Marian Motorcade Unites Madang Archdiocese Youth
By Roseanne Kulupi
A convoy labelled "Marian Motorcade" united more than 500 youths from various parishes in the Madang Archdiocese on Friday, 23rd of October.
Leading the Pilgrimage was the Statue of Blessed Mother Mary followed by truckloads of youth from different parishes singing songs of praise.
The Marian Motorcade processional route began at Alexishafen and stopped at 4 Stations/Alters along the way before finishing at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Madang Town. At each station, intentions on issues affecting the Youth were presented with the Rosary Prayers.
The Theme “With Mary, we journey in Hope, we serve with Love and Humbleness for a better future” was based on Luke 1:38 reflecting on Immaculate Mary’s humility and obedience to God’s Will.
Not only was the Marian Motorcade in Honour of Blessed Mother Mary, it was also an opportunity used to advocate against social issues affecting the young people of Madang and Papua New Guinea as a whole.
Banners bearing social issues were displayed on some trucks while others included heartfelt intentions to our Blessed Mother Mary to pray for our Youth.
Social issues identified and addressed included: Alcohol and drug abuse, social media misuse, domestic violence, poverty, disrespectful use of profanity words, loss of Faith and moral values etc….
The Marian Motorcade was the Highlight of a weekend program which also included empowering Spiritual talks on Humility, Self-Reliance, Resilience, Good Decisions and Vocation.
The program was aimed at uniting and empowering the Youth of the Madang Archdiocese which is in line with the Diocesan Pastoral Plan objective of Pastoral care for Young Adults.
The Youth groups who participated in this Program were from Parishes in the two Deaneries – Bogia and Madang.
Under Bogia Deanary, Parishes represented were: Bogia - Holy Trinity, Kayan, Tangu, Bieng and Malala.
For the Madang Deanary, youths who attended represented:
Mirap, Megiar, Alopa, Rempi, Alexishafen, Sisiak - Holy Cross, Jomba, Holy Spirit, Gusap, Brahman, Saidor, Bundi, Anaburg and Kwanga parishes.
Present at this event was the CBCPNGSI Youth Commission Secretary Sr Sharon Palencia OND and Momase Regional Youth Representative from the Diocese of Lae, James Lao including other laity and Clergy men and women of Madang Archdiocese.
Sylvester Malang a youth from Jomba Parish, when asked about his personal reflection, expressed feeling of strength and unity.
“With the distractions of the latest technology such as mobile phones, a lot of youths haven’t been devoted to church and reading the word of God. I feel that the Motorcade and the weekend events united and strengthened the youths of the Archdiocese”, he said.
“My take –away from the Spiritual Talks is that as youth of the day, we have the power to make decisions and the physical strength to work however we don’t realise the potential we have,” he added.
Like young Sylvester, it was a fruitful weekend for all the youths who attended.
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