(SAIGON, VIETNAM) In response to the XV Synod on the young people, the Redemptorist Youth Mission of Southern Vietnam conducted the first workshop on the theme: “Youth, Faith, and Vocational Discernment.” The conference was held on 12 August 2018 at the shrine of OMPH in SAIGON.
Based on the document of Synod 2018, the Organizer and main speaker Rev. Paul LUU QUANG BAO VINH, CSsR explained the document and Pope Francis’ concern for young people. Pope Francis urges the youth to contribute their ideas to the Synod.
There were five questions discussed in the workshop:
- What are the challenges and opportunities to live the Faith in the context of Vietnam?
- How do you discern your vocation? Could you please share about your feelings about your vocation?
- Do the models of a youth group in Vietnam encourage the youth to deepen their faith, urge them to participate actively in the life of Church and contribute the Christian values to the society? Do you have any suggestions relating to these models?
- How to approach the young people who are far away from the Church?
- What do you hope in the Synod XV on the young people? What can you contribute to the Synod?
After the presentation of Fr. Paul, the participants discussed the above questions in small groups. They shared the opinions actively and frankly. Fr. Paul and the Secretary recorded all the ideas and promised to submit them to Pope Francis with a hope to get a response from him.
Finally, Rev. Alfonso TRAN NGOC HUONG who is the director of the Redemptorist Youth Mission in Southern Vietnam thanked all participants for their active participation. Noticeably, many attendants expressed the need to organize a similar workshop in future to understand the reality of the youth today and their role in the Church and in the society.
(Haiphong, Northern Vietnam) The Redemptorist Youth Mission of Northern Vietnam attended the workshop on, “Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment” in response to the World Youth Day in Panama 2019 and the Synod 2018 on young people on 15th September 2018 in Phu Tao parish (Hai Phong Diocese).
Father Paul Luu Quang Bao Vinh hosted the workshop. There were more than 200 young people attended the program. The organizers shared different topics to help the youth to understand more about the document of the Synod 2018 and Pope Francis’ concern for young people. As a result, the youth may deepen their faith, know their vocation and give themselves fully in the mission of the Church.
In the second phase of the workshop, all the participants were divided into different groups for group discussions and sharing. They discussed the challenges of the youth today concerning different faith factors and expressed their own opinions to deepen their understanding of the subject matters.
The Workshop was concluded with the Holy Mass offered by the Redemptorists. During the mass, there was a special prayer offered for the youth for their dedicated life of service to God and the fruitful results of the workshop. We wish and pray that after the workshop, the youth will be transformed by the fire of the Spirit of God to bear the fruits of their work and bring peace to the world today.
Br. Duc Trung Vu CSsR
