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Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.
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The wave of glamour and glory,
popularity and power, money and comfort is what the modern generation seems to
be riding on. But a different wave swept through the youth at the Divine
Retreat Centre during the International Youth Conference, POWER 2012. It was a passion to
live for the Lord with every breath they now had and a burning desire to make His
Love known to the ends of the earth. The Presence of Jesus was felt by the
young people very powerfully and they began seeking intensely to enter a deeper
union with the Lord. For them now, the one meaning for life was in a radical
and complete commitment to the person of Jesus. The words of St. Paul were
becoming a profound experience in the lives of everyone - “Far be it from me to glory except in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 6:14)
The theme of the Youth Conference
was the exhortation of St Paul - “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) Inaugurating the Conference, the Papal Nuncio His
Excellency Salvatore Pennachio encouraged the youth with the words of Pope
Benedict XVI, “Jesus is someone in whom we can put absolute trust. He is
present as a force of hope through His Church which is close to all human
situations of suffering and injustice.” Coming from a culture of skepticism and
despair these words became a challenge worth striving for. As the retreat
progressed, their search grew in intensity to experience Jesus as the Light
that shall break through the dark clouds of meaninglessness. Jesus was no more
a stranger to their struggles or an abstract concept in their mind but a living
reality participating in their todays - giving meaning to their past and a goal
of their future.
“Sown In Weakness… Raised In Power” (1 Corinthians 15:43)
The
youth had flocked in from 25 countries for POWER 2012. As they came in, some
looked very tired, others indifferent and still others were regretting that
they had come at all! Some of them were complaining that their dormitory
accommodation was not in any way satisfactory to them. Many were found arguing
with the volunteers - demanding better accommodation. Of prime importance for
them was the luxury and privacy of a separate room. They could not see beyond
this demand. It seemed to me that their thinking and actions were merely a
reflection of the mood of the world from which they had come. The craze in the
world around us is to make life more and more comfortable and to avoid at all
costs the slightest inconvenience. I could even hear a group of young
retreatants arguing with the volunteers, “If you did not have enough
comfortable accommodation why did you publicize the Conference?” Finally by the
evening of Sunday all seemed to have settled grudgingly with the limited
conveniences offered to them.
As the hours and days were
going by, everyone noted a marked difference in the attitude of the youth. The
inconvenience of the accommodation became irrelevant and they were
enthusiastically attending all the sessions. Daily the retreat would begin at
6:30 in the morning and end only by 10:30 at night. Even the length of the
sessions or the fact that they had few breaks was not a concern for them. There
was a new thirst to know the Heart of God and seek His ways. I could hear the
prophecy of Isaiah ringing in my mind, “Many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come,
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob;
that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’" (Isaiah
2:3)
Raul from Mumbai expressed at
the end of the retreat - “It was the acceptance from the world that I always
wanted. Yet, Jesus accepted me and baptized me. With His death, I am dead to
sin. My life has changed completely.” It was clearly manifested that the youth
of today were getting disillusioned by the multitude of the glamorous offers of
the world. They had walked the way of the world and incurred deep wounds and
frustrations. They could see no way out. The flashes of media only aroused their
passions, dragging them deeper into the quagmire of the culture of death. The
talks and the deep experience of the Holy Eucharist during the Eucharistic
celebrations and Adoration services opened up new horizons before them. Prasangani
from Sri Lanka said, “I saw the Face of Jesus in the host during the Inner
Healing session and as soon as I saw Him, all my pains and sorrows vanished.” Some
of them held fast to the Hand of the Lord which they realized was reached out
to them. In that ecstatic experience of love, they found a way to life
different from what they had seen before and so contrary to all that the world
had offered them. Valentine from Rajasthan shared his deepest sentiments - “This
has been an amazing experience. I loved each and every moment here at Divine. I
experienced God’s Love and Mercy in a way I had never dreamt of before.” Phenjo
Toby from Mauritius wrote, “The Conference taught me great principles which I
am determined to follow to lead a great life of peace and love with Jesus as the
centre of my life.”
