Gearing Towards PDYD 5
Approximately 40 youths aged 16 to 26 gathered on Sunday, 8th May 2022 for the Youth Day Celebration (Parish Level) held at the NBVM Auditorium. The main objective of this event was geared toward the Fifth Penang Diocesan Youth Day (PDYD 5) to gather and introduce youths as well as garner response for the upcoming event.
Beginning with an introduction by Nicholas Ooi, the NBVM Youth Leader and an opening prayer by Fr. Dominic Santhiyagu, the event was kick-started by Praise and Worship conducted by Brenda and the team with English, Bahasa and Tamil songs followed by a short break where participants were served with light refreshments. Thereafter, fellow youths had a sharing session with Jason who served 6 years in the Youth Office at the Penang Diocesan Youth Network (PDYN). Jason’s sharing mainly touched on how Pope John Paul II was the pioneer of World Youth Day which first began in Brazil. He emphasized that PDYD was a result of transforming World Youth Day into a local event that was initiated by PDYN.
He further elaborated that PDYD 5 with the theme, “Mary arose and went with haste, Luke: 1:39” is all about empowering young people, being united and walking with faith. Moreover, Jason reminded everyone that the PDYD Cross which consists of 5 parts representing 5 states namely Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Kelantan is not just tangible, visible and a reminder of the event but something much deeper. He illustrated on how Jesus decided to come into our midst and pointed out that Mother Mary was an icon and is a good example to follow.
Thereon, a game session was conducted by Lawrence, NBVM Bahasa Youth Leader to captivate the participants with the aim of meeting and making new friends. Finally, the event was concluded by a reading from the Gospel of John by Fr Dom and sharing his personal experience attending the World Youth Day. Overall, Fr Dom was happy and joyful this gathering took place since the pandemic had prevented such gatherings. He is hopeful to see young people coming together for the Deanery Level of Youth Day Celebration on 14th May 2022 before PDYD 5. Similarly, Nicholas was content that many youths turned up for the event saying it was a good start with simple activities in the wake of the upcoming event. He further described that he was hoping for the best as a lot of work goes into organizing and preparing for the Deanery Celebration and around 100 youths are anticipated to join next week. (by Mariessa James)
