Our youths consider making this lent of 2024 a truly spiritual journey.

In today’s Ash Wednesday many of our young people flooded the Church for the reception of Ashes and Holy Mass. And after Mass, our “Be the Witness” Catholic Youth Ministry of Ngoya Parish, Cameroon, which was launched a month ago set out to know how intentionally our young people, she seeks to evangelize and make disciples, are going to make this lent a meaningful and fruitful one. Considering the Lenten season is an opportunity the Church has given us to deepen our relationship with God and one another and of course the entire creation, and be mindful that each one of us is unique and will answer the call to this triple union differently, we encountered a few young people to whom we put forward the following question:

How will you intentionally make this lent of 2024 into a truly spiritual Journey for you?

Listen to our youths!

Luisa (20 years) – I know that I am a sinner and for this reason, this Lenten season will be a period of intentional penance, I will enter into God’s purifying grace by meditating on the suffering, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The stations of the Cross will form my daily devotional practice. And finally, I will make my life a witness of prayer, fasting, and sharing.

Jude (17 years) – During this Lent I will increase my dependence on God who is our only refuge and provider. I learn to ask God for my needs in prayer and I will encourage my brothers and sisters to take prayer seriously because it is the only means through which we can begin to experience God’s love in all the circumstances of life. I know that I am not perfect so I will go for confession during this lent and will ask God for forgiveness whenever I am faced by habitual sins. And I will encourage my friends in school to do the same.

Mabel (16 years): I am very happy to be in Church today and my spiritual aspiration for this Lenten season is to find the grace to change from my bad life to a good life. So, I thank God for making me see this Lent and work with him to change my bad life. And I pray that through my words and actions, those around me will start experiencing this change in me. I also pray that God will give me the grace to share his living Word with those who are still ignorant of its power.

Viviana. Before this Lenten, I wrote down my Lenten resolutions in my diary that will make my Lent a serious spiritual journey by the grace of God. Let me read them to you>

  I must highlight the word of God in my life.

 I must pray, share, and do penance.

 I have to attend the recollections.

 I must assist or visit the poor, the elderly, and the sick.

I must pray for all those who suffer in their bodies, their souls, and their flesh

I must actively participate in church activities (cleaning, sweeping, and others…)

I must promote peace, love, and sympathy around me

These are a few voices heard from among our young people whom the Youth Ministry encountered after the imposition of ashes today. We can see that each one of them is truly spiritually awakened at some level and possesses a sense of making their Lenten journey a truly spiritual one. They are not simply caught up in the ritual passage of Lenten, each one is intently looking for ways to get close to God. The task of our youth ministry during this Lent lies in helping the young people to develop a spiritual hunger and consciousness capable of inspiring in them an awakening to the transforming presence of God in the mysteries of Christ that the Church enables us to meditate and relive during the Lenten season and its liturgies.

A fruitful Lent to you All.