Karnival Belia gathers 192 youth from 17 parishes

KLANG – Karnival Belia 2018 gathered 192 youths from 17 different parishes under the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur including those of the Diocese of Penang on 28-30 Sept 2018 at the Holy Redeemer Church.

The carnival which was its second edition carried the theme of this year’s World Youth Day “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God” from Luke 1:30.

Karnival Belia was organised by the Archdiocesan Bahasa Malaysia Apostolate (ABMA) led by Charles Eric with another 18 youths from different parishes in the Archdiocese as committee members and six invited youths from Kuching Archdiocese to serve as the music ministry.

Fr Albet Arockiasamy, ABMA Ecclesiastical Assistant opened the event with a Eucharistic celebration, concelebrated by Fr Rudolf Joannes of Keningau Diocese, who was the main speaker for the carnival.

In his first session “Proud to be a Catholic”, Fr Rudolf asked the youths two questions – “What is Catholic?” and “Why are they proud to be a Catholic?” Some gave very interesting answers; to the first question, most of them answered that Catholic is universal. Meanwhile for the second question, most youths said it’s because the Catholic Church has seven unique Sacraments.

In his second session entitled “You and Me”, Fr Rudolf explained the same-sex attraction and what we should do as a Catholic to understand this situation. Fr Rudolf also discussed the four human personalities.

Third session was given by Mabel and Meldrick from Kuching Archdiocese. They shared how music can help us get closer to God. They taught the participants on types of praises and worships. Both also demonstrated on how to praise and worship, which requires one to be immersed deeply during the session and praise God from their deepest heart.

Four church leaders became panellists for the dialogue session on the theme “Hearing the Voice of the Lord”; Brother Raj Manikam SG, Fr Clement Lim, Fr Alberto Irenus SJ and Sr Roseling Siaw Chen FSP with Allesandra Andrew as moderator.

The panellists shared on their journey of faith and their vocation to serve the Lord. They were asked whether they ever regretted answering this call, and all panellists said they have no regrets except peace and joy in serving.

Other activities carried out were Team Building and U-Nite through Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Adoration. Fr Rudolf gave his reflection and explanation on the purpose and the history of the Sacred Blessing of the Sacrament. The night continued with Sacrament of Reconciliation and counselling handled by the priests and religious. Sharings by participants concluded the U-NITE session.

A talk “Emerging Adults” given by Dr Walton Wider, covered topics such as “Marriage of Adults”, “Instability”, “A Sense of Possibilities” and “Feeling in Between”.

In his final session “Becoming a Witness of Christ”, Fr Rudolf expounded on the importance of knowing Jesus Christ and our responsibility to the society.

Last session for Karnival Belia is another dialogue session holding the theme “Do not be afraid to seek the Kingdom of God first”, taken from Luke 1:30 and Matthew 6:33. The panellists, Dr Walton Wider, Mabel and Meldrick shared their experiences throughout their lifetime as a Christian from University years until now. Meldrick said that youths are encouraged to do what they love responsibly, while giving praises to God.

Karnival Belia 2018 ended with the youths commissioned out by Archbishop Julian Leow in the Eucharistic celebration, concelebrated by Fr Albet Arockiasamy.

The Archbishop reminded the youths to not be afraid to be a witness and ambassador of Christ in their daily life, and therefore commissioned the youths out.  – Stefan & Mary