{"id":20755,"date":"2024-08-30T12:58:52","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T12:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=20755"},"modified":"2024-08-30T12:58:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T12:58:52","slug":"eritrea-youths-in-asmara-urged-to-hope-in-the-lord-not-to-grow-weary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2024\/08\/30\/eritrea-youths-in-asmara-urged-to-hope-in-the-lord-not-to-grow-weary\/","title":{"rendered":"ERITREA: Youths in Asmara Urged to Hope in the Lord, Not To Grow Weary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zerayohannes Ghebrehiwet<\/em><\/p>\n

The Catholic Secretariat Arch-Eparchy of Asmara (CSAA) have conducted a three-day Youth Day Festival in the Cathedral of St. Mary of Perpetual Help Kidane Mehret from 16th<\/sup> \u2013 18th<\/sup> August 2024.<\/p>\n

The occasion that brought together about 350 youths from different places of the Eparchy, accompanied by their parish priests, was held under the theme taken from Prophet Isaiah which says: \u201cThey that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on eagles\u2019 wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint\u201d (Is 40:31).<\/p>\n

During the opening ceremony of the festival that was held on Friday, August 16, Archbishop Menghisteab Tesfamariam further explained the slogan of the Arch-Eparchy which reads, \u2018Arch eparchy of Asmara, united as a single family.\u2019<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cUnity is strength and proclamation. This is a special occasion for us all and particularly for you the youth \u2013 the future, the responsibility-takers and successors of the nation and the church.<\/p>\n

The Prelate narrated further, \u201cThrough our Eparchy\u2019s Prayer which says \u2018Lord make us participants of your banquet,\u2019 I hope you all pray together, share your Christian life experiences, and learn from each other in these coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Archbishop Tesfamariam then handed the youth representatives the Cross on behalf of those who were gathered in the St. Mary\u2019s compound.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the Gospel of Luke 15:11 \u2013 32 about the \u2018Merciful Father\u2019 the Church leader told the youths that \u201cThe father does not force the son to stay at home or does not force him to return either. But he keeps waiting that one day his son will be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the history of the prodigal son, God is not a judge but a merciful and affectionate Father,\u201d the Prelate said and advised the youths to always think about God\u2019s mercy and put their trust in Him so as to grow in hope and a better tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Shifting his focus to the current situation in society, Archbishop Tesfamariam warned about being slaves of modern technology, particularly cell phones which are becoming masters.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease let us use the phones wisely in a God-fearing manner. Let us use them to read the Holy Bible, the teachings of the Catholic Church, and other spiritual materials, including listening to hymns and the word of God. In your respective parishes please organize yourself and share the word of God among yourselves and create reading groups,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On his part, sharing with the youths Pope Francis\u2019 message, the Secretary General of CSAA, Fr. Thomas Negash encouraged the young people to overcome all the worldly desires and temptations that frustrate them, push them to lose hope, abandon their faith, and give up easily. Instead, he asked them to be brave and believe in the promising words of the Lord through His prophet Isaiah that they will soar on eagles\u2019 wings, they will run, and not grow weary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe theme selected for this year\u2019s festival has a strong and promising power for the youth as those who put their trust in God will not be weary and will soar on eagles\u2019 wings. These words of hope have spiritual power to open the gates closed by worldly thought, to begin the journey again with renewed intention and far-sighted goal, to revive the closed story ones more and renewed energy like that of the eagle\u201d said Fr. Negash narrated the message encouraging the youth to be spiritually renewed.<\/p>\n

He further explained the historical background of the revelation of God\u2019s Word to the prophet Isaiah that the Israelites were in exile under the slavery of Babylon being frustrated, hopeless, and complaining about their bad life. God however never forgot them but renewed their broken heart through His prophet Isaiah.<\/p>\n

The Coordinator of the Arch Eparchial Youth Council Sr. Hawariat Berhane expressed gratitude for the youths’ participation and cooperation during the three-day meeting and encouraged the youths to share their experiences with those who were unable to participate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zerayohannes Ghebrehiwet The Catholic Secretariat Arch-Eparchy of Asmara (CSAA) have conducted a three-day Youth Day…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea-news","category-eritrea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20756,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20755\/revisions\/20756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}