gerard Theraviam led all the sessions, touching on the theme and also instilling in the priests the importance of spiritual direction. There was also a role play animated by Fr Gerard on Spiritual Direction. The aim of the role play was to help the priests see the pitfalls they could encounter in real pastoral situations.
After the three heavy sessions by Fr Gerard, it was fun time for the priests when they broke for games and fellowship. Then, the priests visited the Church of the Immaculate Conception. They were warmly received by the parish priest, Fr Marshall Fernandez, his assistant, Fr Mark Michael and a few parishioners. An Eucharistic Celebration was held in the church at 6.30pm, followed by Vocation promotion and fellowship with all present. The young priests had an opportunity to explore the famed Gurney Drive after Mass. Local hawkers’ fare was available at Gurney Drive, not forgetting the huge shopping centre and departmental store, Gurney Plaza.
Day Three began with a session on counselling by Dr Bharathy. This was followed by two sessions by another layperson, Michael Xavier on Pastoral Management. Michael managed to capture the priests’ full attention with his interesting, informative and interactive sessions on Basic Management Skills and Conflict Management.
Before the priests retired for the night, a movie Home Beyond the Sun, about faith and conviction in Jesus Christ was shown. Msgr Stephen Liew was back on the fourth day to present his sessions on Prophetic Imagination. This was followed by a dialogue session with the Asian FONDACIO Youth, who happened to have their week-long session in Penang at the same time.
In the afternoon, the priests went on a sightseeing tour to Kek Lok Si (Pagoda) before making a pilgrimage to the Church of St Anne. They visited the retired priests there and had fellowship with them. Fr Alexender Edwin presented his souvenir book to them.
A Mass was also held at the Shrine of St Anne, where the Young Priests got to meet some parishioners of the Church of St Anne.
Later on, the Young Priests had a fellowship dinner at the restaurant next to Dewan St Anne, where they met up with Bishop Selva and priests from the Penang Northern District.
The Young Priests’ Gathering 2009 was wrapped up with an Eucharistic Celebration by Bishop Antony Selvanayagam on the final day, 24 April. Overall, the priests felt that the Young Priests’ Gathering had enhanced brotherhood, allowed exchange of ideas and helped in understanding more about their personality styles. Many especially liked the session on Conflict Management, which brought to them an insight to help them in their daily work.
The Young Priests’ Gathering 2010 will be held in Sibu, Sarawak. —
Last changed: Nov 17 2009 at 11:16 AM
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