Hanoi Redemptorists offer seminars and meetings to boost the youth mission
Missionary groups in the capital and northern Vietnam met in early November drawing in a growing number of people from local parishes and grassroots communities. Faith is a response to an increasingly secularised society. A young couple, who rely on the intercession of Saint Gerard, tell their story.
Hanoi (AsiaNews) – Redemptorists Fathers in Hanoi have organised youth missionary groups over the years, welcoming young people from various northern provinces to share the missionary journey and the new ways of evangelisation, including via social and new media.
Earlier this month, the Redemptorist held a meeting that drew participants from various youth missionary groups from northern dioceses, including Anne Trần Thu Hà and her husband Peter Nguyễn Văn Hùng from Thái Hà parish, Hanoi.
Like others, young and old, they regularly take part in Masses led by the Redemptorist Fathers. Both “often pray to Saint Giêrađô (Gerard), asking him for health for us and for our child”. It is "thanks to his intercession" that we have received "so many blessings” so far.
Speaking about themselves, they said that “We got married in January 2018” and “we had a son. Today we regularly participate in the functions” in the community and the local parish.
Anne’s first meeting was “10 years ago, when I was still a student. I attended Mass at Thái Hà parish.” One Tuesday a month, “I went to church to pray to Saint Gerard for me and my family”.
Today she feels protected and says that she has received many “blessings” thanks to the saint, who is the patron saint of expectant mothers.
The week-long meeting was hosted by Thái Hà parish. It saw participants pray for the souls of the departed in purgatory. During meetings, seminars and prayers, the Hanoi superior also led a solemn Eucharistic concelebration dedicated to Saint Gerard with priests from the capital.
Participants joined in pastoral activities and seminars, shared insights on mission methodologies and catechism, and took part in Bible readings and group work.
Some members of the Fatima Duyên Thọ Group shared their approach to teaching the catechism, noting it focuses on “discovering the important content of catechetical lessons and apply them in real life.” To this end, “We listen to each other’s experiences.”
For Brother Minh Thuần, the spirit of the young northern missionaries is “uplifting and wonderful. I want young people to always maintain their enthusiasm in a life dedicated to the Church and society.”
Redemptorist youth missionary groups include Catholic students and workers, along with young people from migrant communities.
Some of them are youth who after losing the sense of life, abandoned and disheartened, found their raison d’être in the renewed encounter with faith amid an increasingly secularised society.
For the Redemptorist Fathers, one of the goals is precisely to involve more young people, regularly inviting them to local, grassroots and parish-level pastoral activities at a time in history characterised by increasing difficulties.
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01/03/2018 14:16
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