Saturday 9 April began with the Youth Meeting. In light of the upcoming 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon, the Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in Bulgaria has organized a preparatory meeting for young people from all over the country. During the day they meditated on the theme chosen by the Pope: “Mary got up and went quickly”.
The event took place in the Catholic parish of St. Joseph in Sofia in a synodal context is the motto under which the meeting took place. “For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission”.
The day began at 10.00 with a welcome opening by the parish priest fra Yaroslav Babik addressing the participants with the same words said by Pope Francis: "Young people in action in a synodal Church".
From 10.30 to 12.00 a penitential prayer was prepared with the possibility of confession. In the afternoon, part of the program included a conference on the theme: "The call of young people to holiness" and work in discussion groups.
TESTIMONY OF A YOUNG WOMAN FROM RAKOVSKI
“The youth meetings build the foundations of the future church in front of the young people who have in their hands the mission of our faith. We live in difficult times, in which the Lord presents us with the challenges of a global pandemic, the scourge of war, the economic, social and demographic crisis. We are surrounded by a world dedicated to fear and disbelief. A time in which everyone protects themselves first, distancing themselves from the community and from Christ.
A time in which everyone, going their own way, is inspired by the next.
For us, young people in Bulgaria, a renewed national meeting of young people gives hope and strength for a new beginning, as well as a clear sign of the desire on the part of our pastors to live in the spirit of the Church and unity in Christ.
The spirit of the meeting took place in a friendly atmosphere in which we can freely share our common faith in God and without fear and prejudice to allow it to be among us and within us. The meeting also took place in symbiosis with the Church's sense of sharing and openness to young hearts, following the example begun by Pope Francis in reinventing "synodality" throughout the Catholic Church.
The theme "For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission" concerns each one of us, and our pastors with encouragement stressed the importance of the participation of young people in the life of each parish. Bishop Rumen Stanev, with his pastoral word containing the wisdom of maturity in faith but also the flame of youth, called us and motivated us in our participation in the name of the future.
For me, the opportunity to be a part of this gathering is an extraordinary grace, as all young people and believers create a national friendship among us that is blessed by God. The emotions, impressions and moments during the event are always extremely strong and remain a beautiful imprint in me and are able to positively charge me with faith, sincere joy and a sense of life.
This year I was enthusiastic about the message of extreme depth, but also the simple theme of the relationship between the faith of the young person and the choices we make on the path of our life. He stressed the importance of courage, perseverance and love in our spiritual life because there are trials and tribulations when "We love what we believe in, but we must also believe in what we love".
For me, the highlight of the meeting was the testimonials in the group sharing, where the free-form participants talked about finding faith and God. I grew up in a family of faith passed in generations, but there is an indescribable emotion when someone decides to share a piece of the way to find Christ, especially if it was in the most mature years of life that the faith of the soul and its purity and sincerity truly shines.
Of course, all this was combined with many moments of joy, cheerful lunch, sharing. I look forward to future meetings where we will have the opportunity to be together and strengthen the friendship between us and God. Heartfelt thanks to all the organizers, but above all to God for this grace of being all together for his sake. "