Many of you may be unaware that World Youth Day (WYD) is an annual celebration, celebrated on the Feast of Christ the King. This version of WYD is referred to as the “Diocesan World Youth Day” and stands separate from the intercontinental WYD gathering celebrated every three years in different parts of the world. The next intercontinental WYD gathering will take place in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027. More information on this will be available in due time.
With AMOF being our main annual event for the youth and their families, celebrated in our national Youth Month, we have preferred over the years to keep the celebration of the diocesan WYD (Christ the King) at parish level. Some parishes celebrate the sacraments of First Holy Communion or Confirmation on this day and thus already place emphasis on the importance and role of young people in the Church. Pope Francis moved this diocesan WYD celebration from Palm Sunday to the Feast of Christ the King precisely for this purpose and conveys a message to the youth on this occasion each year. At the heart of his message is a chosen theme rooted in a text from the Bible, and it is this annual theme that we adopt as our pastoral focus each year by building pastoral initiatives and resources for youth ministry from archdiocesan to parish level.
It was a recent decision of ours to move our annual archdiocesan Youth Mass, typically celebrated at the beginning of each year, to the Feast of Christ the King in an effort to join the global multi-centred celebration of WYD. This annual youth Mass will now be celebrated each year on the day prior to the feast so as not to interfere with parish activities on the actual Christ the King Sunday. At the heart of this celebration is the Gospel invitation to every young person to choose Jesus as the Lord and King, and Mary as the Mother and Queen, of every part of their lives. Through this Eucharistic celebration, we invite young people to give thanks to God for the year behind them, and to consecrate that before them to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immacualte Heart of Mary.
This year, therefore, we invite all youth (aged 13-35) of the archdiocese to our 1st annual World Youth Day Mass at the Mother of Mercy Shrine on Saturday, 23 Nov, from 10am to 3pm. The program includes Mass, special blessings for students, graduates, young professionals, etc. the launch of the pastoral theme and initiatives for the 2024-2025 church calendar, lunch (refreshments on sale) and social activities.
We continue to appeal to you as parish leaders to support your parish youth in their planning and financial challenges/initiatives toward attending archdiocesan events. We hope to see many young people and their adult mentors at this occasion!
