Jesus Youth, KL visits Visitation Church - 14th July, 2019

The Church of The Visitation, Seremban on 14th July 2019, welcomed and received 29 people from Jesus Youth (JY) team, Kuala Lumpur led by Sunil Miranda who is the National coordinator for Jesus Youth, Malaysia. Held in the Visitation community hall, they came for a time of praise, prayer, reflection and sharing the love of God they had encountered and experienced and to reach out to Visitation parishioners. About 60 parishioners, both young and seniors including Rev. Fr. George Harrison and Rev. Fr. Xavier Andrew attended the event which started about 2.00pm. A makeshift altar was built with a Crucifix, a Bible, the statue of Our Lady and two lighted oil lamps. The team, making their first visit to The Visitation Church started the event with the recitation of the Rosary. Fr. Xavier then said a few words. He congratulated the team for the initiative taken to organized the event. He reminded us that Jesus was a youth when he began his ministry and was conscious of God’s divine call on his life. Fr. Xavier also pointed out two very distinguished and prominent figures who in spite of their advanced age, are still active and working tirelessly – Holy Father Pope Francis who is 82 years and Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who recently celebrated his 94th birthday. He added that age is a number and most importantly how we live our lives.

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Handing over to the JY team, participants were then asked to formed a circle and a simple ice breaker session was conducted. The JY music team provided music for the Praise & Worship. Two members of JY came forward to share how their personal turbulence in life been transformed from hopelessness to new life and gaining peace of heart and mind after being introduced to the Jesus Youth movement. Another member, Ajith Mani shared on the Prodigal Son, one of well-known stories of Jesus. He said, the Father in the gospel passage is seen making the first moves – to run, to hug, to kiss upon seeing the return of his younger son with open arms. The passage represents a wonderful picture of the great love of God towards us in spite of our sinfulness and the many wrong choices we make in our lives. This followed by The Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament by Fr. George.

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Sunil then briefly shared on the Jesus Youth movement in Malaysia. He said, the seed for the movement was sown in 2002 in the Church of The Assumption, PJ with the blessing and guidance by the late Rev. Fr. Philips Muthu. A small group of expatriates from Kerala, their families and youths started to gather regularly once a month for prayer and fellowship. The numbers soon grew and spread to the Church of The Sacred Heart of Jesus, KL. These gatherings are now conducted at the Church of Our Lady of Fatima, Brickfields under the guidance and support given by Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Ferdinand Magimay. Gatherings are held on every Tuesdays to reflect on the bible passage. On Saturday mornings, few youths would gather in the park for personal prayers. Family gatherings are held on the 3rd Sundays and Night vigil (from 8.00pm to 11.00pm) on 4th Saturdays of the month. Local youth parishioners, from the Philippines and expatriates from various part of India also add up to the numbers of people in this movement. On behalf of the team, Sunil expressed his appreciation and thanked Fr. George and Fr. Andrew for their support and guidance. He also thanked the parishioners of Visitation for their warmth reception. The event ended about 4.15pm with the participants and JY team joining in a fellowship in the hall. Flyers on JY were distributed to participants.

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About Jesus Youth

Jesus Youth is an International Association within the Catholic Church with a focus on evangelising young people and nurturing their missionary initiatives. It had its beginnings in Kerala, India, and evolved as an active part of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of the state in the late 1970s. In 1985, the International Year of Youth, a number of youth groups came together under a single name, Jesus Youth. Gradually, it spread to different parts of India and to a number of other countries. Jesus Youth is an international private association of the faithful of all states of life, with juridical personality, governed by the present statutes in conformity with canons 298 - 311 and 321 - 326 of the Code of Canon Law. The name ‘Jesus Youth’ represents the association’s emphasis on living the joy, vitality, and fullness of life discovered in Christ, and sharing the Gospel in contemporary life situations.  The progress of a Jesus Youth is ensured through a lifestyle of spiritual discipline of the association called six pillars [*]. Jesus Youth carries out the work of evangelization by fostering individual apostolate, facilitating group apostolate and engaging in formal missions and projects in various parts of the world. Jesus Youth is missionary in nature and has a special focus on evangelizing today’s youth, promoting an active Christian way of life, and commitment to mission.

 [*] The Six pillars are Daily Prayer; Word of God; Sacraments; Fellowship; Option for the Poor & Evangelization.

For more information and enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Email ID), Jesusyouthmalaysia (Facebook) or call 011-23335614 (Sunil Miranda).

A word of thanks to Sunil Miranda for providing information and group photo with Fr. George.