“Our God Is A Consuming Fire” (Hebrews 12:29)
Often
parents and elders complain that the youngsters are impulsive and indifferent.
They are not able to accept the unfavorable situations and unfortunate turn of
events in life. Therefore, they are angry and irresponsible. But while
listening to them at a deeper level, their words revealed the sad truth that a
dryness of frustration had splintered their hearts because their gaze was all
the time fixed on the negative experiences of life. Once they were able to shift
their eyes to God, their hearts were filled with His Love; they could walk away
from the burdens of the past and look to a future of radiant hope. Tanya from
UK expressed the transformation that she saw within herself, “I could not
forgive people and forget my past, but during the Inner Healing I was healed. I
had been filled with sorrow. Now I am going back with peace and joy.”
This revelation of the amazing
Love of God empowered them to dare to live for God. Kusum Fernando from Sri
Lanka wrote of her total self surrender to Jesus, “Jesus is the Potter who will
mould my life henceforth. He is my Master.”
This new found love for Jesus
became an intense experience in the hearts of many. Theresa from Goa wrote
before leaving “During the Inner Healing session, I closed my eyes and prayed
to Jesus to heal my wounds and forgive all my sins. When I opened my eyes I
felt like I was in heaven. I looked at Jesus’ Face and smiled. I deeply and
deeply fell in love with Jesus from that moment on.” For many this euphoric
experience of God as Love was life-transforming. They felt the burden of the
enslavements of the past being lifted away from them. Clara from Mumbai
testified - “When I placed my hurt, pain, anxiety and burdens at the Feet of
Jesus, I knew tears were rolling down. I felt the healing Touch of Jesus.” The
experience of Adeline Sum from Penang-Malaysia reveals this movement to
confidence and zeal for life: “Jesus loves me with all His Heart and He is the
answer to every situation.” When the Face of God had shone on their faces, the shadows
of shame and rejection were banished. Marcelina of Pune spoke of a reorientation
of her search in life: “Why should we look for friends outside? Look within
yourself and you will find the perfect friend, Jesus!”
Anyone who is touched by the
consuming fire that God is cannot remain the same. What we were witnessing here
at the Youth Conference was that God was stretching out and touching His
children. For no human could accomplish this magnificent transformation
happening before our eyes. Velina Nisha from Mangalore said, “My desire is to
be always with Jesus and never let Him go away from my life.” This is indeed a
new way of desiring, a new style of living, a new culture for the world to be saved
by! The youth during the counseling sessions and in their testimonies expressed
irrevocable commitment to Jesus. Brian Ah-Kee from Mauritius declared publicly “I am ready to give
all of myself to Jesus.” It was a confirmation for us of the great hope for
this world in the new generation that was being moulded by the fire of the Holy
Spirit. For here was a race determined to come out of the illusions of a
consumerist culture and step aside from the rat race to offer their lives into
the Hands of the Lord Jesus. It was in Christ that Jodie from UAE found the
course of her future and the meaning of her life in Jesus: “My mission when I
go back is to spread God’s Word.” When they realized that Christ had identified
Himself with their sorrows and struggles to raise them up, their one passion
now was to identify themselves with and continue the mission of Jesus in the
world. Kevin of Malaysia declared, “I will carry You Jesus with me all the days
of my life henceforth.”
“See What Love The Father Has Shown Us” (1 John 3:1)
Love and commitment for Jesus
has drawn the youth very close to the Church. It was a great joy to find the
young people actively participating in the Sacraments of the Church. If they had
distanced themselves from the structures of the Church, it was because they had
some bitter experience with the elders in the administration of the Church. In
counseling, they were able to open up their wounded emotions and get healed. A
young man came to my office and sat for sometime very indifferently in front of
me. Apparently he had nothing to say. I wondered why he wanted to see me. When
I encouraged him to speak, he retorted that there was no use of talking to a priest.
But I prevailed on him telling him that Jesus is greater than all the
authorities of the Church. Deeply etched in his heart was a painful memory of
the Principal of his school who was a priest. He felt humiliated by what he
thought was the partiality of the Principal towards the rich and influential.
