Single Young Adults 2014 Program

We Welcome all the Single Young Adults to join us

PDYN Welcomes Fr. Martin Arlando

   Fr. Martin Arlando challenges the youth ministers to “put on the mind of the youth”.  The new Director of the Penang Diocesan Youth  Network, who is currently the assistant parish priest of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, stressed on the importance of   accompanying our young people  according to their needs and to  put ourselves in their shoes so we could understand what they are going through.  In this way,  as disciples of Christ entrusted with this ministry, we will bring our young people to Christ.

  

      Asked further for his expectations from the members of the team and the youth ministry in the diocese as a whole, Fr. Martin has this to say:  “I look forward to a youth ministry that works for the good of all and not only for an individual or specific groups.”

 Starting next year, he plans to have two focus groups in terms of youth programs and activities: the young people in the secondary level  and the single young adult group.  He sees that students in the secondary  level “ need to be grounded in faith.    They  need to deepen their relationship with Jesus before they enter into the tertiary education or else they will be streamed and influenced by worldly morals and not Christian morals. ”

        He also plans to start with a program  for the single young adults group which will see to their faith formation,  training as leaders and skills in facilitating the youth groups in their respective parishes.

  

        As to the young people under the care of the Campus Ministry Office (CMO) and the youth in general,  these three objectives capture his vision for the next three years:

· To discover who Jesus is to them personally

· To live Jesus daily in their lives as a witness and a disciple

· To empower them to be evangelizers.

              And lastly, he is looking into  introducing ongoing formation programs for young people at deanery and parish levels aside from the immediate preparations for the Penang Diocesan Youth Day 3 (PDYD 3)  which will be held in 2015. 

Thank you, Fr. Martin, 

for accepting to be part of this ministry.  

Count on our prayers and support!

Fr. Dominic Santhiyagu on Youth Ministry and Beyond

 I am a priest because of the youth ministry.  This affirmation came from Fr. Dominic Santhiyagu, the outgoing Director of the Penang  Diocesan Youth Network (PDYN), during an interview that we had with him in his office at the Church Our Lady of Sorrows.  Below is the full transcript of this interview.

PDYN:  You have been with PDYN for more than five years.  Can you tell us how you started and how it felt like working with the young people in the Diocese of Penang?

Fr. Dominic:  I consider it as a call from God.  Bishop  Antony Selvanayagam asked me to join PDYN in 2007 instead of taking over as Director in 2008.   Before I accepted the invitation, I asked Bishop Selva for time to think and pray over it.  At that time, a lot of things were happening in the parish so it was not easy for me to decide whether to accept it or not.  What inspired me to say yes to the invitation was a Sunday reading on Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10) who climbed the sycamore tree to have a glimpse of Jesus, then was told to get down from the tree and welcomed Jesus in his house.  Like Zaccheus, I realized that Jesus was calling me and giving me the opportunity to explore my talents.

As to working with young people, it was challenging at first.  I was a young priest then and all the methods I used were old and based on what I experienced when I was in the youth group. I would say that it was also very interesting and was filled with opportunities for growth.

PDYN:  It is a well-known fact that you did a lot as PDYN Director in terms of the formation of leaders and organizing activities that brought the young people of the Diocese together.  Can you share to us the joys and challenges that you experienced in the youth ministry?

Fr. Dominic:  It is always a joy to work with very talented young people.  Those I worked with did not give negative reasons as to why things can not be done.  They are always ready to try and to explore new ideas.  I am lucky to work with a hopeful batch of people which, like me, also consider the ministry as a call from God.  The challenge was working with other priests.  I also found it very difficult to convince the young people to be involved especially those coming from the parishes in the city.  I found the young people coming from the outskirts of the main city more responsive and more eager to know and experience things.

PDYN:  From the many events that PDYN organized, what are the three significant experiences that you want to share with us?

Fr. Dominic:  The Kenang Project is one of the things that I consider significant.  It came as a result of my experience during the Asian Youth Day 2009.  We practically started with nothing.  I gave the responsibility to Amelleia Chamin Leo to come up with a program and to organise the youth.  From nothing, money and resources, we ended up having so much for this project.  I can say that with this project, everything is possible when responsibilities are given to committed young people.  When we think about something and work with capable people, we can make it happen.  It is the richness of the experience, spending 10 days with our  brothers and sisters in   Keningau, that stays with me up to this  time.

Another experience is the Partnership Program that involved 20 single adults from the different parishes and youth groups in the diocese.  It was a 2-year journey where young people met once a month for the first year of the implementation (2008-2009) then once every quarter (2009-2010) for prayer and formation sessions.

The youth partners, as the participants were called, were expected to go back to enhance, strengthen and motivate the members of their own youth groups.  They were like the disciples who were formed and trained to go back to their places and share what they have learned to their fellow youth.  This program formed leaders who are very involved in their groups such as Mandarin Partners and CHOICE as well as in their parishes.  They were the pillars of the various leadership trainings and district-level celebrations in the Diocese as well as the two Penang Diocesan Youth Days (PDYD 1 and 2).

And lastly, we had the PDYD 1 (August 2008) and PDYD 2 (November 2012) which were held so that the youth could experience the World Youth Day (WYD) in the local level.

PDYN: Despite of the Partnership Program and Leadership Trainings for the youth leaders, continuity in the parish leadership is still a concern at the present.  What do you think are the reasons for this?

