austraLasia
#1829
A young people's Easter -
Timor Leste youth gather for their local Youth Day
celebrations
FUILORO: 25th
April 2007 -- It was the Third Sunday
of Easter, but not too late for 7,000 young people to gather from all over Timor
Leste at the Don Bosco Agricultural School in Fuiloro for the conclusion of
'Pascoa dos Jovens'. Some of the not so young also joined in for the Mass
presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Leopoldo
Girelli.
The Young People's Easter was an event first
begun by Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo SDB, and is now in its 17th
year. The grand Mass in the sports ground of the school where organisers
had built a beautiful altar under a huge traditional Timorese house, was the
final activity of 6 days of formation for 800 selected young men and women from
parishes all over Timor. They reflected on th theme proposed by the Holy
Father, Pope Benedict XVI on this year's Rome-based World Youth Day on Pal
Sunday: 'Love one another as I have loved you'. The yong people had
already discussed what steps should be taken under this Gospel inspiration given
the recently displayed lack of unity and peace in the nation. At one of the most
touching moments of the Eucharist, some of their representatives laid down
weapons used in harming and killing people, as a sign that the youth now want to
be agents of peace, unity, love for the Church and their
Nation.
The formation activities were held in the Salesian
Parish of Sts. Peter and Paul Los Palos. They attended several conferences
on important topics for nation building and development, such as moral ethics in
politics, participation of the young in the progress of the nation, the
importance of education. Speakers included Bishop Basilio do Nascimento of
Bacau and Jesuit Fr. Franz Magnis Suseno, professor of Moral Ethics at the
Inter-diocesan seminary in Jakarta. Perhaps more important than these even were
the six days of shared living which gave importance to the life of prayer,
witness of faith, liturgical celebrations and reconciliation amongst the young
people themselves.
Leading up to Sunday's celebration was
a Pilgrimage of PEace from Los Palos to the Fuiloro College, some 10 kms on
foot. The Bishop of Bacau and the Prime Minister Dr Jose Ramos Horta, and
several other prominent government and church leaders walked with the young
people to support them in their quest and commitment for a more peaceful and
united country. The participants also listened to a message from Bishop
Belo.
At the conclusion of the Mass, the Cross of the
Young was handed over to the waiting representatives of Maubisse Parish where it
will remain for a year travelling from parish to parish, barrio to barrio,
mission station to mission station. At next Easter's 'Pascoa dos Jovenes', the
travelling Cross will then be carried to the Salesian Sacred Heart Parish in
Venilale.
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