Though he was the topper of the class, he thought the Principal would not give
any credit to him. He came out of school and entered college with all the
negative impressions of the priests and the Church. Slowly he felt disinclined
to go to Church and even to believe in God. At the inner Healing Prayer Service,
he felt the Hand of God touching him and whispering to his heart that He loved
him very dearly. In the beginning he dismissed it as an illusion but the
experience was very intense. He wanted to confirm the truth about it. However
when he came to meet me, the negative memories of his principal-priest resurfaced.
I helped him to understand the great importance of his God-experience as the
antidote to the poison of pain caused by the carelessness of an elder of the
Church. As I was speaking to him, I could see tears trickling down his eyes. I could
feel the heart hardened by a negative experience once again throbbing in love
for God. In fact, quite a few youngsters could make peace with priests who hurt
them when they experienced how caring and understanding the priests were during
Confession and Counseling. At the end of the Conference, many of them expressed
their deep attachment to the Church and to the activities of the Church. Jonah
from USA testified - “Jesus has become the ONE constant in my life. He holds me
in the palm of His Hand. My mission now is to serve my church and be faithful
to what I promised here at the retreat.”
The life-transforming
experience of the Conference had effects on the physical health of the
participants as well. Hundreds of youth stood up testifying to the healing Touch
of the Lord. A young man came to me before leaving the Centre to express his
gratitude for the answer he got for a nagging question in his mind. Why is God
allowing all the sickness in the world? Why is God indifferent to the bitter
pain in the lives of the people? He said that when he saw hundreds standing up
to testify to the experience of physical healing he was convinced that God is
the ultimate answer to all the pain in the world. It opened up his eyes to the
real nature of God who was caring and compassionate.
At the end of the retreat all
of us were tired after all the planning and putting together of the programs
day after day. And yet we could not but feel more than satisfied as one after
the other, the youth were coming and sharing how the POWER 2012 touched their
lives in different ways. Jenny Fernando from Goa summed it all up, “This
retreat was an experience of a lifetime which can never be forgotten.”
“Ablaze In The Spirit” (Romans 12:11)
One
is reminded of the transformation of Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).
Vibrant and zealous for the ancient law, he was determined to establish his
way. But when the Light of Christ struck through the blindness of his heart, he
was born again as Paul - aflame with a new fire for Jesus the Lord! In the
enthusiasm of having found the meaning of his life, he cried out to the
heavens, “What
shall I do for you, Lord?” (Acts 22:10) It was a total
transformation to live the ‘YES’ for God. From then, every moment of his life
became a sacrificial offering of love as he would write “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who
lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) At one
time his pride was in being an elite Pharisee having high influence in the
Jewish society and also being a disciple of the Gamaliel with unquestioned
authority of scholarship. Added to this was the Roman citizenship with its coveted
privileges that he flaunted. But when he met the Lord, his only glory was this
declaration: “Christ
Jesus has made me his own.” (Philippians 13:12) His life was focused on
Jesus in such a radical way that everything that he earlier had considered as
valuable was now dismissed as refuse. His only longing was to be one with His
Lord. Everything he did, everywhere he went and everyone he met had only one
motivation to have Jesus accepted as the Lord and Saviour. This fire sustained
him to the end of his life - “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of
righteousness.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
Looking back to the days of POWER
2012, I am inspired by the Power of the Love of Jesus that gripped the lives of
the youth, remoulding them with a burning desire to live for the kingdom of
God. Their eyes were opened to see the superficiality of the comforts of the
world as now their hearts were opened to the overflowing Joy of the Spirit.
They have become the beacons of hope in a world that groping in darkness had
forgotten the beauty of life. They have gone out declaring that life is
beautiful and worth living when you live it for Jesus!
Let Us Pray
Heavenly Father we offer You the beauty of our youth who are the
promise for this world. Your Love remould us from our ugly pains to a glorious
existence. Let the Light You have shed in their hearts illumine them at every
moment of their life. Stir their hearts that this Flame of Love may grow
brighter and they may witness to Your Glory to the ends of the earth.
Amen.
