|
 On
November 24, a beautiful Saturday, we gathered all the young people of the
parishes Kuklen and of Plovdiv at the Oblate Sisters in Plovdiv. We wanted
to spend the day praying and playing! First of all we had to get to know
each other because there were young people among us that we were seeing
for the first time. It's always reassuring to see new faces in the life of
the parish and in the Church, especially for some of the older children
who have been with us for a while.
There then followed a talk by Fr. Daniel Gillier on Christian family life
and how to build a solid family. This theme was connected to Christian
Family Day, celebrated on the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, November 21, which is also the feast-day of Fr. d'Alzon, the
founder of the Assumptionists.
Each of us was invited to write down three words, which, in our opinion,
described the pillars of a solid family. The answers were quite varied,
but what dominated was Love, Confidence, and Forgiveness. Here were words
that, for me, are indispensable for building a good family, a family that
is well-knit. To be sure, the most important of these words is Love, which
is not to be confused with passion, but real love, the love with which Our
Lord first loved us.
Clearly, for us young people, it is very hard to love our enemies and we
can only achieve this
 through
prayer.
After this practical and interesting discussion, we had a beautiful Mass
in the chapel of the Oblates, a liturgy prepared by and animated by the
young. After this spiritual nourishment, it was time to nourish the body.
Whenever you're at an Oblate house, meals are always very delicious and
enjoyable. Besides the abundance of well-presented dishes, each of us
received a bookmark with the image of Fr. d'Alzon, thanks to whom we were
all gathered that Saturday.
We were also given a little image with a word on it on which we were
invited to meditate during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. After such
a copious meal, you can imagine how many dishes there were....naturally.
But for me, who have already lived a certain amount of time in community,
the time to clean up the dishes is a privileged moment for sharing and
relaxing, especially when there were 15 of us young people doing it.
 After
dishes, the sisters invited us to watch a very touching film together,
"Life is beautiful." It was a film which, through laughter but also drama,
showed us the enormous love of parents for their children as well as the
power of faith and of hope.
Such a wonderful day could not come to an end without a time of adoration
and a moment of thanksgiving for everything that we are, for life received,
for enjoyable moments spent together.
As our time together came to an end with a song for unity, we promised
ourselves to get together again in January in the name of the Lord, who is
always present at our get -togethers. With all my heart I would like to
thank the Oblates and the Assumptionists for their ever warm welcome and
especially Fr. Emmanuel d'Alzon for deciding to establish the Mission in
Eastern Europe and for sending us servants of God working for the coming
of His kingdom.
May God bless you, dear Sisters and Fathers!
Rositza |
