EYMARDIAN YOUTH
Young people at the service of the Eucharist
Province of Our Lady of Africa, Senegal / Guinea-Bissau
After a 3-month holiday, the Eymardian Youth (EY) officially resumed its activities on 3 November, particularly with the Opening Mass preceded by a meeting at the presbytery of the Saint Joseph de Medina parish with our dear accompanying religious, the members of the Steering Committee. It was an opportunity for us to fraternise once again, but also to share our vision for the 2024-2025 pastoral year.
So, at around 4:00 p.m. our program began with the welcome and installation of the members of the EY by the CODIR and the members of the office in a friendly and warm atmosphere.
The office then distributed membership forms and documents describing the group (identity, mission, objectives, etc.) as well as a detailed programme of activities for the Eymardian Youth. All this was accompanied by clear and precise explanations from Father Christophe Mendy sss, who also shared with us this year's vision for young people.
Around 4:45 p.m., the new members were integrated with a word of welcome and a short presentation of them, who spoke about their motivation for joining the group.
A brief presentation of our dear Founder Saint Peter-Julian Eymard and a summary of the missions and objectives of the EY were necessary and indispensable to help the new members better understand the spirit of the movement and its impact on young people. It was also a way of inviting them to belong to this wonderful family and the principles of aggregation as described in the Life Project.
This was followed by a snack during which we were able to get together and exchange ideas, moreover with the creation of sub-groups (of families) which enable us to fraternise better in order to have a Youth more united by stronger fraternal links.
Finally, it was time to prepare for the celebration of the Eucharist, which is at the very heart of our spirituality. And it was with great joy that we closed our meeting at 6.30 p.m. with a Eucharistic celebration, presided over by Father Abraham Correa sss, accompanied by members of the Management Committee and the Provincial Superior Father Yves Maximin Sagna sss, who graced us with his presence. This was a beautiful celebration, and as we gave thanks to God for all the blessings we had received, we also prayed entrusting this new pastoral year to Him. This is not to forget the words of encouragement we received from the Director of the Committee, inviting us to continue to live our spirituality to the full, in order to make an impact on young people who want to deepen their faith in the Eucharist.
Recalling our three key words of the past pastoral year: Courage, Daring, Creativity, we have chosen for this new year (2024-2025): Finance, Work, Vocation, to accompany us in our faith journey throughout the pastoral year.
Willvia Williams
on behalf of Eymardian Youth
