Saigon: youth congress in communion with World Youth Day in Rio
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - Young Vietnamese "love Jesus, Pope Francis and the universal Church. This is why, even if we could not afford the cost of flying to Brazil, we wanted to experience World Youth Days in our country," said young Catholic as he spoke to AsiaNews about his participation in a youth congress organised by Hoang Mai Parish in Ho Chi Minh City on 25-27 July. During these three days, the young men and women who participated were able to reflect on Catholics teachings and go a small trip.
The first day was spent in the parish, where Fr Joseph Nguyen Van Thong (from Thach Da Church) explained some concepts related to Our Lady: Mary as the Mother of God, the Virginity, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and the Assumption.
Through this lesson, young people were encouraged to pray to the Virgin with special devotion since this is the Year of Faith.
This was followed by a solemn procession to the statue of the Immaculate Conception and an hour of Eucharistic adoration.
On the second day, along with other priests, the young people went on a trip to Vung Tau to visit the 'Nha Tho Mo', the 'Church of the Tombs, where 228 faithful were killed out of hatred for their faith during the last years of the Vietnamese kingdom.
Here they met with young people from Nam Dong Parish, with whom they talked about their experiences of faith, and paid a visit to a nursing home in Ba Ria Diocese.
"I am very excited for the gift of these days," one of the participants told AsiaNews. "Although we could not afford the trip to Brazil, our priests have helped us feel in communion with the universal Church and World Youth Days in Rio. We do love Jesus and Pope Francis. "
Educators hope that thanks to this pilgrimage and various pastoral activities, young Catholics in Saigon and Ba Ria will always feel in communion with the Church, live their faith as best they can and respond to Pope Benedict XVI's invitation for World Youth Day 2013 in which he said, "You are the heart and hands of Jesus! Let us go out and bear witness to His Love. Become a new generation of missionaries, motivated by love and openness to all!"
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