IN a “multicultural first” for Brisbane archdiocese, a Lenten retreat was held on March 20 at the Sacred Heart Centre, Runcorn, for those from “culturally diverse backgrounds”.
It was organised by the Ethnic Ministers Youth Council – a group formed last October and representing various ethnic communities – and offered together with Brisbane East Deanery NET (National Evangelisation Team).
“The Lenten retreat was one of the key events the council wanted to organise to bring Catholic youth from different heritages together in preparation for Easter,” the council’s Michael Guida said.
“The result was a vibrant and energetic group of over fifty youth from the Samoan, Italian, Hispano-American, Indonesian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Fijian, Australian and other cultures.”
Michael said the retreat was based on Lenten themes, and the “atmosphere was great”.
“People were meeting and introducing themselves to each other, sharing ideas about their youth groups, telling each other their stories of migration and experiences in the parishes and day-to-day chit-chat,” he said.
“The NET team were absolutely fantastic … they ran us through fun games, dramas, team-building activities, reflections and prayer.”
The post-lunch session included recounting the Stations of the Cross and Mass – celebrated by Polish community chaplain and council chairperson Society of Christ Father Sylvester Karasiuk.
Fr Karasiuk said the inclusion of Mass was “the crown on this retreat day”.
Concelebrants included Fr Maximilian Bernadus (Indonesian) and Scalabrinian Father Giovanni Pagnin (Italian).
Scalabrinian Father Hector Zuniga (Hispano American), Society of Christ Father Wieslaw Pawlowski (Polish), Missionary of the Sacred Heart Father Albert Chan (Chinese) and Fr Epati Tamati (Samoan) also joined in for part of the retreat.
Michael said the Ethnic Ministry Youth Council was “thankful for the prayers and support of the diocese and to all who helped organise the day”.
“We hope that even more people will attend our future retreats and events,” he said.
The group’s next event is a multicultural fiesta on April 18 at the Vietnamese Catholic Centre, Inala. For more information con-tact Michael on 0403 144 881.
– Selina Venier
