SHAH ALAM - Catholic
Varsity Students (CVS) Ministry of Church of The Divine Mercy, Shah Alam
recently organized the Shah Alam Catholic Varsity Student Gathering 2011 (CVSG)
on the 25th – 27th of March. The theme for this event
is “I am Y.O.U.N.G” from 1Timothy 4:12. CVSG
is an event where students from various tertiary education institutions around
Shah Alam (UiTM, INTEC, MSU + PTPL +
Polytechnic, Unisel, Sime Darby, etc.) gathered and have a fellowship. The
first session on Friday was conducted by Gregory Pravin and Edmund Kwok, the
pastoral workers of Archdiocese Single Adults and Youth Office (ASAYO). The
session titled “Direction of Catholic Varsity Students Ministry” focuses on the
rebranding of Catholic Student Society (CSS) to Catholic Varsity Student (CVS)
Ministry and its new mission and vision being a parish based ministry.
On
the second day, Lamhot together with Joseph Asim conducted the ‘Seven Step
Bible Sharing Method’. The session is conducted in group for better understanding.
The next session for the day is conducted by Mervin Ratnasingam on “Sexuality”
and “Boy-Girl Relationship’. This session was conducted to make students have a
clear picture on the church’s teaching on sex and morale values. Soon after
Mervin’s session, Rev. Fr. Michael Chua of Archdiocesan Ministry of
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (AMEIA) took the stage
with his session on “Introduction on Inter-Faith Dialogue. This topic was
focused more on the understanding and “space” that is needed among the
multi-religious society for better living. At night, our beloved Parish Priest,
Rev. Fr. Paulino Miranda conducted a session titled ‘Silence with God’. In this
session, Fr. Paulino emphasizes on why we need to meditate and let God to speak
through us in silence. Fr. Paulino also introduced a type of meditation called
‘silencio’. The program continues with Bible Quiz by Lamhot which was conducted
in darkness as it coincides with Earth Hour and the highlight of the day is the
Talent Night where the participants are separated into groups and were asked to
act out a sketch from the Gospel. The
second day ended with the screening of “The Passion of Christ” movie.
On
the final day, Lamhot gave a session on Catholic Social Teaching. Then the Sunday
School students of Form 3 - Form 5 joined us for a session on ‘Life as a
Student’ presented by the CVS Presidents. The event continued with a
Eucharistic Celebration celebrated by Fr. Paulino himself followed by
fellowship. The event ended with testimonials and sharing from students
followed by a closing speech by Fr. Paulino. Next year’s gathering will be
co-hosted by all the CVS in Shah Alam. –
Jasper James
