Sister Lalamea Vaohea was invited to take part in a Weekend Retreat for all the Tongan Catholic Youth in NSW. The theme for this retreat was “Understanding Leadership in the realm of Spirituality.” About 150 participants stayed together at Collaroy Centre from April the 12th to Sunday the 14th.
Sr. Lalamea shares on the event:
“It was a profound experience for those who attended the retreat: a time of deepening their relationship with God and the role they have in the church.
It was also an opportune time to listen to the Youth, to encourage and equip them so that they may be courageous in living out their Christian faith in our world that is so much in need of witnesses of hope and of promoters of peace.
Four sessions were held that developed the main theme of the retreat. Apart from that, there was a celebration of the Mass, Sacrament of Reconciliation, and quiet time to reflect. Fr. Siale Kautai, the facilitator, presented different perspectives and well-known figures in the Church history, emphasizing the importance of leadership and spirituality in every Christian’s life. He underlined the importance of leadership qualities among young people. Saturday, the youth organises a social evening with different games related to the topic that they reflected on during the day.
I was invited to give a talk on the spirituality of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master. Indeed, I was happy to share on the spirituality of the Pauline Family to the Tongan youth. They learned how our spirituality was formed and rooted in the Eucharistic experience of our Founder, blessed James Alberione, on the night marking the beginning of the 20th century. As the Pauline Family, we continue the mission that consist in living and giving Jesus Christ, Master, Way, Truth, and Life to the world with the fastest and most efficacious means, in the spirit of St Paul the Apostle, under the gaze of Mary Queen of the Apostles. The young people were very interested and impressed hearing about the Pauline Family and how we are connected. They asked many questions and expressed a wish to spend some weekends with us in order to get to know us more.
Thankful for the invitation, we all are looking forward for more opportunities to help our youth in searching for their vocation.”
The retreat ended up with the election of the new NSW Tongan Youth executive team that will organise events this coming year.
