Catholic Youth's 'Love Letter' to Indonesian Church expresses commitments and aspirations

The Indonesian Catholic Youth (ICY) read ‘A Love Letter for the Indonesian Church,' expressing their inner struggles, commitment, and aspirations.

"It is with great pleasure that we compose this letter. We wish to convey our inner struggles, gratitude, joy, commitment, good intentions, and aspirations," the opening line of the love letter reads during the closing ceremony of the Indonesian Youth Day (IYD) on June 29, Palembang Archdiocese of South Sumatra Province, Indonesia.

In the letter, ICY expresses its belief that the gathering at IYD would lead them to feel and experience the love of Jesus, "He who is always young" and catalyze for them to encounter many youth from different regions of Indonesia.

"The beauty of meeting after a long time of not meeting the diversity of skin color, hair shape, language style, regional clothing, and various characters of young people relieves fatigue after struggling to travel by land, sea, and air to reach Sriwijaya (referring to Palembang city) earth."

Inspired by the experience of IYD, the youth invite bishops, priests, sisters, and parents to join them on their journey to create a vital and contagious church.

"We are here to accompany and support one another to create a vibrant and contagious Church. Vitality is giving others and the universe influence and color. In the interim, viral, namely, voicing your Word through our compassion and self-sacrifice," the letter stated.

The IYD momentum has become a reinforcement for the youth to "commit" to sustaining the integrity of the universe, giving "witness" to the beauty of diversity, and bringing coolness to family relationships, as well as for those who are "left out and marginalized."

They recognize that they must "fight" and be more active in deepening their “faith through the teachings of the Church" amidst the current difficulties. They have a "passion to follow Jesus” not only within their “social media frenzy and comfort zone” but also by faithfully “living a pure daily lifestyle.”

In the love letter, the youth also "accepted" their engagement invitation to say “yes” to "continue proclaiming the Good News" after seeing, speaking, and learning on IYD 2023.

As committed personnel for the future of the church in Indonesia, the youth also beseech prayers for their upcoming ministry assignments.

"Pray for us, so that we can build a spirit of repentance through good deeds in our daily lives to attain holiness and be able to kneel when we rely too heavily on ourselves and forget Jesus, the source of our inspiration," the letter reads.

"Please accept this expression of our emotions to our fellow travelers,” the letter said, adding that, “always walk beside us, encompass us in every action, and direct us as we fulfill the missionary role we have chosen."

"Thousands of thanks for the encounter and new beginnings for our ministry work in the family, church, school, and workplace, as well as the nation and state," the youth’s letter concluded, identifying themselves as the principal actors of the Catholic Church of the Archipelago.

The youth commission of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference convened the Third Indonesian Youth Day (IYD) in Palembang Diocese of South Sumatra Province, Indonesia, from June 26–30 in which all Indonesian dioceses dispatched youth envoys to observe this routine event.