Joelle Majanil
Kompilasi oleh Euseclara Suah
Oct 15 2022
Joelle Majanil (25) dari zon Penampang
Bagaimana anda dipanggil mengikuti PYD 8?
I’ve always been interested in joining these kind of activities (PYD, SYD etc.) that are organized by the church. But every single time there’s always some sort of obstacle, I’m always not in Sabah at that time. However, this year, Praise God, my schedule was wide open.
Apakah ‘Salib’ atau masalah anda dalam kehidupan anda dan bagaimana anda menghadapi atau menghidupi ‘Salib’ atau masalah itu?
My biggest struggle or “cross” at the moment is myself. To elaborate, I can be very short tempered. There are so many arguments and fights arise between me and my family members. I get easily triggered by them. I know as the youngest, I should respect and obey my eldest, but I have always questioned, “God, how am I supposed to follow your commandments? How can I love the people that are so hard to love? I have been struggling with this on and off.
In 2018, I stumbled upon an article about how I should be grateful, that even though I have family members that are hard to love, at least they are still around. It helped me for a while, but it didn’t last long, I started questioning God again, praying for His help and grace.
Then in 2020, I stumbled upon a homily on YouTube about why people always get disappointed with people they love. The homily reminded me that the world is not perfect and our life on earth is just temporary, and the people that we care most for (our family members), tend to disappoint us even more because we put more expectations on them. That video taught me to have less expectations and give graces to the people I love.
Although it helped me tremendously, sometimes deep down I felt it wasn’t enough, I wanted a solution. I wanted to solve this issue between me and my family members for good. I want them to understand me, so we wouldn’t argue every single time.
But that all ended because of PYD 8. During Archbishop’s homily at the opening Mass, he stated that in life, there will always be struggles. We can never run away from them. Whether we like it or not, it will happen. We can avoid it; we can be stressed about it. But is that living? Don’t be stress about finding a solution. Just live THROUGH it. Just like how Mary lived through all the struggles she was facing after knowing she is pregnant with Jesus. Learning from Mother Mary, we too should not stress about solving our problems in life. Just lift them up to the Lord, depending on Him. Living through our problems would be bearable.
Ketibaan dan pendaftaran peserta PYD 8
Berdasarkan tema PYD 8 ‘Bangkit & Bersaksilah!’ (Kis 26:16)
From what I gathered throughout PYD 8, “bangkit” is to get up from wherever you are at the moment. It could be rising up from procrastination, unworthiness, negative thoughts etc. Like what Mdm Rosalind said during session three, there’s no pause, no full stop. Spreading God’s message/word shouldn’t wait. We can’t “Wait until I’m free then I will serve” or “Wait until my life is more stable then I will serve”. We need to arise because time is running out, God wants more people to experience His love, He wants more people to be united with Him in heaven. So, He needs our help, He wants to use us to do His will. Personally, I really felt the sessions given, cuts deep.
For the longest time, I felt God’s calling. He called me to use the talents He has given me to start a media account to spread God’s word. Honestly, a couple of times I created the account, but after a few weeks, I deleted them. I felt a little unworthy, like who am I to spread God’s word through media? My grammar is not that good and there are so many things that I still need to learn about the Catholic faith. In the first session by Fr Terans, I was reminded on Luke 1:39, Be like Mary, she arose and went with haste to spread what God called her to do.
‘Bersaksilah’
As to what Sem Bradley said in Session 4, we can be witnesses by being the light. In my opinion, many might go home after PYD 8, being hype up to serve in church. Be involve in choir, as warden, as alter server and so on. This is all good. But again, life will get in the way. We might have work, continuing our studies in a different place, can’t commit and so on. Being witnesses, doesn’t only mean doing it in church. It starts right now at home, to our neighbours, to that person beside you. And being witnesses doesn’t have to mean preaching about the bible, talking about God to the person next to you.
Basically, let’s take John 13, Jesus washes the feet of his apostles and stated that “If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet you also ought to wash one another’s feet” and in John 21, when Jesus asked Simon Peter three times if he loves Him. After that He said, “Feed my lambs”. Indirectly our Lord is saying to us as well, if we love Him so much, we need to feed His lambs and wash one another’s feet. To summarize, being witnesses of Christ means to serve others, in any shape or form, and in any way possible.
Berdasarkan sesi ii: “Be Brave”
As stated in my previous answers, we must be brave because “If not now, when?” God needs us now. He wants to use us as His instruments to do His will. But still, it’s hard. For me, I’m afraid of making a mistake. I do want to do His will, but I’m afraid of saying something wrong or not doing it the way He wants it to be done. So, for now, I face these challenges by praying, I would give myself a pep talk and lifting my worries to Him. A quote that touched me during Ms Eveline’s session was the quote by the Pope in the Letter of Pope Francis on WYD; “God will guide you where He sent you”. I truly believe this. I also believe He will equip us; He will not send us out there empty.
Aktiviti berkumpulan membuat banner
Let it be GREEN
Unfortunately, I was not part of this session. Only a handful of people was asked to go and plant the trees. But If I would have guessed, this activity encourages us to take care of the earth. This home, although temporary, God made it so beautifully for us to enjoy. I think what I can do in my part is to care for the environment. Try to reduce the energy of consumption. For example, during the day turn off the lights, open my windows and use natural light, don’t spend too long in the shower, unplug anything when not in use and so on.
Harapan Belia
I hope this momentum doesn’t die down and I hope I can do what God has called me to do. I pray that more youths will turn back to God, we are the future of our faith. And I pray that God will equip me with the things that I need when being witnesses of Christ in my family.