Fr. Dominic:  It has been a problem ever since I started my ministry.  Most of the leaders are students and they are not very sure how long they will be around.  They will be very involved until they are in Form 4 but will focus more on their examinations when they reach Form 5.  If we want continuity in the leadership, we should have   single adults as leaders or advisers such as what Islanders Tamil Youth Network (ITYN) and Central Perak Youth Council (CPYC) have.

Two of his many gifts and interests: Directing and

photography... seen here taking video clips for

PDYD 2 Launching

PDYN:   Where did you get the inspiration and ideas all those years that you were working with the youth and for the youth?

Fr. Dominic:  Not all of those activities and ideas were new.  We have done them before.  Others came from my personal reflections but mostly, ideas came from my exposure and participation in the World Youth Day (WYD) and Asian Youth Day (AYD).   These youth  gatherings gave me the opportunity to talk to young people and helped me see things done in various ways. Without this exposure, my ideas will be very limited.

PDYN:  Do still you have unfulfilled plans and dreams for the youth ministry of the Diocese?

Fr. Dominic:  There is only one thing that I think we have not done yet and that is to train young people and send them as missionaries to the different parts of the world.   When I went to the Philippines for the AYD in 2009, my perception of the youth ministry changed.  There, I discovered many young people from Malaysia who gave one year of their life to be missionaries.  These are young people who are holding important positions in the factories here or working in the offices who took one year unpaid leave to go to the Philippines and serve the Church through the different organisations and missionary groups.

with the youth from City Parish

I am thinking, why can we not do it?  I think that Malaysians need this kind of exposure so we could widen our perspectives.  Personally, I am grateful to Bishop Selva and the diocese for giving me opportunities to be out of the country to join these youth gatherings.  These opened my eyes to see the universality of the Church and that, it is not limited to the local level.

At the Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help with the youth from Kampar

PDYN:  Do you still see yourself getting actively involved in the youth ministry now that you are not anymore connected with PDYN?

Fr. Dominic:  PDYN is just one of the ministries in the Diocese but all ministries are in the parishes.  As priests,  we are exposed to all the ministries in a smaller scale. I am in the parish and  always   surrounded with young people.  I am planning to give the youth in my parish the formation they would need as missionaries and send them to different places to serve.  I promise to  give my 101% support for the youth ministry in the parish.

   

      But in a way, I will miss being in PDYN.  I will surely miss the staff and the youth ministers with whom I have worked with.

At the Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help
with the youth from the Risen Christ Church

PDYN:  We would like to thank you for the selfless service that you have given to the youth ministry of the Diocese.  You have been an inspiration to all of us and have given us the opportunities to grow as person and as youth ministers.  Is there anything that you want to say to the youth of today?

Fr. Dominic:  Discover your own call.  Be involved in the youth ministry because it is the only  opportunity that you have to explore your gifts.  There are no other venues for this except in the Church because we are very organized as a community.  Use your youthfulness and attend leadership trainings and formation sessions.

I am a priest today mainly because of youth ministry. Thanks to the opportunities given to me by Fr. Bernard Paul, and many others. In the youth ministry, you can acquire leadership qualities and the confidence which could even help you to manage your family in the near future.

Fr. Dominic:  I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who have journeyed with me in the youth ministry:

· Bishop Emeritus Antony Selvanayam for the opportunity that he    gave me to serve the Diocese of 

   Penang in the youth ministry.

· Bishop Sebastian Francis for allowing me to focus on my parish.

· All the priests, youth leaders and advisers for your full support and guidance.

· The staff of PDYN and the Diocese for your dedication, support, hard work  and encouragement .

· Jesus for the particular mission He has given me in PDYN and the mission continues through Him, with

  Him and in Him.

Thank you, Fr. Dominic!

Count on our prayers...

Journey to the Foot of the Cross

           Forty-one single young adults take a journey to the foot of the cross on 16 March at Stella Maris Retreat Centre, Penang.

          The retreat ‘A Journey to the Foot of the Cross’ was organized by the Penang Diocesan Youth Network (PDYN), with Fr. David Reegon, OFM Cap as the retreat master. It began at 9.00am and ended at 6.00pm.

           Fr David’s input was based on the gospel of Luke, chapter 23, verse 22 onwards. He led the participants to a deeper understanding of the Crucifixion of Christ based on those gospel passages, stressing on the importance of meditating on the Cross and of spending time with God in silence.

        Fr David also shared his reflections on the ‘Irony of Taunt’, which was then followed by small group sharing and reflection. The participants were inspired to express their need to know Jesus more and have a keen desire to follow His example of going against the ‘norms’ and to be effective witnesses.

        In the afternoon, after lunch, the participants watched a movie entitled ‘The Passion’ by Dough Barry. ‘The Passion’ is a one-man stage production, a dramatic account reflecting on the passion of Jesus Christ.

        The highlight of the retreat came towards the end of the retreat with the ‘Lenten Ritual’. After some prayers, participants were given some time to write down on a small piece of paper, their prayers and concerns. One by one, they then went up to a wooden cross, and stick the papers on the cross.

           This was followed by Mass, of which the papers on the cross were burned and offered up during the presentation of gifts.

         Some of the participants commented that the retreat had been very fruitful to them as it helps them to renew their faith.

             PDYN will be organizing a follow-up activity after Easter.

by:  Lucia Lai