Taiwan Youth Day (TYD) 2008 inspired its 500 participants to share the Good News with the public, an organizer says. Winnie Su Yu-ying, secretary of the youth desk of the Taiwan episcopal conference, says that TYD, which had the theme, Receive the Power to Be My Witnesses, aimed to inspire young Catholics to put their faith into action. Delegates attended from all seven dioceses.
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Winne Su Yu-ying, an organizer of the Taiwan Youth Day. |
The Oct. 9-12 celebration, held at Chientan Overseas Youth Activity Center and Da An Park in Taipei, also echoed the theme of World Youth Day (WYD) 2008, held in Australia in July, says Su. She attended the international event with a 400-strong Taiwanese delegation. Held for five years now, the TYD celebration is the largest annual Catholic youth event on the island. One activity during the recent event was called "evangelization in action." Participants took to the busy streets of Taipei on a Saturday afternoon and talked with passersby about the Catholic faith, then invited them to write a personal prayer or intention on a card. They collected 3,000 such cards within two hours. Su, 26, says such activities stimulate young people to reflect deeply on what they believe and proclaim. Below is UCA News´ translation of her commentary on the celebration, which was hosted by Taipei archdiocese.
Youth, Hope of the Church
As an organizer, I had participated in the Taiwan Youth Day the past two years. Since the Taiwan bishops´ National Youth Work Conference in November 2006 decided that dioceses would take turns to host the TYD each year, the event has become an important part of my work.
Last year´s TYD theme was
Love one another. From preparation to activities, I have seen how the clergy, Religious sisters and young volunteers established a stable and cooperative relationship by trust and communication. At the Youth Activity Center near Tseng Wen Reservoir in Tainan, I saw the faces of young participants full of concentration and passion. There were varied and lively performances from all over the seven dioceses in Taiwan during an evening gathering. Among them was an 80-member group from Hualien diocese that rendered a fantastic song and dance performance which prompted all participants to join hands and dance together. The beauty of communion among parts of the Church overjoyed everyone! Touched by the love of Jesus during the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, I was moved to tears a few times. At an all-night Eucharistic adoration with the youth, I thanked God for blessing the TYD. I felt excited to be a Catholic privileged to enjoy the holy prayerful atmosphere. Taiwan Youth Day 2008 showed a totally different style of modern youths. This time, the thrust was
I Believe: Enthusiasm, Courage, and Attentiveness. With this in mind, I was full of praise for the organizing team that was mainly composed of young Catholics, whom I worked with several months earlier. Various youth groups of Taipei archdiocese agreed on the event´s direction and divided tasks among themselves. I saw the youth and laypeople´s mission and commitment to evangelization increase. Receive the Power to Be My Witnesses was the theme, taken from this year´s World Youth Day theme. Indeed, this has been the direction of the youth ministry of Taipei archdiocese over the past years. It continually invites young Catholics to move from merely "looking" to "engaging" in contemporary situations by adopting a methodology called "Review of Life." This methodology is essentially the "see-judge-act" method promoted by the International Young Christian Students, a Catholic lay movement present in 85 countries.
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Participants at the Taiwan Youth Day paste the 3,000 cards they collected from passers-by on a big cross after the "evangelization in action" activity on Oct. 11. |
Bishop Thomas Chung An-zu of Chiayi, chairperson of the Youth Desk, said in his homily at the opening Mass: "Young Catholics know well their peers´ aspirations, language, suffering, expectations and desire for righteousness. Only when young people come forward to take over the baton of spreading the Gospel will the Church be able to proclaim the hope of Christ´s resurrection to every corner of the world." Our new attempt at "evangelization in action" for TYD 2008 emerged from such a concept. Going to the streets and social-welfare organizations to evangelize could stimulate young people to reflect deeply on what they believe and proclaim. We hope that young people can deepen their quest for faith and put their faith into action. Praise and worship was given significance during the event. In the past two or three years, music has become a very important part of youth gatherings that young people of various parishes in Taipei archdiocese initiated. Therefore, through music, the TYD organizing team hoped to promote solidarity among youth from across the Taiwan Church. When I attended the youth Mass and heard the songs composed by the youngsters, I was moved by the inspiring and energetic atmosphere. Every diocese sent at least 40 young people to participate in this program. Archbishop John Hung Shan-chuan of Taipei, Bishop Chung, Bishop John Baptist Lee Keh-mean of Hsinchu, Bishop Bosco Lin Chi-nan of Tainan and a Spanish bishop came to encourage the youths. Taiwan´s Vice President Vincent Siew and several other guests -- Catholics and members of other religions -- attended, and about 10 media persons covered the event. Catholic singer Sam Li Sheng-jie also joined the gathering in Da An Park. It is difficult to quantify the result of the event, but from the solidarity among dioceses and affirmation from society, Taiwan Youth Day 2008 has fought the good fight. Special thanks to the organizing team of Taipei and all those who helped to make this event successful and fruitful! They included the Chinese Catholic University Students´ Association of northern Taiwan, Taipei Archdiocesan Council of Lay Apostolate, Taiwan Catholic Mission Foundation, Young Christian Students Taipei, and the Taiwan delegation to WYD 2008. Most of them joined TYD for the first time, and together they gave the event a new and innovative appearance. Best wishes to Taichung diocese as it prepares a feast for young people at TYD 2009! END