On the Sunday of Pentecost, May 3rd, a one day youth conference was organized in Tirana and Elbasan by the Youth Office of the Archdiocese, Students’ Center of Tirana and a group of American students, accompanied by Father Luke Veronis. Their goal was spiritual renewal, developing new friendships and strengthening one another in sharing their faith with others. The group of American students, which consisted of 12 students from various Orthodox theological schools in America (Holy Cross in Brookline, MA, St. Vladimir’s in New York, St. Tikon’s in Pennsylvania, and Saint Herman’s in Alaska) was led by Father Luke Veronis, a former missionary, who served in Albania from 1993-2004. They were also accompanied by two professors from Holy Cross.
This is the third year in a row that different groups have come to visit the Church of Albania as a part of a class on Missions that they study at their schools, in order to learn about and see the recovery of the Orthodox Church of Albania after its complete destruction during the communist regime. Also, within the structure of this 10 day visit, the American students organized joint youth activities with Orthodox young people from Albanian, in cooperation with the Youth Office of the Archdiocese and the Student’s Centre in Tirana, in able to get to know each other and to share their Christian experience.
The joint activity was organized in two locations, on Sunday morning in Tirana, and in Elbasan later in afternoon. The objectives that they purposed to achieve and actually achieved with success were: To gather youth to celebrate Pentecost, and to create new friendships among the youth of the Diocese of Tirana and the American students, and the most importantly, renewal in Christ.
The meeting that took place in Tirana was attended by 120 young people. They were from different youth groups in the Archdiocese of Tirana: Student Center, Youth Center “Bethlehem”, the teenagers from the Church of “Evangelization” in Tirana and Thavor Center, and from Durrës, Rrushkull, Jubë, Kavaja and Shkodra.
Worshipping in the church on the day of Pentecost reminds us once again that we all take strength from the Holy Spirit and must be ready to spread the Good News (the Gospel) to all people with whom we live.
During the sermon in the church, Father Luke Veronis, among other things emphasized: “We, as Christians, should not stand closed within ourselves, because Christ has left us with a commandment that the Good News of salvation is to be spread to the whole world. None of us should think just about himself, but to be ready to reach out to every person to witness to them the hope and belief by which we live. This is the reason that today, on the day of Pentecost, we are gathered here in church, different people from different countries of the world to experience this great Feast and learn that the Gospel is for everyone”.
Then, the program of the day was introduced followed by cocktail, and then the young people were divided into five groups so that they could get to know more about each other. They ate lunch together, as well and then divided into groups led by the American students, and discussed various topics. The youth shared their experiences about becoming Orthodox Christians and what made them attracted to this faith. The ability to share their experiences of faith strengthened their friendship and they learned about the spiritual journey of others in various areas of our country.
After the small group meeting, Father Luke gave a short talk on, “Being Renewed in Faith and Ready to Share the Good News with Others.” Among other things, he said: “Life is a journey, and however long life is, this journey will end one day. Everyone will appear before God and will give an account for how they lived their lives and what they did with it. The infinite love of God calls us to the joy of life with Him, so we must not be negligent in this call. Adolescents and young people, all of you, remember that in the journey towards God, only love is what will remain in eternity “.
This one day conference ended with the wonderful troparion: “What God is so great as our God …” and with gratitude for this renewing and inspiring program, the young people departed to their cities to continue their spiritual journey with the hope that they will meet again. They thanked Father Luke for his visit to Albania, for this blessed opportunity and for organizing the American students, who shared with the Albanian youth their experience of faith.
In afternoon the American students group met with the youth groups of Elbasan; all the members of the catechism groups that have been developed in Elbasan and in the surrounding areas. This meeting was organized in cooperation with the catechists of the Catechism Office of the Archdiocese, who coordinates these groups. Sixty young people participated in this gathering. The meeting took place at the Holy Monastery of St. John Vladimir, which coincided with the day of the Feast of the Saint. This meeting also had the same goals; spiritual renewal, developing new friendships and strengthening one another in sharing the faith with others. After this meeting, the festive program of the Feast of the Monastery, organized by the students of the Theological Academy “Resurrection of Christ” and the Catechism Office of the Archdiocese, continued with the showing of a documentary film dedicated to St. John Vladimir and the Theological Academy.
The Youth Office of the Archdiocese
