By Fr George Ho Chung Jen OCD
KUALA LUMPUR — The Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur played host for the annual Young Priests’ Gathering (YPG) at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre (APC), from October 10 to 13.
The YPG, organised by the Regional Episcopal Commission of Diocesan Priests and Seminaries saw 42 priests below five years of serving in the Lord’s vineyard (this year included those below seven years due to COVID-19) from Malaysia and Singapore in attendance.
After checking in and a light fellowship, we concelebrated the opening Mass at the Church of St Anthony, with Archbishop Julian Leow and Bishop Richard Ng, the president of the commission, before proceeding for dinner.
The formation session began on the second day with Fr Michael Raymond OFM Cap, and Fr Mitchel Anthony sharing their experiences as young priests and guiding the attendees on how to deal with prevalent difficulties they often face. One of the most common problems is “compassion fatigue” (burnout). Fr Michael said young priests must learn to articulate their woundedness and problems by reaching out to another priest for help and accompaniment.
After sharing his ups and downs as a young priest, Fr Mitchel said the life of a priest is a lifelong “kenosis” (a gradual stripping of the personality, a gradual process of detachment from inessentials: possessions, clothing, material). The Church of the Good Shepherd, Setapak, parish priest added, he needed to learn to handle the expectations of himself and others. He also had to learn to connect with himself because each person is blessed with a divine purpose in life.
After these sessions, we went sightseeing around the city and celebrated Mass at the Church of the Holy Family, Kajang, and the Church of Divine Mercy, Shah Alam.
Being an introvert, gatherings like these are both exciting and daunting for me. Exciting because I meet other ‘young’ priests and reconnect with some old friends from the nine dioceses. Daunting simply because huge gatherings like these are not my cup of tea. However, in the end, it was great to be there, to catch up, reminisce, and learn a thing or two from their pastoral challenges.
Before parting ways, we exchanged numbers and looked forward to meeting again. Although introverted me was glad the saga ended, deep within, if there is another chance for us to gather, I will not hesitate to be there! I hope this is the same for everyone else.
 at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre (APC), from...){kind=link}